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Meg Langslow #13
The Real Macaw
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Humor (2011)During an early-morning feeding for her four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow hears an odd noise and goes downstairs to find her living room filled with cats, dogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a stunningly foul-mouthed macaw. What the—bleep—is going on here?
Turns out that a financially-strapped local animal shelter has repealed its no-kill policy and, in an act of protest led in part by Meg’s own zoologist grandfather, the animals have been stolen and resettled around town. But now the volunteer who helped transport the shelter animals has turned up dead. The animal-rights activist’s untimely death seems very, very wrong… Was it the result of a lover’s quarrel? Or is something—or someone—more sinister at play? And, arguably as important, will Meg ever rid her home of these pesky houseguests and get back to the business of nesting with her newborns? Squawk.
Turns out that a financially-strapped local animal shelter has repealed its no-kill policy and, in an act of protest led in part by Meg’s own zoologist grandfather, the animals have been stolen and resettled around town. But now the volunteer who helped transport the shelter animals has turned up dead. The animal-rights activist’s untimely death seems very, very wrong… Was it the result of a lover’s quarrel? Or is something—or someone—more sinister at play? And, arguably as important, will Meg ever rid her home of these pesky houseguests and get back to the business of nesting with her newborns? Squawk.
309 pages, Hardcover
First published July 19, 2011
121 people are currently reading
1489 people want to read
About the author
Donna Andrews
101 books2,068 followersDonna Andrews was born in Yorktown, Virginia, the setting of Murder with Peacocks and Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, and now lives and works in Reston, Virginia. When not writing fiction, Andrews is a self-confessed nerd, rarely found away from her computer, unless she's messing in the garden
http://us.macmillan.com/author/donnaa...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/donnaa...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 332 reviews
November 24, 2021
The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews is a 2011 Minotaur Books publication.
Meg and Michael are proud, but tired parents of twin boys! But, of course, things are about to get even crazier when Meg awakens to a house full of dogs, cats, and… and one foul mouthed Macaw.
As it turns out an animal activist group, which surprise, surprise, Meg’s grandfather is a member of, has stolen the animals from a shelter, which has reversed its ‘no kill’ policy’ due to a lack of funds.
For some reason, Parker, the volunteer who has promised to transport the animals to another shelter, hasn’t shown up and all efforts to contact him have been for naught. When the sheriff shows up, he comes bearing bad news- Parker has been murdered, and he would like to know why someone from Meg’s house has been trying to call Parker repeatedly over the past few hours…
The mystery in this installment is quite good. The plot was absorbing and well executed. The humor was toned down, just a bit, though there were still some laugh out loud moments. I loved all those animals, and the funny things they did, and how some of them found good homes.
Because the book was published in 2013 some of the technologies mentioned are a little nostalgic, but other than that, I usually find that these stories are timeless. Though the characters are very quirky, and occasionally silly, Andrews dots all the I’s and crosses the T’s, so that Meg’s amateur sleuthing makes sense, and mysteries are challenging, but also loads of fun!
4 stars
Meg and Michael are proud, but tired parents of twin boys! But, of course, things are about to get even crazier when Meg awakens to a house full of dogs, cats, and… and one foul mouthed Macaw.
As it turns out an animal activist group, which surprise, surprise, Meg’s grandfather is a member of, has stolen the animals from a shelter, which has reversed its ‘no kill’ policy’ due to a lack of funds.
For some reason, Parker, the volunteer who has promised to transport the animals to another shelter, hasn’t shown up and all efforts to contact him have been for naught. When the sheriff shows up, he comes bearing bad news- Parker has been murdered, and he would like to know why someone from Meg’s house has been trying to call Parker repeatedly over the past few hours…
The mystery in this installment is quite good. The plot was absorbing and well executed. The humor was toned down, just a bit, though there were still some laugh out loud moments. I loved all those animals, and the funny things they did, and how some of them found good homes.
Because the book was published in 2013 some of the technologies mentioned are a little nostalgic, but other than that, I usually find that these stories are timeless. Though the characters are very quirky, and occasionally silly, Andrews dots all the I’s and crosses the T’s, so that Meg’s amateur sleuthing makes sense, and mysteries are challenging, but also loads of fun!
4 stars
May 18, 2013
Rating: 3.75* of five
The Publisher Says: Meg juggles twins, murder, and a back-talking bird in the next side-splittingly funny installment in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling series.
During a 2am feeding for her four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow hears an odd noise and goes downstairs to find her living room filled with dozens of animals—cats, dogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a stunningly foul-mouthed macaw. She soon learns that financial woes have caused the local animal shelter to repeal its no-kill policy.
Her kindhearted father, her zoologist grandfather, and other like-minded citizens have stolen all the shelter’s animals, both as a gesture of protest and to protect them until the hated policy can be repealed. But the volunteer who was to transport the animals to new homes has been murdered. Was it the victim’s tangled love life that drove someone to murder? Or the dark secrets behind local politics? And will Meg ever succeed in finding homes for all the animals that have landed in her life?
Full of the hilarious shenanigans – avian as well as human – that have come to surround Meg and her eccentric band of friends and family, the latest from the one and only Donna Andrews will have you laughing until the very last page: it’s The Real Macaw!
My Review: Oh dearie me. Such a description! So overripe.
