Donna Andrews has written a mystery series. Her publisher refers to them rather plainly as "the Meg Langslow mysteries." I'll just call them "organized chaos." From the very beginning of the series, Murder With Peacocks, to the one I just finished, We'll Always Have Parrots, we are exposed to a world that Andrews has created containing lovable quirky characters, twisting plot points, way too much happening at one time, and the occasional murder. And let us not forget the birds. What may have started a cute title idea has managed with Andrews' cleverness to be fully integrated into the story line. Each book has something to do about birds.
Meg is a great character who while the chaos reigns around, manages to wrangle it, direct it and sometimes conquer it. She's a take charge kind of gal, and if someone in her large extended family is suspected of murder, she tries to make it right. A bit "type A" for someone who is an artistic blacksmith (but she has been getting into making armory lately...), but because she is the "sane one" in the room, we cling to her as the story tumbles and tosses along.
Her family are a bit nutty. The mother who is a gossip and diva. Her dad, a retired doctor, who is a big mystery fan who wants to help out at the autopsies. Her brother, the "barely passed the bar" lawyer, who managed to create a hit computer game. Her nephew, whose duck follows him everywhere. And the countless other distant and not so distant cousins who keep popping up with regularity. Did I mention it was set in the South?
I can not describe all the funny bits in these books. Maybe because there are too many to describe. But if you do not find anything funny in these - well then - you have no sense of humor and just go away. But I highly recommend them for these serious tense times. A very good read. I can not wait to start the next ones.
The Meg Langslow books I have read:
Murder With Peacocks - Meg tries to organize and be in 3 weddings in one summer with 3 bridezillas - one of which is her mother. One of them wants peacocks on the lawns. And a nasty guest is murdered. (My personal nightmare - being in three weddings in one summer - not the the murder part.)
Murder With Puffins - Meg and her boyfriend Michael try to escape for some quiet time to a family cottage in Maine. Half the family comes with. A local artist and old flame of Meg's mother is murdered. And there is the remnants of a hurricane. Yikes!
Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos - In her hometown of Yorktown, Virginia, Meg tries to help organize the chaos of a reenactment festival of Yorktown and solve a murder that happened in her craft fair booth -while in period costumes. What a gal!
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon - Meg is temping at her brother's computer gaming company when the office's practical joker is murdered. The buzzard is the office mascot. The game they sell? Lawyers From Hell.
We’ll Always Have Parrots - While attending a fan convention for a TV show, Michael has acted in, and to sell her budding line of swords, Meg finds the dead body of the star of the show. A rabid fan? A disgruntled co-worker? Or could it be one of the monkeys and parrots that are running about the lobby? Talk about a decorating idea gone wild.
Books I have to look forward to:
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
And something for the future:
Swan for the Money - Due in July 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment