Murder with Peacocks (Meg Langslow Mysteries)

Why did the mother and father divorce in the first place?
Is she really so dim that she can't see the Michael forest for the trees?
Guessed the ending about 1/4 of the way through.
I liked the peacocks.

I am sorely tempted to give this five stars, just because. It's a cozy mystery – a young woman who blacksmiths for a living takes the summer off to plan not one, not two, but three weddings (for her best friend, her brother, and her divorced mother, in that order), and when her mother's fiancé's dead wife's sister (still with me?) is found dead it's only the beginning of the mayhem. I have prejudices and whatnot that generally keep me from giving a cozy mystery five stars – it always feels like the perfect score should be saved for the truly superlative: Litrachure. Except when I just couldn't enjoy a book more if there were a twenty dollar bill stapled to the inside cover, and then I throw caution to the winds. And you know? This may be "just" a cozy mystery, but it has no pretensions of being anything but a really fun story really well told, and as a cozy it hits all the right notes and not a single wrong one. There were a small handful of places where the writing hitched slightly – a word used twice in a compound sentence, that sort of thing – but … Abraham Lincoln said "Whatever you are, be a good one". <I>Murder with Peacocks</i> is a cozy, and a very good one, and it deserves credit for that. Consider it four and a half.

I've read several "bridezilla" cozies; with so many of the heroines of the subgenre working as caterers, it's inevitable that weddings will crop up here and there. And they've been my least favorite of their respective series, usually. The women are always rich, entitled, anorexic, vicious, and beyond unreasonable, and usually have mothers to match, and they harry the poor caterer day and night and into the weekend until she wants to frost their cakes with white lead icing and the reader hopes for a funeral instead of a wedding. Here, though, the author pulls off as remarkable a feat as her Meg does: three brides who are thoughtless, demanding, and frazzled, and the only one I hated was the one I was meant to hate. Moreover, I believed this brand of thoughtlessness and heedless mind-changing as I never did in those other cozies.

A little while back I complained bitterly about a book which was advertised as madcap, with which descriptor I disagreed strongly. This? This was madcap. One of the quotes the book used promised the reader she would "laugh heartlessly" – and I sighed, because usually when a book promises to make me laugh it fails miserably. It tries too hard, and before long I picture it as the little man in the bad suit up on stage, sweating and stammering and repeating himself in the spotlight as a drunk heckles him from the second row. Donna Andrews, however, used a light and deft touch, and this book did make me laugh. Not uproariously; not on every page; I wouldn't necessarily agree with "heartlessly" (there was no cruelty in this book beyond that any thoroughly hassled person might express toward her tormentors). But I laughed, and smiled more than I laughed, and wanted to know what was going to happen, and in the end that's all I'm looking for in my day to day reading. With the weddings, the murders, frequent power outages, the almost-derailed-before-it-started romance for Meg, and not only a little boy with a pet duck but also the title peacocks, it's all frothy as a meringue – and I know firsthand how hard a meringue can be. It's well managed.

On the one hand, I'm pleased that this launched a series: I enjoyed the characters, Meg and David and her family, and I enjoyed the heck out of the writing, and I enjoyed the storytelling. But this was a book about a young woman dropped into a bizarre chain of events, with theft and murder and blackmail, poison and explosives and sabotage suddenly rife as weeds in her small hometown. The plotline is frenetic, and what keeps it from stretching suspension of disbelief to its limits is the skill with which Andrews handles her blacksmith main character's reactions to the mayhem: in part, with her duties as unpaid and unthanked planner for three ever-changing weddings within weeks of each other, with an attitude of <I>I don't have</i> time <i>for this.</I> The book adeptly threw flaming torch after chainsaw after live chicken into Meg's juggling act, and it was fun to watch her grit her teeth and adapt. I don't know if this will get old over the course of the series, as Meg inevitably becomes one of those cozy mystery heroines who would be utterly alarming to know in reality – "Have you ever noticed that wherever she goes bodies begin to stack up?" We'll have to see. I liked the characters, and their writer, more than enough to give them some slack.

Meg Langslow's summer plans are filled with summer engagements. She returned to her small Virginia hometown to be a bridesmaid for three weddings: her mother, her brother and for her best friend.
Early on she meets Michael Walterson, Professor of Theater, at a nearby college. He was managing his mother's dress making shop. Michael and Meg hit it off immediately.
There's not much controversy in the story except dealing with Meg's best friend Eileen complaints that her fiance Steven complains about including the Native American heritage purification ceremony in the wedding. I can just imagine reacting to something like this in Virginia.
Then one of the characters if found dead and the sheriff comes to investigate and suspicion spreads.
The family relationships were interesting to view and how their personal connections can become upset.
Meg was resilient and interesting as a main character who can be respected.
The murder is a minor detail and the character who murdered is a bit obnoxious and unlikable. Not much of an affect on the main part of the story or the three weddings.