I really don't think a review is called for when a series reaches the bajillionth volume. I'm not really reviewing the book, but the experience.
Fun. Uncomplicated, familiar fun with familiar friends. Sex with the ex.
But how many times can ya come to the well, drop the bucket, and fill 'er up with the same ol' same ol'? I'm a little bit past the sell-by on this series. Kinda done. Not that this wasn't fun! It was! But oh lawsy me...the little nods to the early parts of the series, some specific details that were important once are now used as window dressing and I found that a little annoying. It's increasingly obvious that the past entries of the series are tying the author's hands, and she gives the nods and winks to keep the people happy.
Letting it go comes as a relief. I think, in the end, for all of us.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Publisher Says: Meg juggles twins, murder, and a back-talking bird in the next side-splittingly funny installment in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling series.
During a 2am feeding for her four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow hears an odd noise and goes downstairs to find her living room filled with dozens of animals—cats, dogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a stunningly foul-mouthed macaw. She soon learns that financial woes have caused the local animal shelter to repeal its no-kill policy.
Her kindhearted father, her zoologist grandfather, and other like-minded citizens have stolen all the shelter’s animals, both as a gesture of protest and to protect them until the hated policy can be repealed. But the volunteer who was to transport the animals to new homes has been murdered. Was it the victim’s tangled love life that drove someone to murder? Or the dark secrets behind local politics? And will Meg ever succeed in finding homes for all the animals that have landed in her life?
Full of the hilarious shenanigans – avian as well as human – that have come to surround Meg and her eccentric band of friends and family, the latest from the one and only Donna Andrews will have you laughing until the very last page: it’s The Real Macaw!
My Review: Oh dearie me. Such a description! So overripe.
I really don't think a review is called for when a series reaches the bajillionth volume. I'm not really reviewing the book, but the experience.
Fun. Uncomplicated, familiar fun with familiar friends. Sex with the ex.
But how many times can ya come to the well, drop the bucket, and fill 'er up with the same ol' same ol'? I'm a little bit past the sell-by on this series. Kinda done. Not that this wasn't fun! It was! But oh lawsy me...the little nods to the early parts of the series, some specific details that were important once are now used as window dressing and I found that a little annoying. It's increasingly obvious that the past entries of the series are tying the author's hands, and she gives the nods and winks to keep the people happy.
Letting it go comes as a relief. I think, in the end, for all of us.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
January 22, 2014
These are increasingly ridiculous, and I mean that in the best possible way.
August 8, 2011
I'm a huge Donna Andrews/Meg Langslow fan, but I have to say I was a bit worried when Meg started having children - I'm not a fan of cozy mysteries that involve families, for some reason. But Donna Andrews wrote with her usual hilarious wit, and refused to take any of it too seriously. The mystery was a good one and it kept me guessing until the end. I hope for many more Meg Langslow mysteries to come.
July 26, 2020
Meg’s day starts out normally enough. She’s been woken up by the sound of strange animals in her house, and ventures downstairs to find the entire contents of America’s most exclusive pet shelter in her living room.
I’m not kidding, it’s like Donna Andrews has never been to a shelter before and just stuck in every visually appealing pet she could think of whether it made sense or not. I could see maybe a Siamese cat among the mutts and tabbies, but she’s got a Siamese cat, a border collie, the titular macaw, an Irish wolfhound, poodles, a Persian, a litter of beagles, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, canaries, two Racing Homers (who the hell is going to adopt retired racing pigeons??), and probably others that I forgot in addition to the mixed breeds. I can understand wanting to make an appealing visual and saying that Meg walked into a roomful of mutts doesn’t carry the same weight, but that’s way too many specific breeds named (also, multiple hamsters and guinea pigs? Seriously? Did they start with two each and some idiot stuck them in the same cage?).
There’s an afghan hound (an afghan hound!!) that Meg describes as: '[...] sprawled with careless elegance, like a model artfully posing for a photographer, its white fur vivid against the deep turquoise [...]' (p.6), so somehow this no-kill shelter has the budget for the show-quality grooming this visual would require (Google 'afghan hound' and try to tell me this description fits the ones with fur of a shelter-manageable length). Seriously, I was surprised there were no miniature ponies or exotic fish. Did a pet store go out of business and dump all their animals at the rescue? Well actually it even makes a point of saying later that there's only one small local pet store and it's still open. Too bad, that would have explained everything.
The pets were ‘removed’ from the shelter by various volunteers in protest of the city changing it to a kill shelter. The animals are in Meg’s living room because her father was involved and he hadn’t learned his lesson from the penguins. If this setup is sounding familiar, that’s because it’s nearly the same one that opened The Penguin Who Knew too Much, right down to the murder victim being a key figure in the animal exodus.
A few side characters get new pets, which was adorable since I love the way Andrews writes animals into her books (enough character to enhance the main characters, but not enough to be characters). And the comedy with the animals was much better written than it was in the similar scenario of Penguin (to be fair, Penguins had wild animals that needed to be kept caged). There's a hilarious running gag with the collie escaping to Seth's sheep farm next door and herding increasingly harassed-looking sheep back to Meg's place. And Tinkerbell, the Irish wolfhound, follows Rob around for most of the book and worrys Meg whose house Rob is living in. During a county meeting one of the cats makes a stir that gets a good laugh and breaks the tension nicely. It just goes to show, there's a lot you can do with a pet in a cozy if you're not sticking one in just because the modern cozy formula seems to require one.
What follows is a murder plot filled with politics and financial scams. Grandfather gets attacked and ends up in the hospital in pretty serious condition. It's all very high stakes and affects the whole town more than it does just the specific accused murderer, or even just Meg, who's too busy with her twins and the subplot to spend much time worrying about the murder (that's right, all this is going on while Meg and [more often] Michael are caring for two fussy four-month-olds).
It’s nice that the murderer was caught and all, but I’m not going to pretend that I love this book for the main plot. Instead, I’m going to be spending the rest of this review talking about the subplot and the effect it has on the series.
First, it's not exactly a subplot since it's technically the motive for the murder, but it's way too far-reaching to be just a motive. The reason the shelter has become a kill-shelter is because the town is going bankrupt. This an several other dramatic cost-cutting measures have been instigated by the new county manager as soon as he took office and is abrupt wake-up call for the community, since the Pruitts, the wealthy 'founding' family of Caerphilly, have been doing everything they can to keep both the dept and the solution to it under wraps (a key point in all this is that the town and county are two separate entities and the county board and town counsel rarely agree on anything). The financial mess came out, but the solution is kept secret until Meg finds trespassers wandering around her farmland property with shocking information.
Two words: eminent domain. And not of the town properties, but of the county farms. A lot of them, both working farms and Meg's freshly renovated property.
You can consider the following a spoiler if you like, since it's not hinted at on the blurb at the back of the book, but the book revolves around it and it dramatically changes the direction of the series from this point onward, and it's referenced in the blurb of the next in the series so I'm going to go ahead and share it. If the eminent domain scheme is foiled, the only other option is for the banks to seize the collateral. And what did the mayor offer up? The government buildings.
The family member of the day is Cousin Festus Hollingsworth, a high-caliber lawyer specializing in sleazy developers. He's in hog heaven with this mess and he'll be name dropped for another book or two since this isn't the kind of issue that'll be without consequences to clean up. One of the things he does is organize an emergency county meeting since the deal was so underhanded that much of the population is still unaware of what's going on right under their noses. It's easily my favorite scene, mostly because Festus has choreographed everything beautifully to look as dramatic as possible to the news cameras and therefore to the readers. There's a feeling of community rebellion that starts here and continues in the further actions that gives Macaws its place as my absolute favorite of the series. I can reread this and the Big Move scenes over and over again.
The evacuation is a revolution that stole my breath away. Not to spoil too much, but the county up and moves all the government buildings out of the town and into the county houses and farms. The people show up en masse with trucks and vans, clogging the streets and highway, and strip the buildings bare even as town officials are having full-out tantrums and attacking the movers. It's not like they can call the police, they're county-owned too. It's a scene of justice for the people by the people.
The verdict? Meg's priority shift from the last book is evident here. Her immediate family comes first, then her home, then the community, then any other obligations, then the murder victim, then the murderer. The victim was well characterized and mourned as someone Meg might have liked to meet, rather than skimming over his character as was done in Penguins. We haven't met him before his death, but we get to know him after and he's treated more like a person and less like a faceless victim. The plot is solid and is more serious than usual, and there's a lot of good comedy with the animals.
I tend to liken Macaws to The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun. The big change in that book happens right at the end and would spoil a huge surprise (that the reader admittedly sees coming), so I won't spoil it, but the first sentence in the blurb for the next book in the series tells you what happened if you're curious. It's not the same thing here, of course, but that mass exodus and the ramifications of the mayor's skullduggery leads to some big, very enjoyable changes for nearly all the characters which I'll finally be able to mention when I review books published after this one (it's been very hard to avoid, and would have been impossible for the next in the series, Some Like it Hawk).
And I just realized that, at the end of Storks, I was gushing about how excited I was to finally have the chance to review this one, then made you wait the entire summer before getting around to it. I am so sorry. I'm laughing, but I'm sorry.
I’m not kidding, it’s like Donna Andrews has never been to a shelter before and just stuck in every visually appealing pet she could think of whether it made sense or not. I could see maybe a Siamese cat among the mutts and tabbies, but she’s got a Siamese cat, a border collie, the titular macaw, an Irish wolfhound, poodles, a Persian, a litter of beagles, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, canaries, two Racing Homers (who the hell is going to adopt retired racing pigeons??), and probably others that I forgot in addition to the mixed breeds. I can understand wanting to make an appealing visual and saying that Meg walked into a roomful of mutts doesn’t carry the same weight, but that’s way too many specific breeds named (also, multiple hamsters and guinea pigs? Seriously? Did they start with two each and some idiot stuck them in the same cage?).
There’s an afghan hound (an afghan hound!!) that Meg describes as: '[...] sprawled with careless elegance, like a model artfully posing for a photographer, its white fur vivid against the deep turquoise [...]' (p.6), so somehow this no-kill shelter has the budget for the show-quality grooming this visual would require (Google 'afghan hound' and try to tell me this description fits the ones with fur of a shelter-manageable length). Seriously, I was surprised there were no miniature ponies or exotic fish. Did a pet store go out of business and dump all their animals at the rescue? Well actually it even makes a point of saying later that there's only one small local pet store and it's still open. Too bad, that would have explained everything.
