Book Review: Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #19)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Wonderful characters in a great mystery

Cons: I was hoping to see more of someone introduced a couple of books ago

The Bottom Line:

Halloween party

Includes crime wave and murder

More fun times for us

I’m Raven about Meg’s Latest Adventure

I love Donna Andrews’s books, so I bought Lord of the Wings and started reading it without even bothering to find out what it was about.  I quickly figured out the book was set a few days before Halloween, and I thought about putting it down and saving it for October.  But I could never wait that long and devoured it right away.

The town of Caerphilly has decided to throw a giant Halloween festival this year in an effort to bring more money to their small economy.  Meg Langslow isn’t in charge of it – that has fallen to the Lydia, the new hire in town responsible for all the festivities they put on over the course of a year.  Meg is just in charge of the Goblin Patrol, the group of volunteers who are helping with security for the wide spread event.

However, a few days before Halloween, things obviously begin to go haywire.  Someone breaks into the town’s haunted house.  While Meg is chaperoning a trip to the zoo with her twins, a fake foot is found in with the alligators.  And a dead body is found behind the zoo.  With so much happening, can Meg make sense of anything before the craziness of the holiday really hits?

This is a wide ranging plot with several very diverse elements.  I loved that because it kept me quite confused as to where the story was really going.  And between everything Meg was juggling, the pace never slowed down.  I was turning pages as quickly as I could until I reached the logical climax.

The series has introduced us to a large cast of characters, which is no surprise for a series that’s been running this long.  The series regulars are all present and accounted for, and it was fun to see them again.  We actually got to see more of Meg’s brother Rob and his computer company, Mutant Wizard, in this book than is often the case, and I enjoyed that.  Of course, my favorite characters are still Meg’s twins, who steal many a scene in this book.  There are a nice group of suspects as well who are well developed and help keep us from guessing the ending too soon.

I found all the Halloween revelers to be quite amusing and had to laugh as some of their antics over the course of the book.  Couple that with Meg’s crazy family and the twins, and you’ll be smiling and laughing as the pages fly by.

About my only disappointment is that a potential new series character introduced a couple of books ago is once again only referenced in passing.  I guess I need to let my hope that we’d see more of this person go.  Other characters who were in earlier books of the series have dropped by the wayside as others have taken their place.  I guess that will be the case here as well.  It just seems a waste since there is much character growth potential in the series regulars that could be explored here.

And, trust me, this is a minor complaint.  I enjoyed spending time with Meg and her family again.  Lord of the Wings was over all too soon, and I am already looking forward to my next visit.

Missing an adventure or two?  Here are the Meg Langslow Mysteries in order.