Donna Andrews: Between a Flock and a Hard Place

Meg Lanslow#35

Donna Andrews’ 35th book in her Meg Lanslow mystery series, Between a Flock and a Hard Place, focuses on a local home that is getting renovated by a brand new home renovation show, as well as a large group of wild feral turkeys. Someone took a whole flock of the large birds and released them into a neighborhood. For those that don’t know a lot about turkeys beyond their making a wonderful meal, turkeys are also territorial, aggressive, and huge in size. They also can, and will, chase you for as long as they want before they are satisfied that you have learned your lesson. Meg’s father is more than ready to lend a hand, and is excited at the prospect of getting his hands on so many turkeys to work with at the zoo, although he seems to be the only one enthusiastic about them. No one wants to prepare for combat just to check the mail, and they certainly aren’t thrilled with what the turkeys are doing to their yards – or anything they find irritating, such as stealing a windshield wiper blade from a car. read more

Donna Andrews: Birder She Wrote

Meg Lanslow #33

I am very excited to be able to review Donna Andrews thirty-third book, Birder She Wrote. Since I started reading cozies I have always been drawn in by the adventures of Meg Langslow and her quirky and endearing family. Birder She Wrote hits on a theme any and all can relate to: irritating neighbors. Meg’s own are so infamous in Caerphilly they have their own nick name: NIMBY, which stands for “not in my back yard.” As the Mayor’s part time assistant of special projects, Meg finds herself directly in the path of the NIMBYS often. What makes them particularly difficult is that they moved to the countryside without understanding at all what living in a rural area really meant. Or that the others who lived there are farmers, which means many a sight, smell, and sound that did not exactly meet with the NIMBY’s idyllic view of what living in the country should be. read more

Donna Andrews: Dashing through the Snowbirds

Donna Andrews’ Dashing Through the Snowbirds will have readers dashing to solve the crimes alongside Meg Langslow. Christmas cheer abounds in Caerphilly, only broken up by a few grumpy guest programmers, who work for the small AcerGen company. Ian Meredith, the head programmer, seems determined to make everyone around him as miserable and uncomfortable as possible. Meg does her best to manage her constantly active family and their house guests, but thanks to Mr. Meredith she and her Mother are finding hosting more of a chore than a pleasure. read more