Who Has the Sting of a Killer?
It is always a pleasure picking up a favorite series. You know you are going to visit friends you love and enjoy a good story. That’s the case when I pick up one of Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow Mysteries, and Birder, She Wrote was no exception.
If you haven’t yet met Meg, she is a blacksmith, although that rarely comes into play in a significant way in the books. At this point in the series, she and her husband have settled into a small college town in Virginia where Michael teaches acting. They have teenage twin boys, and a whole host of family and friends who makes their lives more interesting. The cases that Meg gets involved in can come from many sources, especially since she also has a part time job assisting the mayor.
And it’s through that job that Meg has become familiar with the NIMBYs, the local term for the rich people who have settled in the area and then started to complain that they are living in a farming community. The problem? Those working farms should be not in my backyard (even though the farms where there before their McMansions were built). Their current complaint is about the man who is keeping his bees on his farm right next to their subdivision. Meg needs to go out and talk to them yet again, but she’s going to do that this afternoon.
First, she is going to go out with her neighbor, Deacon Washington, in his search for a long-lost African-American cemetery where he believes some of his ancestors are buried. While they are out, they stumble upon a very modern dead body – in fact, he looks like he’s only been dead for a few hours. Meg is surprised to find that it’s the ringleader of the NIMBYs. He wasn’t popular, even with his neighbors. Could one of them have killed him?
Before we go any further, I do want to discuss the title. As fans of Donna’s series know, each book features a bird pun of some kind. Usually, the title bird makes an appearance, but it’s often a cameo. This title was clearly chosen as an homage to Murder, She Wrote. I wasn’t expecting anything actually related to the TV show in the story, and I was right. Still, it is a nice tribute to a show that so many of us cozy lovers enjoy and the recently departed Angela Lansbury.
As I said in my opening, I pick up these books and immediately enjoy relaxing into one of my favorite worlds. These characters are fantastic, and it’s always a pleasure to catch up with them. We have a huge cast of supporting players, and sometimes they only get a cameo, and other times they play a larger role in the story. It doesn’t matter how much page time they get, I smile when I see them. That was the case again here.
While this is book 33 in the series, each book works well as a standalone, so you could jump in here. And coming from Mr. Read In Order, that’s saying something. Yes, we get updates on various characters, but everything you need to know is explained to you, so you can follow what is happening.
The mysteries can appear to wander a bit, but everything eventually ties into the story. I wasn’t sure where this book was going when I first picked it up, but it wasn’t long before we found the body, and things focused a bit more at that point. I feel like there might be a bit too much in this book, but I’m probably being nitpicky. I did suspect the killer earlier than Meg, but I wasn’t sure I was right because I missed another couple clues that explained everything. Still, I was enjoying seeing how Meg would piece things together. The suspects are all interesting and help make us care about the mystery.
As fans know, Meg’s family and friends are eccentric, and the gang is up to their usual antics here. I’ll admit, I don’t laugh at them as much as I used to, but they are still comforting and makes me smile. I did laugh at some of the events of this book, usually involving the new characters.
There’s a reason I rush to read a new Meg Langslow book as
soon as I can after it is released.
These are delights from start to finish.
Birder, She Wrote will please fans old and new.
Thanks for the review. I love this series. In fact, Donna Andrews was part of the first book signing I ever went to — I have a signed copy of the first book, Murder With Peacocks. I am amazed at how fresh she keeps the stories, especially after 33 books.
ReplyDeleteThis may be my favorite title in this series which is saying something as I love all the titles. I enjoyed this one and can't wait for the Christmas book in a few months.
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