This is Book 1 in a series I inadvertently started in the middle. Even more than the one I read first, it's an extended farce -- punctuated by three weddings and, of course, by murder. The book introduces some key primary and secondary characters, and in retrospect makes me like at least one of them better.

Protagonist Meg's extended family were born for farce. Meg does not suffer fools and other difficult folks gladly, but does let them take advantage of her out of (one assumes) family loyalty, and copes admirably with the expected and unexpected crises.

The book does use the clueless-narrator device, which I usually find annoying, but I didn't mind it that much in this case.

Lets start this review off with a disclaimer: I am not a wedding person. Period.

So you can understand how odd it is that I love a book whose plot works through THREE weddings. I first read Murder with Peacocks while planning my own wedding, and it was the perfect escape from the stress that comes from a mixture of excitement surrounding the pending nuptials and the pain of pleasing all family members involved in the ordeal. Meg Langslow and I were struggling through similar situations and her humor throughout the story kept me grounded and laughing for hours.

Meg’s unique family members are what makes this book so enjoyable. I find myself waiting for them all to march through my front door with food and ice tea with each turn of the page. Andrews is a master at taking the faults of each character and making them enduring traits. Readers feel like they are reconnecting with old friends when they open the next book in the series. I am still giggling at Dr. Langslow, Meg’s father, staking out Jake from a dogwood tree; I am exasperated at the missed ‘love connections’ experienced by Michael, the hunky dress store manager. I am left cheering for Meg, who is somewhat of a kindred spirit, as she fights off the advances of the burly Barry and struggles to wrangle the flighty brides! Add a few dead bodies and sabotage to the mix and it makes for an interesting summer for our heroine.

Just a few things to keep in mind: There are a lot of details about weddings, so be prepared to read about cakes, flowers, and dresses. Luckily, Andrews’ writing is far from tedious for readers. There is not a lot of detecting; Murder with Peacocks is less like a detective story and more a tale of life with a few dead bodies thrown in. The end ‘who-dunnit’ announcement may seem too abrupt for some people, but those who focus on the small details while reading will realize the characters were investigating throughout the entire story. At times the family’s craziness can seem unbelievable for some; I suggest reading something else if this is an issue for you. The Langslow family personalities are what makes these novels so entertaining and they only get wilder as the series progresses!

I picked Murder with Peacocks up for a second time specifically for this review, and it was just as enjoyable as the first time! I am actually sending a copy of the book to my mom for her birthday; she requested a book that would leave her laughing!

Lindsay

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Meg has returned to her hometown for a chaos filled extended stay. She's a bridesmaid for three weddings with three demanding brides and has her hands full with their ridiculous expectations. It's the same old town, with the same uninteresting men, save for Michael, who is rumored to prefer men. Not only is he gorgeous but he's intelligent and friendly and they become fast friends. Meg does her damndest to banish all lusty thoughts when they're together but the mere sight of him makes it difficult.

When a woman disliked by everyone turns up dead Meg, her oddball dad and Michael start a sleuthing. Cute and fluffy is this book. I couldn't figure out why Meg wouldn't say no to her annoying brides (ok, one was her mother but STILL). All of her tasks seemed to keep her in close proximity to cutie Michael who couldn't seem to get a word out without interruptions. I've read many a book with romance-interruptis but this one took it to unheard of heights.

Tame and cute and light-hearted fun but for me it just wasn't enough. I'd liken it to being allowed a mini cupcake when you're craving a whole damn cake. I wanted more action, more romance, more sexual tension (at the very least!), more laughs, more time with offbeat Dad, WAY more sexy Michael and more grisly deaths. Instead I read page after page of snore inducing wedding info. Dress selection, card writing, color choices, tracking down freaking peacocks for a wedding . . . It's all here. It all became a little tedious after the first few chapters and took me ages to finish. Guess this type of book just isn't for me. I hear they get better as the series goes along, and I'm supposed to read the entire series for my book group, but I don't know if I have the patience to bother.

