The Loop

Lyman works nights, driving around and around the Loop that circles Ft. Worth, assisting drivers with stalled cars, removing suitcases and furniture and other things fallen from a moving car, burying dead animals that wandered into the path of cars.

As a hobby, he takes college classes, classes of a practical nature, delving into languages, and discovering how to repair plumbing, and learning first aid.

Then a parrot flies into his trailer and, with the help of an equally flawed college librarian, Lyman sets off in search of the bird's owner. Or, as we soon discover, the bird's many, many previous owners.

I loved this little story of a lonely man who connects with a lost bird and a zany librarian.

The interesting characters and their interactions with each other are the best part of this book. And it's nice to have a mystery that does not entail some gruesome killing.