A Meg Langslow Mystery (Meg Langslow Mysteries) - Die Like an Eagle

There has only been one other book written by Ms. Andrews that I have zinged. That was The Real Macaw. Her books are usually laugh out loud, slap your thigh, and snort through your nose funny. This book barely garnered a snicker. I guess the premise was "who killed the umpire?". Hundreds of relatives, no lie, hundreds, from out of state, out of country, out of continent, to watch the twins first baseball game. No one really had a viable part in the story other than Meg who goes here, there and everywhere. Tiring and boring. It is not a bad read, but not really up to her abilities. Maybe the author is just taking a rest.

This was another great Meg Lanslow book. This one revolved around baseball. I am still scratching my head about how they can get a picnic for 100 people together in about an hour, but hey, it's fiction and apparently there were already 50 people coming, so what's another 50. HA!

Speaking of baseball, yes the twins are signed up to play summer league. Little does Meg and Michael know its a tight click and a lot of the rules aren't in the rule book. Not when you have a new self-proclaimed dictator heading up the league. Meg goes to bat having memorized the rule book and naturally, she and the dictator do not get along.

However, murder does come along in the form of a victim who just happens to bear close resemblance to the dictator. Yep, it's his brother. Was he the intended target? Or was the dictator?

This was a fun, entertaining, cozy little mystery that I just zipped right on through. While there wasn't a real eagle in the book, per se, there was a team called the Eagles. Definitely worth taking a gander at.

Thanks St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

Meg Langslow is happy to help out her sons’ baseball team by taking on the job of Team Mom. While watching husband Michael coach the members of the Caerphilly Eagles, Meg tries her best to round up volunteers to help at the games. She’s feeling a bit annoyed that no one will return her calls. At first, she thinks the other parents just don’t care. She soon learns they are just trying to stay away from Biff Brown, the nasty man running the league. They know it doesn’t pay to cross him, or he will retaliate; the parents do their best to stay off his radar. When Biff’s look-alike brother is murdered, Meg thinks the unlikable Biff was the intended target and decides to find out if she is right.

Die Like an Eagle is another fun, humorous, and entertaining book in the Meg Langslow Mystery series. Oh, how I love my visits to Caerphilly. The people who inhabit this town are quite unique but always fun. Having spent many a day watching youth baseball games, I can definitely relate to Meg’s visits to the ball field. I was chuckling by the end of the first page when Meg was yelling out encouragement to a young batter and was getting some not-so-nice stares from the fathers. Been there, done that—LOL!

Author Donna Andrews has developed a protagonist who is smart, funny, always in charge, and knows how to delegate. I love that about her! These books are quick, fun, and engaging reads. Looking forward to more visits to Caerphilly. Happy reading!

I love the Meg Langslow series, HOWEVER this is the 20th book in the series and like soup that has been watered down, it's losing it's flavor and substance. There are some entertaining scenes, but everything seems to flow MUCH too smoothly. Want to hold an impromptu picnic for 100 people in an hour? Call Mother - no worries! Listen, I have a HUGE family of my own and the events that are pulled together seamlessly and within minutes in this book will stretch anyone's credibility beyond snapping. And, of course any minor plot points (no matter how small) are tied up neatly in the final chapter. Not just tied up, tied up with bows and glitter.

That said, this is a relatively entertaining book and die hard fans will enjoy it.

In this 20th book in the series Meg Lanslow - blacksmith, wife, mother, amateur sleuth, and assistant to the mayor of Caerphilly - is the team mom for her twin sons' baseball team, the Eagles. The President of the Caerphilly Summerball League is local builder Biff Brown, a dictatorial bully who makes up and enforces his own rules. Moreover Biff's company is contracted to maintain the baseball field, but he does almost nothing. Thus the field is all weeds and potholes with bleachers and dugouts that are falling apart and one small smelly porta-potty. And wouldn't you know it, on Summerall League opening day the cramped porta-potty contains the body of a dead man.

First identified as Biff Brown, the body turns out to be his lookalike brother Shep. Is Biff the intended victim or is it really Shep - an umpire notorious for making calls that favor Biff's teams? Another attempt on Biff's life seems to answer the question. Police Chief Burke investigates the crimes with a little unofficial help from Meg.