First of a mystery series with birds in the titles, and a wicked sense of humour.
Meg Langslow is a blacksmith with a family - and cousins, uncles and friends galore - who drive her crazy, but she's used to them, by now. In this tale she has agreed to be maid of honour for three different weddings so she has a huge amount of organising to do, including providing peacocks, and she doesn't have time to focus on the new handsome young man in town, Michael. Other girls assure her Michael must be gay because he wasn't interested when they flirted, showing, I thought, his uncommonly good sense. By the end of course it turns out Meg was the only one whom Michael fancied.
Meanwhile we've had a dead body in the sea, an electrocution, several poisonings, a bomb.... Several wedding guests are now turning up each introducing a 'cousin' who is a beefy man in a suit with a bulge under the armpit and suspicious eyes, as one would.
Meg's father, a doctor, is delighted to apply his knowledge to each case and checks tide tables, rows around the coast and has Meg tossing heavy bags over cliffs to see how far a body could have drifted. He lectures the sheriff who of course is invited to some of the weddings and turns up with food. Meg's autocratic mother is one of the brides and her ex-husband is generously applying himself to making her wedding day perfect, in between investigating how foxglove extract got into the food. Confused? You haven't met Cousin Horace in the gorilla suit yet.

Quirky, funny, enthralling, and scary; are just a few of the adjectives that can describe this book, the first in the Meg Langslow series. Meg is the Maid of Honour at 3 weddings in her hometown so she has returned to her family home to deal with all of the details of her best friend's, her brother's and her mother's wedding. Meg's tasks appear monumental and varied; getting peacocks for one wedding, finding mead for a medieval wedding, scheduling & dealing with dress fittings and keeping her eccentric family under control are just a few of the tasks. What happens when a disappearance and then a suspicious death add to the worries? I am late to finding this series so I am looking forward to reading the many books that follow this enjoyable mystery.

As a general rule, if a book description or review states that a particular book has a lot of humor, I will be skeptical. Adding humor into a mystery series can be hit or miss and sometimes at the expense of good writing. In "Murder With Peacocks", Donna Andrews gives us a "hit". . . . and good writing. The reader is brought into the life of Meg Lanslow as she tries to organize weddings over the summer around her crazy relatives and friends. At the start of the wedding season, someone dies and Meg's busybody father immediately goes into action to find out what happened. Of course, he drags Meg into the situation as well, and the two of them eventually become targets themselves.

If you like getting into the nitty gritty details of detective work - be warned - you won't find much of that here. This is a light, fast-paced story with a very diverse cast of characters that provide many humorous moments throughout the book. I was laughing so hard at one particular scene, my husband came in and took the book away. The ongoing interaction between Meg and "rumored to be gay" hunky Michael is a clever aspect that adds appeal to both characters. The ending wasn't a huge surprise, but the book was so entertaining I didn't mind. This is definitely a very good "cozy mystery".

Other good examples of fun, entertaining mysteries I would recommend are "Murder boogies with Elvis" by Anne George and "Taken to the Cleaners" by Dolores Johnson.

Meg Lanslow is home for the summer having promise to the maid of honour in three weddings. At one of the parties we meet Mrs Grower who likes to start trouble. The next morning she is found dead on the beach. There are series of mishaps a.d funny scences as Meg and her Dad tried to investigate the murder. The mishaps seemed to point at Dad but he is always when they happen. The first is a fuse box that misfired and sends the only repairman to the hospital leaving one roast that hot summer. The BRIDES all made Meg lot of problems. Meg goes for a fitting for dress and meets the "man of her dreams". Only to learn it that Is rumour that he is gay. Will Meg find the answer to who killed Mrs Close before she is in danger.

The first novel in the always delightful Meg Langslow Mysteries series by Donna Andrews. I have read several later books so it was great to see the beginning of her relationship with Michael. I love her father but her mother would drive me up the wall if I had to live with her and admire at how well Meg handles it. She should look weak for bending to others but she comes across as strong and loyal instead. The mystery was wonderfully complex and held me to the very end. I read this book in a boxes set with Puffins that I purchased from the store. I will post that review once I have read book two.

Book 1 in Donna Andrews Bird Mystery books.

Donna Andrews has written a fantastic, fast paced series of mystery books set in West Virginia and all featuring birds of some variety.
This is the 1st book which features - Peacocks and Weddings.

This book introduces Meg Lanslow as the blacksmith who can be relied on to organise any occasion. This summer she is to be a bridesmaid at 3 weddings - her mother's (2nd marriage), her brother's and her scatty best friend's. The wedding stars rely upon Meg and her invaluable notebook to sort out every aspect including wedding dress fittings - and the finding of some peacocks to show off their feather displays in the garden during the reception.

