The Camden Public Library welcomes an unlikely duo: a birding guide and naturalist (who's not a novelist) and a Northwoods mystery author (who's not a birder). What could they have in common? What Michael Good and Sandra Neily call "Live Birds and Deadly Forces."

This unique program brings together birding, mystery writing, and the Maine outdoors on Thursday, May 22, at 6:30 p.m., in the Picker Room.

Essentially, Michael Good and Sandra Neily are optimists who are and have been Maine Guides. They believe that the more people know about our outdoor assets and the risks they face, the more they’ll support various solutions.

During his Downeast Nature Tours, Good educates out in the field, offering birding and wildlife tours. After decades working in the conservation field, Neily now crafts stories that are “seductive field trips into Maine’s woods, waters, and wildlife habitat."

Their presentation, “Live Birds and Deadly Forces,” offers up Good’s short PowerPoint of birds and habitat at risk, a reading from Neily’s last novel, and plenty of time for comments and questions. There will be a giveaway for two of Neily’s novels and a chance to purchase books as well.

“We’ll share out some Maine Outdoor Lottery tickets … as long as they last,” said Good, in a CPL news release. “This fund supports wildlife and we’ll bring along a handout of ways people can help in large and small ways.”

Yankee Magazine chose Michael Good as a Best Birdwatching Guide, writing, “Biologist and Maine Guide Michael Good is simply batty about birds, and he shares his knowledge with avian addicts and newcomers alike. Whether you’re pining to see warblers, falcons, eagles, and hawks or seeking to add a Nelson’s sharptailed sparrow to your life list, Good’s your man.”

Author Sandra Neily is a national award-winner from the Mystery Writers of America and a Maine Literary Award finalist. Michael Good reviewed her “Deadly Turn” novel as “nonstop suspense. Powerful human relationships intermingle with accurate descriptions of forests, ponds, rivers and streams; birds and the people who care about them become symbols of strength and resilience, Neily captures Maine’s northern forest with fierce love and inspired storytelling.”