As it happens Biff has been hired to remodel Caerphilly town square and - as aide to the mayor - Meg has to track his progress.....which is zero. Biff has also been ignoring Meg's phone calls and texts for weeks. So the amateur detective decides to visit Biff's estranged wife and previous clients, to find out more about him. Meg soon gets an earful: Biff's jobs are shoddy or incomplete; he has a bad temper; he extorts money from clients for the baseball league; and so on.

Besides the mystery there's plenty going on in the story: kids are practicing and playing baseball; there's a picnic for the Caerphilly Eagles and their families (the 'Biff alert' during the party is funny); the Summerball League has an important meeting; Shep's drunken ex-wife totters over to the police station and fires a gun; and so on.

LIke other books in the series, Meg's extended family is on hand to help out as needed. Meg's mom is truly a magician, able to conjure up a party for 100 people (with an enormous amount of food) in an hour and to produce volunteers for the Summerball League's snack stand at a moment's notice.

This is an enjoyable light mystery that would appeal to readers who like cozies, especailly Meg Lanslow fans.

It is spring in Caerphilly. Baseball time and Jamie and Josh are old enough to play in a league. Meg is team Mother and Michael is a coach of the Eagles. Meg is the assistant to Randal Shiffley, the mayor has been trying to talk with Biff Brown about why the work on county square has not been done. Surprise! Biff is the head of the league and enforces his own rules. Mother comes to the rescue and the Langslows hold a sudden picnic and baseball practice at their home. Opening Day Biff's brother is found murdered in the porta-potty at the field. Meg starts looking for answers. Will she succeed so the baseball season can begin? This book is very funny as Caerphilly eccentric characters act up. I love this series and have read them all. I highly recommend the series.

Disclosure: I received a free copy from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley for an honest review. I would like to thank them for this opportunity
to read and review the book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Twentieth in the Meg Langslow cozy, humorous mystery series revolving around an artisan blacksmith and her very extended family in Yorktown, er, Caerphilly, Virginia.

My Take
Andrews certainly had me laughing right off, as Mason is just not ready ready, ROFL. Parents will empathize with this one, as Meg battles a dictatorial Little League coach and bemoans the lack of participation by the parents. Until Meg learns why no one is helping out. Man, it will drive you mad that the parents accept stupid dictates! I did appreciate the back history on Summerball's first season *snicker* More laughter ensues with that first Biff alert during the picnic/practice at Meg and Michael's.

Biff's torture begins with that "picnic" and continues on to the silent GPS trackers to Meg badgering him for a response to her multiple phone calls. He deserves every second of it for being such a cretin. He is, at least, consistent as he is totally incompetent across the board. If the guy ever spent half the time doing things right as opposed to being creatively awful, he wouldn't have all these problems.

As the "crimes" keep piling up and the "rescues" keep diving in, you'll be reading faster and faster to get to the very unexpected denouement.

I am so grateful that mentions of the notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe is getting a bit of a rest.

Poor Mr. Witherington is wondering what kind of asylum he's wandered into, a wonder that decreases the longer he's around. Okay, okay, so a different kind of wonder sets in. And it's Witherington who points out one of the "coaches" (whom Biff rejected), as being a famous and "one of the finest … players ever to come out of the UCLA baseball program". Witherington cracked me up at that meeting as well. Wait'll you read that one! I'm hoping most of the teams get new names.

Ah, if only Meg weren't so efficient… Must get it from Mother, *more laughing* It is a good thing that Meg and company are so used to huge groups of people being around, as she pumps up the confidence for parents and team with picnics and practice and more. They're a sneaky bunch. More of that sneakiness showed when Meg and company had to retrieve that tracking device without anyone knowing, lol.

"Meg for President!!"

It's a small-town vibe that's big, really big, on family. And I adore seeing how people step up to help.

Oh, yeah, Biff's time is up, ROFLMAO.

The Story
The family-oriented Meg is Team Mom and Michael is coach of their twin sons' youth baseball team, the Caerphilly Eagles.

But Meg tangles with Biff Brown, the petty, vindictive league head on baseball issues and city contracts, even after opening day when Biff's lookalike brother is found dead in the port-a-potty at the ball field.

So many people think Biff's scum that it would be easy to blame him, but he has an alibi — and Meg suspects he may actually have been the intended victim.

