The Ruby Raven

Description for THE RUBY RAVEN by Michael Dahl:

Finnegan's uncle receives an invitation to be a finalist in an international mystery writers'' award competition. Since the author must be present to accept the prize, that means exotic Saharan travel for Finn and Uncle Stoppard. The competition winner will receive $1,000,000 and The Ruby Raven, a figurine of a dark, carved bird, with real ruby gems as eyes. It''s no surprise that all of the writers are eager to win this coveted award, in fact some are dying to possess it.....

This is #3 in A Finnegan Swake Mystery