Meg and her family (which becomes bigger with every page turn) have adventures galore in their wedding preperations, especially when they find a dead body on the beach, a trapped vicious dog called Spike and screams in the night.

This is a fast paced mystery that can be read comfortabily in a few hours - it keeps you glued to every page and keep you questing for answers.

Meet Meg Langslow, blacksmith and bridesmaid extraordinaire. She is spending the summer in her tiny Virginia hometown in order to coordinate three - count 'em, three - weddings. And two of them - her brother's and her mother's - are to feature peacocks, of all things. No peacocks for her best friend, but Meg does have to talk her out of costuming everybody - guests included - in medieval garb. At least there's the hunk minding his mother's dress shop while she recuperates in Florida. No, wait, all the other bridesmaids have tried and quickly determined that Michael is gay.
Michael, a drama professor, does prove to be charming company, however, as he assists Meg in averting triple nuptial fiascoes. Some things are simply beyond their control, though. Like her mother's fiancé's former sister-in-law making a nuisance of herself and getting killed. And her brother's fiancée's insistence on gigantic hoop skirts. And her father narrowly escaping electrocution. And amorous oafs like Barry (her best friend's fiancé's brother) and Scotty. Not to mention half of one bridal party eating poisoned salsa. And two - count 'em, two - bomb scares.
Of course it helps that Meg's kinfolk are not your run-of-the-mill family. From her nephew who has a pet duck, to her doctor father who still takes care of his ex-wife's house and garden (and, now, peacocks), there is just no telling what might happen next. So Meg is not surprised when her father embroils her and Michael in the investigation, and the body count starts rising. I don't want to ruin the fun for you, so I'll just promise that this book is highly eventful and extremely well paced. Some of the romantic plotting may be a bit predictable, but its farcical nature implies that it's meant to be somewhat transparent to counter the twists in the murder plot line.
Andrews is to be commended for marrying (if you'll pardon the pun) a murder mystery and a screwball comedy to form a delightful union. In the end, I cast my Agatha vote for Kris Neri's Revenge of the Gypsy Queen, but it was a tough decision, and this is truly a winner of a book.

Ms. Andrews has written a humorous romantic novel about the daughter, sister, best friend, who has been assigned the task of making all the arrangements for the marriages of her mother, brother and best friend. The author handles the writing quite well, but her fictional character has loads of trouble many of which provide the laughs. For whatever reasons seemed appropriate to the author, she also tacked on a murder mystery. This added little to the book for me but did provide the reason for me to buy it. Admittedly, I did get a bit bored with the wedding stuff, but I should think this would not trouble the average reader of romantic novels (or of domestic humor).j

I came to Murder With Peacocks with high expectations. After all, it had won the Agatha for best first novel and had been nominated in the same category for an Anthony, a Barry, a Dilys, a McCavity and a Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice. It's a fun, reasonably entertaining read. Still, the competition must have been pretty weak to get so many nominations.
The book is fundamentally equal parts humor, romance, and mystery. As is often the case when trying to do so much, nothing is done exceptionally well. I certainly had a few laughs - as would any former maid of honor. (Quite frankly, if I'd been maid of honor for any of the three brides, some justifiable homicide might have occured.) The book is about weddings and certainly has some romantic moments. The mystery takes a back seat for much of the book - sort of an amusing sideline for Meg's eccentric father. The ultimate resolution is no big surprise but at least the three wedding days are completed.
Still, I enjoyed this book. It may not be perfectly crafted but it flowed well for a light, before bedtime sort of read.

This light type of mystery is not my usual fare. I tend to like books that are more suspense, have an archeological or historical slant, and are generally darker. I do like to mix in a light novel every so often. I've had to (unfortunately) give up on the two authors I used to go to. I am VERY thankful I have found Donna Andrews and her heroine Meg.

Ms. Andrews has nicely balanced the characters, the action, and humor, without allowing it to become farcical. The book was a light, quick read, which is exactly what I was looking for. I recommend this book for anyone looking for a fun read.

I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series and hope it is as good as the first.

If you like mysteries and quirky characters, you will love this book. It is so much fun with surprises throughout. I still laugh thinking about some of the scenes. This is a nice change of pace book for our Book Club. The characters are well developed for a first book and give us lots to discuss.

I lived from the start. Funny ,interesting. Is it a story about peacocks,peahens or maybe just a special family that just once in your life you wish they could be yours. Beware when ask to be a part of a wedding. Read and enjoy.