The Characters
Meg Langslow, a blacksmith, is Team Mom with her notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe while her husband, Professor Michael Waterston, teaches drama at the local college. They have twin boys, Josh and Jamie, who play for the Caerphilly Eagles. The all-organic Cousin Rose Noire and Meg's brother, Rob, live with the Langslow-Waterstons. Groucho and Harpo are the pet llamas. Spike, a.k.a., the Small Evil One, is the dog.

The Family Hollingworth
Mother can do anything from round up volunteers for the Snack Shack to organize a picnic for 100 in an hour. Dad, Dr. Langslow, is fascinated by everything and is the county medical examiner. Cousin Priscilla is quite shy. Cousin Festus Hollingsworth is a very good defense attorney. Eric is one of Meg's teenaged nephews.

Cordelia Lee Mason (Delia Lee was her maiden name) is the great-grandmother the family recently discovered, who had been Grandfather's lover all those decades ago. Caroline Willner owns the Willner Wildlife Refuge and is Grandfather's frequent ally in animal welfare missions. She may not technically be family, but she's still family. Thor works for her as a chauffeur and general factotum in the summer.

Caerphilly Zoo is…
…owned by Grandfather — Montgomery Blake, a famous zoologist and environmentalist. Manoj is potentially the headkeeper for the aviary. Alex is a business student.

The Summerball Youth Baseball League was…
…formed by disgruntled parents and plays at Percy Pruitt Park. Lemuel Shiffley, Randall's uncle, used to run it. James Witherington is vice president with Summerball National. Other teams include the Flatworms, Wombats, River Rats, Stoats, Sandgnats, Muckdogs, Grasshoppers, Yankees, Nats, Pirates, and Red Sox. Kermit and Fletcher Entwhistle play on one of the teams; Willard Entwhistle is their dad for whom Brown did some work.

The Caerphilly Eagles are…
…one of the Summerball teams. Mason is a friend of the twins, Chase, Zack Thornton, Manny Espinoza, Henry Wong, Adam Burke (he got traded to the Eagles), Tommy Davis, Takahashi, Sami Patel, and Ben Nzeogwu are on the team with Josh and Jamie.

Chuck Davis is the head coach who would much prefer that his nuclear physicist wife who's now teaching at Caerphilly College, Dr. Tory, do the coaching since she is much more experienced. More parents include Evan Thornton; Luis Espinoza; Vince and Janet Wong own the Caerphilly Inn; Police Chief (and Deputy Sheriff) Henry and Minerva Burke are Adam's grandparents (they have custody of their other grandchildren too: Frank Robinson Burke, Jr. and Calvin Ripken Burke; Minerva is also the director for the New Life Baptist Church's gospel choir); and, Mrs. Patel is Sami's grandmother and Anisha is his mother.

Biff Brown is head of the Summerball and Little League organizations as well as the coach for the Caerphilly Stoats and the Caerphilly Yankees. He also owns Brown Construction Company which has the contract to redo the town square. Gina Brown, er, I mean, Crocker, is divorcing the jerk. Shep Henson is Biff's unhappy half-brother who works as an umpire for the games. The tacky, gun-happy Callie Peebles is the former Mrs. Henson.

The City of Caerphilly is…
…in Virginia with Randall Shiffley the mayor and the county executive. He's a great friend of Meg's and her boss, now that she's his executive assistant after events in Lord of the Wings , 19. Phineas T. Throckmorton is the town clerk. Dr. Smoot, the former coroner, has a thing for bacon and anchovies…and playing vampire. Padgett Shiffley is a county health inspector. Ms. Ellie is the librarian.

Debbie Ann is the police dispatcher. Cousin Horace Hollingworth is the official crime scene tech. Deputies include Vern Shiffley, Aida Butler (Kayla is her daughter helping at the front desk), and Sammy Wendell.

Shiffley Construction Company is…
…owned by the mayor, but his nephew Cephus is in charge while Randall is in office. More Shiffley relatives include Osgood, Merle with his pig truck, and Ideen Shiffley, the nosiest woman in town who runs a B&B where Ms. Nondescript is staying.

Edna Johnson is job-hunting and has a son who used to play ball. Reverend Robyn runs the Caerphilly Women's Shelter. The Pruitts used to run the town until events in Some Like It Hawk , 14, push them under. Adolph Pruitt has recently gotten out of jail. Evie Pruitt helps with the league "extortion racket". Samuel Yoder had a farm.

