Book Review: Owls Well that Ends Well by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #6)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great plot, funny characters

Cons: You're joking, right?

The Bottom Line:

Body not for sale

Even if at rummage sale

Laughs and murder mix

A Hoot!

Owls Well That Ends Well is the sixth entry in the Meg Langslow series starring Meg, her boyfriend Michael, and a crazy assortment of Meg's family.

When Meg and Michael bought their house on the edge of town, they knew it would take lots of work. For one thing, it's old, so there's plenty of repair work. More immediate, the former owner was a pack rat, and they bought the house with all the contents as well.

Now, after several months of hard work, they're ready for the yard sale to end all yard sales. With plenty of Meg's relatives on hand to "help" and sell their own items, it promises to be an event.

The customers start coming before dawn. Among the first is local antiques dealer Gordon McCoy. Since he's always out to make a quick buck, no one trusts him. Sure enough, he's quickly hording treasures in the barn to check out later, even though the barn is off limits because of the owls nesting there. But when a customer drags a trunk out of the barn to buy, Gordon's body is found locked inside. The police quickly zero in on one of Michael's fellow professors at the local college since he was seen wandering around the sale with the murder weapon, a heavy bookend. Since Meg is trying to win the man over as a friend, she sets out to make sure the police have a better suspect. With the yard sale temporarily on hold while the police investigate, Meg is able to dive in, especially since the crowd, suspects included, seem to be staying around the house hoping the sale will reopen. Can Meg deal with the restless crowd and solve the murder?

With each book, I fall further in love with this comedic mystery series. I giggled and laughed my way through this entry, often hoping I wouldn't wake up my sleeping roommate. There are several funny sub-plots that weave their way through the book, and I think there is a larger then normal assortment of relatives, adding to the general wackiness.

The main story line is handled well with some nice development the entire way through. I never found my interest waning, even if a sub-plot takes center stage for a chapter. The happenings in the book are just too much fun to find boring. Plus the mystery twists and turns until it reaches a logical yet surprising ending.

And, of course, there are the characters. And in this case, I mean it. While Meg and Michael are fairly normal, there are plenty of strange people running around through these pages. Cousin Horace and his gorilla suit are present. Unfortunately, he only gets a few mentions here, but Meg's parents are their normal riots with Meg's dad trying to make it a costume sale and working hard to protect the owls, even from the police.

This may still be my favorite in the series.  If you enjoy mysteries, you really need to read Owls Well That Ends Well.

And if you are looking for more fun, here are the Meg Langslow Mysteries in order.