The pets were ‘removed’ from the shelter by various volunteers in protest of the city changing it to a kill shelter. The animals are in Meg’s living room because her father was involved and he hadn’t learned his lesson from the penguins. If this setup is sounding familiar, that’s because it’s nearly the same one that opened The Penguin Who Knew too Much, right down to the murder victim being a key figure in the animal exodus.
A few side characters get new pets, which was adorable since I love the way Andrews writes animals into her books (enough character to enhance the main characters, but not enough to be characters). And the comedy with the animals was much better written than it was in the similar scenario of Penguin (to be fair, Penguins had wild animals that needed to be kept caged). There's a hilarious running gag with the collie escaping to Seth's sheep farm next door and herding increasingly harassed-looking sheep back to Meg's place. And Tinkerbell, the Irish wolfhound, follows Rob around for most of the book and worrys Meg whose house Rob is living in. During a county meeting one of the cats makes a stir that gets a good laugh and breaks the tension nicely. It just goes to show, there's a lot you can do with a pet in a cozy if you're not sticking one in just because the modern cozy formula seems to require one.
What follows is a murder plot filled with politics and financial scams. Grandfather gets attacked and ends up in the hospital in pretty serious condition. It's all very high stakes and affects the whole town more than it does just the specific accused murderer, or even just Meg, who's too busy with her twins and the subplot to spend much time worrying about the murder (that's right, all this is going on while Meg and [more often] Michael are caring for two fussy four-month-olds).
It’s nice that the murderer was caught and all, but I’m not going to pretend that I love this book for the main plot. Instead, I’m going to be spending the rest of this review talking about the subplot and the effect it has on the series.
First, it's not exactly a subplot since it's technically the motive for the murder, but it's way too far-reaching to be just a motive. The reason the shelter has become a kill-shelter is because the town is going bankrupt. This an several other dramatic cost-cutting measures have been instigated by the new county manager as soon as he took office and is abrupt wake-up call for the community, since the Pruitts, the wealthy 'founding' family of Caerphilly, have been doing everything they can to keep both the dept and the solution to it under wraps (a key point in all this is that the town and county are two separate entities and the county board and town counsel rarely agree on anything). The financial mess came out, but the solution is kept secret until Meg finds trespassers wandering around her farmland property with shocking information.
Two words: eminent domain. And not of the town properties, but of the county farms. A lot of them, both working farms and Meg's freshly renovated property.
You can consider the following a spoiler if you like, since it's not hinted at on the blurb at the back of the book, but the book revolves around it and it dramatically changes the direction of the series from this point onward, and it's referenced in the blurb of the next in the series so I'm going to go ahead and share it. If the eminent domain scheme is foiled, the only other option is for the banks to seize the collateral. And what did the mayor offer up? The government buildings.
The family member of the day is Cousin Festus Hollingsworth, a high-caliber lawyer specializing in sleazy developers. He's in hog heaven with this mess and he'll be name dropped for another book or two since this isn't the kind of issue that'll be without consequences to clean up. One of the things he does is organize an emergency county meeting since the deal was so underhanded that much of the population is still unaware of what's going on right under their noses. It's easily my favorite scene, mostly because Festus has choreographed everything beautifully to look as dramatic as possible to the news cameras and therefore to the readers. There's a feeling of community rebellion that starts here and continues in the further actions that gives Macaws its place as my absolute favorite of the series. I can reread this and the Big Move scenes over and over again.
The evacuation is a revolution that stole my breath away. Not to spoil too much, but the county up and moves all the government buildings out of the town and into the county houses and farms. The people show up en masse with trucks and vans, clogging the streets and highway, and strip the buildings bare even as town officials are having full-out tantrums and attacking the movers. It's not like they can call the police, they're county-owned too. It's a scene of justice for the people by the people.
The verdict? Meg's priority shift from the last book is evident here. Her immediate family comes first, then her home, then the community, then any other obligations, then the murder victim, then the murderer. The victim was well characterized and mourned as someone Meg might have liked to meet, rather than skimming over his character as was done in Penguins. We haven't met him before his death, but we get to know him after and he's treated more like a person and less like a faceless victim. The plot is solid and is more serious than usual, and there's a lot of good comedy with the animals.
I tend to liken Macaws to The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun. The big change in that book happens right at the end and would spoil a huge surprise (that the reader admittedly sees coming), so I won't spoil it, but the first sentence in the blurb for the next book in the series tells you what happened if you're curious. It's not the same thing here, of course, but that mass exodus and the ramifications of the mayor's skullduggery leads to some big, very enjoyable changes for nearly all the characters which I'll finally be able to mention when I review books published after this one (it's been very hard to avoid, and would have been impossible for the next in the series, Some Like it Hawk).
And I just realized that, at the end of Storks, I was gushing about how excited I was to finally have the chance to review this one, then made you wait the entire summer before getting around to it. I am so sorry. I'm laughing, but I'm sorry.