Clay County
Sheriff Wicker is the law, so don't bother calling. The Clay Pigeon is an unsavory bar located next to the Clayville Rifle Range.

"Join NAFOB — Not a Friend of Bill's — with the rest of Meg's readers."

The Cover and Title
The cover is a really deep blue with an angry looking eagle in a raffia nest, hatching baseballs. Runaway baseballs. I got a kick out of the baby eaglet pulling the stitching out of the balls…wonder if it's a metaphor for Biff's machinations? The title at the bottom is quite patriotic with its white script outlined in red. The author's name is at the top in a 3-d white…and slightly askew.

The title is, well, yeah, Die Like an Eagle when the eagle, Alexander Hamilton, doesn't show up. Escoffier, a vulture buzzard, shows up instead.

Twentieth in the Meg Langslow cozy, humorous mystery series revolving around an artisan blacksmith and her very extended family in Yorktown, er, Caerphilly, Virginia.

My Take
Andrews certainly had me laughing right off, as Mason is just not ready ready, ROFL. Parents will empathize with this one, as Meg battles a dictatorial Little League coach and bemoans the lack of participation by the parents. Until Meg learns why no one is helping out. Man, it will drive you mad that the parents accept stupid dictates! I did appreciate the back history on Summerball's first season *snicker* More laughter ensues with that first Biff alert during the picnic/practice at Meg and Michael's.

Biff's torture begins with that "picnic" and continues on to the silent GPS trackers to Meg badgering him for a response to her multiple phone calls. He deserves every second of it for being such a cretin. He is, at least, consistent as he is totally incompetent across the board. If the guy ever spent half the time doing things right as opposed to being creatively awful, he wouldn't have all these problems.

As the "crimes" keep piling up and the "rescues" keep diving in, you'll be reading faster and faster to get to the very unexpected denouement.

I am so grateful that mentions of the notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe is getting a bit of a rest.

Poor Mr. Witherington is wondering what kind of asylum he's wandered into, a wonder that decreases the longer he's around. Okay, okay, so a different kind of wonder sets in. And it's Witherington who points out one of the "coaches" (whom Biff rejected), as being a famous and "one of the finest … players ever to come out of the UCLA baseball program". Witherington cracked me up at that meeting as well. Wait'll you read that one! I'm hoping most of the teams get new names.

Ah, if only Meg weren't so efficient… Must get it from Mother, *more laughing* It is a good thing that Meg and company are so used to huge groups of people being around, as she pumps up the confidence for parents and team with picnics and practice and more. They're a sneaky bunch. More of that sneakiness showed when Meg and company had to retrieve that tracking device without anyone knowing, lol.

"Meg for President!!"

It's a small-town vibe that's big, really big, on family. And I adore seeing how people step up to help.

Oh, yeah, Biff's time is up, ROFLMAO.

The Story
The family-oriented Meg is Team Mom and Michael is coach of their twin sons' youth baseball team, the Caerphilly Eagles.

But Meg tangles with Biff Brown, the petty, vindictive league head on baseball issues and city contracts, even after opening day when Biff's lookalike brother is found dead in the port-a-potty at the ball field.

So many people think Biff's scum that it would be easy to blame him, but he has an alibi — and Meg suspects he may actually have been the intended victim.

The Characters
Meg Langslow, a blacksmith, is Team Mom with her notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe while her husband, Professor Michael Waterston, teaches drama at the local college. They have twin boys, Josh and Jamie, who play for the Caerphilly Eagles. The all-organic Cousin Rose Noire and Meg's brother, Rob, live with the Langslow-Waterstons. Groucho and Harpo are the pet llamas. Spike, a.k.a., the Small Evil One, is the dog.

The Family Hollingworth
Mother can do anything from round up volunteers for the Snack Shack to organize a picnic for 100 in an hour. Dad, Dr. Langslow, is fascinated by everything and is the county medical examiner. Cousin Priscilla is quite shy. Cousin Festus Hollingsworth is a very good defense attorney. Eric is one of Meg's teenaged nephews.

Cordelia Lee Mason (Delia Lee was her maiden name) is the great-grandmother the family recently discovered, who had been Grandfather's lover all those decades ago. Caroline Willner owns the Willner Wildlife Refuge and is Grandfather's frequent ally in animal welfare missions. She may not technically be family, but she's still family. Thor works for her as a chauffeur and general factotum in the summer.