Meg Lanslow is a blacksmith whose summer is dominated by weddings: her mother is remarrying, her brother is wedding for the first time, and her best friend is also getting ready to tie the knot. When a soon-to-be inlaw turns up dead, Meg's father (who reads too many mystery novels) decides to investigate. As the countdown to the weddings proceeds, the number of untimely demises increases.

Murder with Peacocks is a cozy for closet cozy fans - those like myself who may publicly scoff at the body count surrounding Jessica Fletcher yet secretly enjoy the eccentric characters and happy endings. It is also a book for people - again, like myself - who have a dry sense of humor and appreciate sarcasm.

This first effort reminds me of the delight I felt reading Dorothy Cannell's first book, "The Thin Woman," so many years ago. Much the same style of humor, sparkling self-deprecation, and romantic obliviousness combine to make great flighty fun for the lucky reader. Unlike the reviewer below who thought this writer took too long to get going, I would not have minded had she stretched out some of the hilarious interludes at the dressmaker and family meetings. I'm eager for "Murder with Puffins" to come out in 2000!

This was a private review by Lisa Small. See all of Lisa Small's public reviews:
http://www.the store.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A13KQ84VC1HA30/

Meg Langslow, in a moment of temporary insanity, has agreed to
plan not one but three weddings. Throw in the murder of one of her soon-to-be in-laws and several mysterious accidents and Meg is soon working on a case of permanent insanity. Saddled
with a clan of eccentric kinfolk, the only real help Meg gets is from Michael, the dishy, but alas, gay (or so it is rumored),
theater professor, currently running his mother's dress shop for
the summer. I started this series with the 2nd book, Murder with
Puffins, and enjoyed it so much I had to come back and read the first. Meg's oddball family is amusing and yet believable. The mystery is also quite good.

Murder with Peacocks is just the beginning (and a GREAT beginning) to a series about long suffering blacksmith Meg Langslow and her eccentric family. As Meg juggles her maid-of-honor duties in THREE weddings, deals with familial upsets and a neighborhood murder, she is accompanied by her new friend, the gorgeous Michael Waterston, who she's been told is gay. But is he? Meg's retired doctor father is a real hoot with his addiction to mysteries and his knowledge of poisonous plants. Don't even start this book unless you want to get hooked on a terrific, fast-paced series.

This murder series is set on the coast of Virginia, and follows the cozy mystery format. The series centers on Meg Langslow, a blacksmith artist, who visits her family hometown for the summer to plan and coordinate three weddings. The whole town seems to be related to Meg's family and the various characters provide much comic release. Meg's father is a retired doctor who loves gardening and his ex-wife. Meg's mother prepares for her wedding to a recent widower, and this will be the final of the three summer weddings. Not to spoil the story, the weddings do not go smoothly. After just reading the latest Elizabeth George, this novel provided laughter and very speedy reading, but no character vividly remains etched in my memory.

Fun cozy mystery centered around a lovable, crazy family and three summer weddings. Granted, it doesn't even try to be Louise Penny or Jacqueline Winspear, but is still at the high end of quality in the cozy genre.

Murder with Peacocks is a whimsical and fun mystery. Never mind that these rich people have shallow lives and nothing more to bother with than the planning of three summer weddings. These characters are so likable and amusing that one hardly notices. Following the hectic summer of our heroine, Meg, is a joy to behold as she organizes the weddings despite a cast of eccentric family members, bizarre last minute demands by the brides to be, and, of course, attempted and actual murders. The fact that a murderer is on the loose is a mere inconvenience as the plans and the eventual weddings must go on - peacocks and all. Andrews gives us a real whodunit that's a lot of fun to read.

Very funny and clever first(?) book. I picked this book up strictly because I need d something to read while waiting between carpool duties and I really got strange looks from other parents because I was laughing out loud and I was all alone. Anybody waiting for kids to carpool isn't usually in a great mood but this book is very entertaining. The characters are well written and although in some of the sub plots you know wha is going to happen, the fun is actually watching it happen. The mystery is well handeled and the main characters is someone I look forward to reading about in the next book.

This first book was a great read. The author effectively blended a murder mystery along with great moments of comedy ranging from Duck the duck, the old lady playing croquet on the table, to the loud and raucous peacocks. The author placed in the book several red herrings throwing the reader off side but surprising them at the end.
The only thing I didn't really care for was the cavalier attitude of everyone after the murder--someone got murder but ON with the weddings. But all in all, I am looking forward to her other books.

