Sara Niven is the mother of Kea Niven, who is Josh Blay’s ex-girlfriend and one of the agency’s suspects for Anomie. We know from a YouTube video posted by Kea that Sara breeds parrots, two of which are called John and Yoko, and one white umbrella cockatoo called Ozzy.

Strike arranges to interview Kea at home in King’s Lynn, but upon his arrival, Kea leaves the house by the back door. Strike inveigles his way in by asking Sara if he can use the bathroom.

Sara is described as “a middle-aged, vaguely bohemian-looking woman with untidy grey hair” wearing a baggy, sludge-green Liberty print dress and thick black tights with a hole in the left foot (Ch 48).

After speaking with Strike, Sara calls Kea and persuades her into meeting with Strike in a nearby pub, The Maids Head in the Tuesday Market Place. As Strike leaves, he is attacked by Ozzy the cockatoo, leaving him with a gash to the head.