Caerphilly Zoo is…
…owned by Grandfather — Montgomery Blake, a famous zoologist and environmentalist. Manoj is potentially the headkeeper for the aviary. Alex is a business student.

The Summerball Youth Baseball League was…
…formed by disgruntled parents and plays at Percy Pruitt Park. Lemuel Shiffley, Randall's uncle, used to run it. James Witherington is vice president with Summerball National. Other teams include the Flatworms, Wombats, River Rats, Stoats, Sandgnats, Muckdogs, Grasshoppers, Yankees, Nats, Pirates, and Red Sox. Kermit and Fletcher Entwhistle play on one of the teams; Willard Entwhistle is their dad for whom Brown did some work.

The Caerphilly Eagles are…
…one of the Summerball teams. Mason is a friend of the twins, Chase, Zack Thornton, Manny Espinoza, Henry Wong, Adam Burke (he got traded to the Eagles), Tommy Davis, Takahashi, Sami Patel, and Ben Nzeogwu are on the team with Josh and Jamie.

Chuck Davis is the head coach who would much prefer that his nuclear physicist wife who's now teaching at Caerphilly College, Dr. Tory, do the coaching since she is much more experienced. More parents include Evan Thornton; Luis Espinoza; Vince and Janet Wong own the Caerphilly Inn; Police Chief (and Deputy Sheriff) Henry and Minerva Burke are Adam's grandparents (they have custody of their other grandchildren too: Frank Robinson Burke, Jr. and Calvin Ripken Burke; Minerva is also the director for the New Life Baptist Church's gospel choir); and, Mrs. Patel is Sami's grandmother and Anisha is his mother.

Biff Brown is head of the Summerball and Little League organizations as well as the coach for the Caerphilly Stoats and the Caerphilly Yankees. He also owns Brown Construction Company which has the contract to redo the town square. Gina Brown, er, I mean, Crocker, is divorcing the jerk. Shep Henson is Biff's unhappy half-brother who works as an umpire for the games. The tacky, gun-happy Callie Peebles is the former Mrs. Henson.

The City of Caerphilly is…
…in Virginia with Randall Shiffley the mayor and the county executive. He's a great friend of Meg's and her boss, now that she's his executive assistant after events in Lord of the Wings , 19. Phineas T. Throckmorton is the town clerk. Dr. Smoot, the former coroner, has a thing for bacon and anchovies…and playing vampire. Padgett Shiffley is a county health inspector. Ms. Ellie is the librarian.

Debbie Ann is the police dispatcher. Cousin Horace Hollingworth is the official crime scene tech. Deputies include Vern Shiffley, Aida Butler (Kayla is her daughter helping at the front desk), and Sammy Wendell.

Shiffley Construction Company is…
…owned by the mayor, but his nephew Cephus is in charge while Randall is in office. More Shiffley relatives include Osgood, Merle with his pig truck, and Ideen Shiffley, the nosiest woman in town who runs a B&B where Ms. Nondescript is staying.

Edna Johnson is job-hunting and has a son who used to play ball. Reverend Robyn runs the Caerphilly Women's Shelter. The Pruitts used to run the town until events in Some Like It Hawk , 14, push them under. Adolph Pruitt has recently gotten out of jail. Evie Pruitt helps with the league "extortion racket". Samuel Yoder had a farm.

Clay County
Sheriff Wicker is the law, so don't bother calling. The Clay Pigeon is an unsavory bar located next to the Clayville Rifle Range.

"Join NAFOB — Not a Friend of Bill's — with the rest of Meg's readers."

The Cover and Title
The cover is a really deep blue with an angry looking eagle in a raffia nest, hatching baseballs. Runaway baseballs. I got a kick out of the baby eaglet pulling the stitching out of the balls…wonder if it's a metaphor for Biff's machinations? The title at the bottom is quite patriotic with its white script outlined in red. The author's name is at the top in a 3-d white…and slightly askew.

The title is, well, yeah, Die Like an Eagle when the eagle, Alexander Hamilton, doesn't show up. Escoffier, a vulture buzzard, shows up instead.