May 27, 2020
Sometimes in life you need a light, fun story to escape into for a couple of hours. Two days before Christmas, with 3 kids under 8, one birthday party, Christmas cookies to be iced and a neighbor in the hospital, I needed just such a book. Fortunately for me I've been reading this series and had just visited the library to stock up on the next few books. I particularly enjoyed this one - even when the over-tired two-year old threw temper tantrums, a laundry room had to be relocated now, out of town guests arrived early and the neighbor's sink sprang a leak. I think that makes it a pretty good book. :)
There are all the usual characters here - animals, from the local shelter this time, crazy relatives, and town's people running all over Meg and Michael's property. The new addition is their twin boys, just four months old, who provide appropriate interruptions and sleepless nights.
The murdered man wasn't a saint, but he did sound like someone you might like to know and I was genuinely interested in who killed him and why. I saw the solution coming but not too far ahead of Meg. In the meantime there's also dirty town politics and the threat of eminent domain to keep Meg and the readers alert, except for the times when she drifts off in the nearest chair.
If you like your mysteries clean with a touch of silly humor this series is worth looking into. I'm really enjoying working my way through it.
There are all the usual characters here - animals, from the local shelter this time, crazy relatives, and town's people running all over Meg and Michael's property. The new addition is their twin boys, just four months old, who provide appropriate interruptions and sleepless nights.
The murdered man wasn't a saint, but he did sound like someone you might like to know and I was genuinely interested in who killed him and why. I saw the solution coming but not too far ahead of Meg. In the meantime there's also dirty town politics and the threat of eminent domain to keep Meg and the readers alert, except for the times when she drifts off in the nearest chair.
If you like your mysteries clean with a touch of silly humor this series is worth looking into. I'm really enjoying working my way through it.
July 19, 2021
Since the last Meg Langslow mystery, Book 12, STORK RAVING MAD, Meg had her twin babies, boys Josh and Jamie. Meg is feeding them one evening when they are 4 months old, and she begins to hear animal noises. She trecks down the stairs in her and her husband Michael’s large Victorian home, only to spy her father, her grandfather, and her brother shepherding in all sorts of cats, dogs, gerbils, guinea pigs, birds, and one macaw with quite the vocabulary into her living room! They explain that with the dire financial straits the town of Caerphilly, Virginia has gotten itself into, the shelter has had its no-kill policy rescinded. In order to save all the animals, the men of the Langslow branch of the family joined forces with the Corsicans (Committee Opposed to the Ruthless Slaughter of Innocent Captive Animals) to save them all. The original plan was to have Parker Blair pick everyone up and then deliver to various people who volunteered to foster them. But Parker never showed up. Meg keeps calling his cell phone to make sure he’s OK, and Chief Burke arrives, holding Parker’s phone and asks Meg why she keeps calling a dead man.
Meg doesn’t need more residents in her home, so she insists that all the animals be moved to the barn. However, her brother Rob has a team of testers from his computer gaming company testing a new game in the barn. The Corsicans hold their meetings in the barn as well, with many of the animals being adopted on the spot. Even Rob falls in love with a particular dog.
Speculation flies about who might have killed Parker, since he had many girlfriends in town, some wildly jealous of each other. Rumors are also flying that the mayor has mortgaged the town, and a development company will seize the property of several citizens including Meg and Michael, Meg’s father, and others, in order to construct a golf course that would profit the town. First, however, comes the solving of the murder and burying Parker. His closest friend needs help finding the best clothes to bury Parker in and enlists Meg’s help. While Meg is ostensibly looking for clothes, she searches Parker’s home and files. Meg discovers that Parker has proof of what the Mayor has done to the town!
Hearsay turns into confirmation, and chaos reigns, as always. Donna Andrews can make all the mayhem seem like it’s supposed to happen in the Langslow home and spill in Caerphilly while treating us to many laugh-out-loud moments as we watch. The murder is solved, but not in any way suspected at the outset of this caper. Plotting was enjoyable, steady, and not rushed. I think Donna Andrews is getting even better at this!
Meg doesn’t need more residents in her home, so she insists that all the animals be moved to the barn. However, her brother Rob has a team of testers from his computer gaming company testing a new game in the barn. The Corsicans hold their meetings in the barn as well, with many of the animals being adopted on the spot. Even Rob falls in love with a particular dog.
Speculation flies about who might have killed Parker, since he had many girlfriends in town, some wildly jealous of each other. Rumors are also flying that the mayor has mortgaged the town, and a development company will seize the property of several citizens including Meg and Michael, Meg’s father, and others, in order to construct a golf course that would profit the town. First, however, comes the solving of the murder and burying Parker. His closest friend needs help finding the best clothes to bury Parker in and enlists Meg’s help. While Meg is ostensibly looking for clothes, she searches Parker’s home and files. Meg discovers that Parker has proof of what the Mayor has done to the town!
Hearsay turns into confirmation, and chaos reigns, as always. Donna Andrews can make all the mayhem seem like it’s supposed to happen in the Langslow home and spill in Caerphilly while treating us to many laugh-out-loud moments as we watch. The murder is solved, but not in any way suspected at the outset of this caper. Plotting was enjoyable, steady, and not rushed. I think Donna Andrews is getting even better at this!
July 4, 2016
I’ve been reading Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow series for years now and each time a new book comes out I look forward to reading it. Since I got caught up and the books went to hardcover, I’d taken to borrowing them from the library as soon as they came out and then buying a paperback copy later, when that was released. They’re keeper books, but not hardcover keeper books.