Having exhausted ALL of my other favorite authors' writings, I needed new reading material. Although not a fan of "weddings", this book was fantastic. The characters are hilarious and the dialogue is as quirky as it is witty. I am glad Spike is so much like my beloved Tazz. I loved every minute of it, and I have just finished the second book in the series. I am now reading the third. Thank-you, Donna, for introducing us to Meg, Michael, Dad, and Spike!

Murder with Peacocks is a whimsical and fun mystery. Never mind that these rich people have shallow lives and nothing more to bother with than the planning of three summer weddings. These characters are so likable and amusing that one hardly notices. Following the hectic summer of our heroine, Meg, is a joy to behold as she organizes the weddings despite a cast of eccentric family members, bizarre last minute demands by the brides to be, and, of course, attempted and actual murders. The fact that a murderer is on the loose is a mere inconvenience as the plans and the eventual weddings must go on - peacocks and all. Andrews gives us a real whodunit that's a lot of fun to read.

Very funny and clever first(?) book. I picked this book up strictly because I need d something to read while waiting between carpool duties and I really got strange looks from other parents because I was laughing out loud and I was all alone. Anybody waiting for kids to carpool isn't usually in a great mood but this book is very entertaining. The characters are well written and although in some of the sub plots you know wha is going to happen, the fun is actually watching it happen. The mystery is well handeled and the main characters is someone I look forward to reading about in the next book.

This first book was a great read. The author effectively blended a murder mystery along with great moments of comedy ranging from Duck the duck, the old lady playing croquet on the table, to the loud and raucous peacocks. The author placed in the book several red herrings throwing the reader off side but surprising them at the end.
The only thing I didn't really care for was the cavalier attitude of everyone after the murder--someone got murder but ON with the weddings. But all in all, I am looking forward to her other books.

Having exhausted ALL of my other favorite authors' writings, I needed new reading material. Although not a fan of "weddings", this book was fantastic. The characters are hilarious and the dialogue is as quirky as it is witty. I am glad Spike is so much like my beloved Tazz. I loved every minute of it, and I have just finished the second book in the series. I am now reading the third. Thank-you, Donna, for introducing us to Meg, Michael, Dad, and Spike!

Last September I checked out MURDER WITH PEACOCKS at my local library and loved it. I ordered my own copy and decided to refresh my memory by reading it before I read CROUCHING BUZZARD, LEAPING LOON, which I got yesterday.
Good thing I have a cold and I'm not going anywhere today. Even though I'd read it barely four months ago, I couldn't bring myself to put MURDER WITH PEACOCKS down until I finished it -- a minute or two before the clock chimed three (yes, in the morning).

An amazing story, amazing writing and characters. I can't wait to read on through the rest of the Meg Langslow series. If you like crazy, real life stories with characters that are as real to you by the end as your own family, you have got to read this book!

This is one of my favorite mystery novels because it's so funny and the contrast between the down-to-earth heroine and her crazy family is a pure delight. I adore Meg's father, I shake my head whenever I read about her formidable mother, and of course, I couldn't resist Michael. If you read only one mystery this year, make it this one!

Meg Langslow has offered to help plan the weddings of her best friend, her future sister- in-law and her mother who is marrying the next door neightbor while her ex (Meg's father) is always around helping.. everyone has outrageous ideas from peacocks discovering the lawns, velvet in 90 plus degree weather, loads of "accidents" and finally a murder...maybe more.
I haven't had so much fun reading a cozy in a long time.The characters are likeable, alittle crazy and almost all related in this little town. The author is witty, funny and keeps this great story just rolling along. It is a blast with many "laugh-out-louds". I highly recommend it and can't wait for her next one.

I loved this book! Meg Langslow is so funny! Her family is so quirky and I love their hilarious escapades! Such an enjoyable read! The first Donna Andrews book I read was "We'll Always Have Parrots" and I fell in love with the characters...wouldn't every one want a Dad like that!?
For anyone who likes a good mystery with a great twist - you will thoroughly enjoy this book!

My mother first picked up this book from the library for me when we went on vacation, and at the time I didn't think I would enjoy it. However, I started reading it and I couldn't help laughing out loud in certain sections of the book. AT this point in time I've read the book over seven times and still chuckle at the same spots. Especially on bad days when I'm down it lifts me up high and lets me enjoy the rest of the day. I could recommend this book to almost anyone who enjoys a light hearted, fun-filled, absolutely hilarious book that still leaves you snickering after your finnished.