Really 3.5 stars. I love the Donna Andrews series, but this was not one of the best. The entire book was about kids playing ball, Little League, Summerball, coaches good and bad, and small town politics regarding all of the above. This is Ms. Andrews style - she starts off with a topic and stays with it, while throwing a murder into the middle. The entire book milks the main theme for all its' worth, and if it's one you don't like, such as baseball / softball, you are SOL. While it is well written, as are all of Ms. Andrew's books, the trademark wacky people, funny stuff and laughs are few and far between. I got very, very tired of reading about baseball, the bad coach and the kids who suffered because if him. I got tired of husband Michael being used as a handy babysitter but nothing more, and the Twins providing the requisite Cute. Some vague mention about Meg as blacksmith, but nothing in action beyond Meg fixing some bad ball field metalwork. I want to hear more about Meg's blacksmith work, which was dropped about 10 books ago.

Which brings up another issue, Meg repairing metal fences and benches with a soldering iron? This one had me confused. To me, a soldering iron is a small tool used to repair delicate electrical circuits and costume jewelry. I can't imagine using one to repair large pieces of weight-bearing metal, which I thought would require and acetylene torch. I wish this was explained further. I am hungry for a little more knowledge and detail about metalwork and smithing, which I admit was what started me reading the series in the first place.

The latest Meg Langslow mystery is based around children's baseball - and I read it during this year's World Series - and it incorporates rules of baseball, coaching (good and bad), the early women's baseball league, sexism, building contractors, porta-potties, bullies and murder. It's an excellent read, with great dialogue and characters, and it does capture what it is like for children and their parents when they are working together to get a league going, despite obstacles. Meg and Michael, with the seemingly undending relatives that Meg's Mother can assemble on an hour's notice, are ready to protect and defend their family, town and what is important to them. I highly recommend Donna Andrews to anyone who wants a great mystery that includes a whole village involved in the story.

This wonderfully entertaining series delivers another blockbuster read. Meg and Michael are working with their twin sons' youth softball team the Caerphilly Eagles when Meg discovers the body of the brother of Biff Brown, the detested league head, in a porta-potty. It looks like someone is trying knock off Biff and got the wrong brother. With Biff's bad record of shoddy business practices and detestable acts within the baseball league, Meg has her hands full finding the killer. The series will charm, entertain and keep you laughing for hours. A must for any cozy mystery fan or animal lover.

First I loved the fact it acknowledged women who played this sport and it dealt with the ugly and the enjoyable part of this sport which is baseball/softball. The twins are on a baseball team and Meg and Michael had no clue what they were signing and who and what they would be up against. Broken bleachers, nasty snack shack and field full of more holes the grass. But a dead body that smelled ten times better then the porta potty it was left in was the really ope day surprise. It was non stop action from start to finish in this book. It will really take you out to the old ball game

**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review**

I have been meaning to start reading this series for years, but somehow never did. Now I have 19 more books to add to my TBR list. There are characters that you love, and characters you love to hate. Add in some awesome snippy remarks and you have a great book. Although I was able to follow the story having not read any previous books, I would recommend reading them since they should help with understanding some of the backstory

As usual I enjoyed the colorful characters in Meg and Michael's extended family. The baseball theme is perfect for this time of year and the boys have added a further dimension to the series. As they grow I expect we will have more adventures involving them.
I can't believe how organized Meg is; I wish I were that organized. Considering Meg is a newcomer to Caerphilly it's amazing how much of a mover and shaker she's become.
I have enjoyed the whole series since I discovered it over 10 years ago and it is a shame that more of the books are not available in audio format. I've had to borrow the earlier books from the library or purchase Kindle versions to follow the developing relationships.

I love the Meg Langslow books and enjoy reading about the shenanigans that occur around the Caerphilly inhabitants. This book is no different, and it revolves around the baseball season and the happenings surrounding the field.

The story kept me enthralled, and I look forward to the next adventure.

I have followed the series since it first came out in Murder With Peacocks. Ms. Andrews had such deliciously offbeat characters and her relationship with Michael and her family was delightful. Who can forget the duct tape scene in Crouching Buzzard. But the last five books are too predictable. Disaster in Caerphilly. Call Randall Shuffley's construction crew, call the church rescue squads, almost get killed by the murderer. And she and Michael are so rarely together, I wonder if the marriage is on tge rocks. Ms. Andrews needs to get them out of Caerphilly!