One thing I had keep looking for was ebook editions, but they never came out, so I stuck with the read from the library/buy later option. At last, with the upcoming release of The Real Macaw, the ebooks showed up. This one was at the equivalent of ebook hardcover price (US$11.99), but with the New Zealand dollar so good at the moment, that was still going to be less than I would pay for a paperback here. So I figured “go for it” and bought the ebook despite the high price.
(Even when I take the exchange rate into consideration, I find that I’ve developed a US mindset and consider pretty much anything above US$10 to be highly priced. I saw a few books I would have liked recently that were US$14.99 for the ebook and at least two of them were reprints. I felt that was way, way too high and didn’t buy. Especially since I owned paper copies already.)
Anyway, diversion aside, it was good to be able to read the new Meg book. It didn’t have as many laugh-out-loud moments as some of them do, but it was a good solid story and I do enjoy my time with Meg and her crazy friends and relations. I didn’t guess who did it – although these days I don’t really try, just enjoy reading the book – which is always a good thing. This is a fun series, light and fluffy and easy to read without taxing the old brain too much, which is exactly what I’ve needed lately. I’m not going to say anything about the plot, but will suggest that if you want a fun, slightly crazy cozy mystery series to read, you can’t go wrong with this one.
The first book is Murder with Peacocks, which has been released as an ebook at the introductory price of US$2.99. Do give it a try. If you’re the cozy mystery type, then I don’t think you’ll regret it. After a slightly boring start title-wise, the books also have fun, pun-ny titles that always make me smile. I always wait to see what Ms Andrews will manage to come up with next. The Real Macaw is book 13, so the combination of birds and puns must be getting harder.
A thoroughly enjoyable 8/10.
One thing I had keep looking for was ebook editions, but they never came out, so I stuck with the read from the library/buy later option. At last, with the upcoming release of The Real Macaw, the ebooks showed up. This one was at the equivalent of ebook hardcover price (US$11.99), but with the New Zealand dollar so good at the moment, that was still going to be less than I would pay for a paperback here. So I figured “go for it” and bought the ebook despite the high price.
(Even when I take the exchange rate into consideration, I find that I’ve developed a US mindset and consider pretty much anything above US$10 to be highly priced. I saw a few books I would have liked recently that were US$14.99 for the ebook and at least two of them were reprints. I felt that was way, way too high and didn’t buy. Especially since I owned paper copies already.)
Anyway, diversion aside, it was good to be able to read the new Meg book. It didn’t have as many laugh-out-loud moments as some of them do, but it was a good solid story and I do enjoy my time with Meg and her crazy friends and relations. I didn’t guess who did it – although these days I don’t really try, just enjoy reading the book – which is always a good thing. This is a fun series, light and fluffy and easy to read without taxing the old brain too much, which is exactly what I’ve needed lately. I’m not going to say anything about the plot, but will suggest that if you want a fun, slightly crazy cozy mystery series to read, you can’t go wrong with this one.
The first book is Murder with Peacocks, which has been released as an ebook at the introductory price of US$2.99. Do give it a try. If you’re the cozy mystery type, then I don’t think you’ll regret it. After a slightly boring start title-wise, the books also have fun, pun-ny titles that always make me smile. I always wait to see what Ms Andrews will manage to come up with next. The Real Macaw is book 13, so the combination of birds and puns must be getting harder.
A thoroughly enjoyable 8/10.
July 23, 2011
I got this Advanced Read Copy (ARC) in a Goodreads giveaway and I'm glad I entered this contest. I've never read this series or this author but I'll certainly be adding myself as a fan.
This book hit the right spot in every respect. From the very first, it grabbed my interest and kept me interested right up to the finish. What this book (and probably the entire series) has going for it is not only a well-written mystery with plenty of red herrings, but a small town populated with interesting people, county v. city feuds, feuds between prominent families, and a lot of history. Even if the murder mystery wasn't interesting (and it was), I'd probably read these books just to see what kind of shenanigans are getting pulled by all the characters. Even though this was my first Meg Langslow book, I quickly felt like I knew all the characters.
I also like the somewhat droll sense of humor. The title is what really caught my eye; it's very clever and very appropriate to the story.
This isn't a thriller and I didn't feel like I was running a race from the minute I started until the minute I put it down. It wasn't even a slow start - I would actually have finished it sooner if I hadn't had other things to do. I had some time to read last night and couldn't put it down until I was nodding off over it, then I got up and finished it this morning while I had my morning coffee. The pacing runs along at a good clip - not too slow, not too fast - so that I didn't want to put it down until I was done reading. And because I have a lot more to do, I was glad it was a quick read.
I absolutely recommend this book if you like light mysteries populated with a bunch of quirky and interesting characters. As soon as I've whittled down more of my to-read list, I'll be adding this series to it.
This book hit the right spot in every respect. From the very first, it grabbed my interest and kept me interested right up to the finish. What this book (and probably the entire series) has going for it is not only a well-written mystery with plenty of red herrings, but a small town populated with interesting people, county v. city feuds, feuds between prominent families, and a lot of history. Even if the murder mystery wasn't interesting (and it was), I'd probably read these books just to see what kind of shenanigans are getting pulled by all the characters. Even though this was my first Meg Langslow book, I quickly felt like I knew all the characters.
I also like the somewhat droll sense of humor. The title is what really caught my eye; it's very clever and very appropriate to the story.
This isn't a thriller and I didn't feel like I was running a race from the minute I started until the minute I put it down. It wasn't even a slow start - I would actually have finished it sooner if I hadn't had other things to do. I had some time to read last night and couldn't put it down until I was nodding off over it, then I got up and finished it this morning while I had my morning coffee. The pacing runs along at a good clip - not too slow, not too fast - so that I didn't want to put it down until I was done reading. And because I have a lot more to do, I was glad it was a quick read.
I absolutely recommend this book if you like light mysteries populated with a bunch of quirky and interesting characters. As soon as I've whittled down more of my to-read list, I'll be adding this series to it.
August 27, 2020
This is one of the "a little too ridiculous" plots for me. Like the other "too ridiculous" ones it involves Meg's dad deciding Meg can house a bunch of animals without actually asking Meg.
These animals are from the county no-kill shelter that due to budget cuts is about to become a kill shelter. The shelter director turns up dead. Budget cuts seem to be a thing in Caerphilly due to the mayor's mismanagement & greed and a downturn in the economy. Another way the mayor might pay off the county debts is to seize Meg's & several other people's property under eminent domain and sell it to a golf course developer. This motivates Meg to get involved in solving the crime.
The dead man was a ladies man & there is a good deal to sort out in motives. Plus the lender decides to foreclose on the county properties which include the court house, the police & jail and the library among others, forcing them all to relocate. Meg & Micheal agree to take in the library and her dad is hosting the police station, much to his delight.
It's a funny mystery. Just not one of my favorites in the series.
These animals are from the county no-kill shelter that due to budget cuts is about to become a kill shelter. The shelter director turns up dead. Budget cuts seem to be a thing in Caerphilly due to the mayor's mismanagement & greed and a downturn in the economy. Another way the mayor might pay off the county debts is to seize Meg's & several other people's property under eminent domain and sell it to a golf course developer. This motivates Meg to get involved in solving the crime.
The dead man was a ladies man & there is a good deal to sort out in motives. Plus the lender decides to foreclose on the county properties which include the court house, the police & jail and the library among others, forcing them all to relocate. Meg & Micheal agree to take in the library and her dad is hosting the police station, much to his delight.
It's a funny mystery. Just not one of my favorites in the series.
January 8, 2020
Meg and Michael are dealing with having twins when a whole menagerie of animals shows up in their living room. Seems like the shelter has rescinded the no kill policy, and Meg's dad and others are saving the animals. When one of the rescue team winds up dead, it affects everyone. A later attack on one of their own is too close to home. And what about all the political mess in town? Seems like a bad deal gone worse has a mortgage company foreclosing on all the town buildings, including the police station!
There's a lot going on in this book...murder, care and feeding of the animals, finding them homes, not to mention all the political shenanigans going on in town. So much going on that I am just shy of a 4-star rating. There's a lot of complexity to this installment. I could have done a bit less with the feuds between Shiffley's and the Pruitt's.
Nonetheless, a well written book with a plausible perpetrator. A few things left unfinished, which I would imagine are resolved in future books.
There's a lot going on in this book...murder, care and feeding of the animals, finding them homes, not to mention all the political shenanigans going on in town. So much going on that I am just shy of a 4-star rating. There's a lot of complexity to this installment. I could have done a bit less with the feuds between Shiffley's and the Pruitt's.
Nonetheless, a well written book with a plausible perpetrator. A few things left unfinished, which I would imagine are resolved in future books.
June 7, 2018
In The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews, Meg Langslow is dozing in the middle of the night with her four-month-old twin boys when she hears noises downstairs. Going to check on things, Meg finds herself surrounded by dozens of animals of all kinds. The worst is a macaw that swears like a pirate and soon learns to bark, howl, meow, and growl like the other animals. It seems that the county is about to euthanize all the animals in order to save money, so Meg’s grandfather, a world-famous zoologist, and other animal lovers have staged a raid to rescue the animals. However, the man with the truck, Parker Blair, never showed up, so the group brought the animals to Meg’s house. But then Chief Burke shows up at the house to ask why Meg has been calling a dead man. Parker Blair has been murdered.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
September 2, 2019
n this edition of Meg and her family, the mayor has made the animal shelter a killing shelter which has all the town and county residents up in arms. When the animal rights people steal all the at risk animals, and Peter doesn't show up to take them to foster homes, they are all brought to Meg's house...in the house. Meg wakes up to find there are kittens, dogs, birds, a llama and a macaw in her living room.
She swiftly gets the animals out to the barn but finding Peter and the foster homes is going to be harder than expected because he has been shot.
Things go from bad to worse and Meg, along with caring for her family, helps figure out what is going on. The town is in big trouble.
Still like the town and the family. Lots of good characters. But a bit unlikely this one.
She swiftly gets the animals out to the barn but finding Peter and the foster homes is going to be harder than expected because he has been shot.
Things go from bad to worse and Meg, along with caring for her family, helps figure out what is going on. The town is in big trouble.
Still like the town and the family. Lots of good characters. But a bit unlikely this one.
June 21, 2021
Another great story with lots of animals, confusion and laughter. Although I have to say, if those were my relatives, there would be some humongous fights until they all learned the boundaries.
And, these books just don't get boring, read after read.
And, these books just don't get boring, read after read.
August 8, 2023
I absolutely love this series! The Real Macaw, the thirteenth book in the Meg Langslow series is another rollicking, madcap adventure featuring Meg and her eccentric family. And with a murder to boot, the excitement is non-stop.
It’s two in the morning, and Meg Langslow is tending to her four-month-old twins when she hears a ruckus downstairs. Upon investigation, she discovers a large collection of dogs, cats, rodents, birds, and a loud blue macaw who spews foul-mouthed invectives not suitable for young (or anyone’s) ears. Turns out that a group of animal activists, including her father, grandfather, and brother have “rescued” the menagerie by liberating them without permission from the local animal shelter which had been set to close and the animals euthanized. The group was deposited in Meg’s living room when promised help in the form of Parker Blair’s large truck never arrived at the rendezvous site. When the local police chief comes calling, it becomes obvious that the reason for this omission is that Parker is dead. An investigation ensues, and no matter how steadfastly Meg tries to avoid it, she finds herself dragged in, motivated by anything that would rid her home of the unwanted furry and feathered guests.
There is a lot to unpack in this story, and I loved every minute of it. Donna Andrews has a way with words, always ready for an insightful and acerbic comment from Meg, or a bit of “wisdom” from her cousin, Rose Noire. This time, the usual hilarity is enveloped in political intrigue, familial obligations, and, as always, danger. Meg shows remarkable restrain in this edition, reporting observations to the chief without actively investigating them herself. Maybe her foray into motherhood has heightened her sense of self-preservation. For his part, Michael, always the voice of reason, has emerged as the dream husband – willingly taking on more than his fair share of caring for the twins.
The mystery itself is multi-layered with sufficient suspects, clues, and misinformation to keep you guessing throughout. I had focused on the actual perpetrator early on in the story, but somehow lost track of that observation as the clues and suspects continued to mount. And as intriguing as the mystery was, the rest of the story was equally engaging. The ups and downs of new-parenthood were deftly portrayed, and a series of on-going vignettes about a border collie tenaciously herding sheep from a neighbor’s yard added to the fun.
The narration, by Bernadette Dunne is top-notch, always infusing the story with the proper amount of sarcasm and wit.
Do I recommend The Real Macaw? Oh, yes! If you like your mysteries steeped in humor, you will love The Real Macaw and the entire series.
It’s two in the morning, and Meg Langslow is tending to her four-month-old twins when she hears a ruckus downstairs. Upon investigation, she discovers a large collection of dogs, cats, rodents, birds, and a loud blue macaw who spews foul-mouthed invectives not suitable for young (or anyone’s) ears. Turns out that a group of animal activists, including her father, grandfather, and brother have “rescued” the menagerie by liberating them without permission from the local animal shelter which had been set to close and the animals euthanized. The group was deposited in Meg’s living room when promised help in the form of Parker Blair’s large truck never arrived at the rendezvous site. When the local police chief comes calling, it becomes obvious that the reason for this omission is that Parker is dead. An investigation ensues, and no matter how steadfastly Meg tries to avoid it, she finds herself dragged in, motivated by anything that would rid her home of the unwanted furry and feathered guests.
There is a lot to unpack in this story, and I loved every minute of it. Donna Andrews has a way with words, always ready for an insightful and acerbic comment from Meg, or a bit of “wisdom” from her cousin, Rose Noire. This time, the usual hilarity is enveloped in political intrigue, familial obligations, and, as always, danger. Meg shows remarkable restrain in this edition, reporting observations to the chief without actively investigating them herself. Maybe her foray into motherhood has heightened her sense of self-preservation. For his part, Michael, always the voice of reason, has emerged as the dream husband – willingly taking on more than his fair share of caring for the twins.
The mystery itself is multi-layered with sufficient suspects, clues, and misinformation to keep you guessing throughout. I had focused on the actual perpetrator early on in the story, but somehow lost track of that observation as the clues and suspects continued to mount. And as intriguing as the mystery was, the rest of the story was equally engaging. The ups and downs of new-parenthood were deftly portrayed, and a series of on-going vignettes about a border collie tenaciously herding sheep from a neighbor’s yard added to the fun.
The narration, by Bernadette Dunne is top-notch, always infusing the story with the proper amount of sarcasm and wit.
Do I recommend The Real Macaw? Oh, yes! If you like your mysteries steeped in humor, you will love The Real Macaw and the entire series.
March 2, 2025
#13 in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series
I was hooked on this right from the first page. I love that Meg and Michael have the twins now (4 months old), with all the attendant chaos. And Meg is suddenly dealing with a bunch of animals in her living room since her dad and grandfather have confiscated them from the local animal shelter which is in danger of closing down and killing off the animals. There's craziness, as expected, as Meg tries to herd everyone into the barn. But when one of the key members of the rescue group is murdered, she gets even more involved. I liked how she didn't go running off to investigate this time. Every time she found a clue, she'd share it with the chief, but we'd get the benefit of both their thoughts as they discussed each one. At the same time, there's a crisis in the town since the mayor has borrowed money from a lending company and is threatening to provide collateral land to the lenders by seizing it by eminent domain (including Meg's and her parents' properties). In the meantime, the whole town is moving out of the town-owned buildings and finding other property in the county. Which means that the library will be in Meg's house and the police station at her parents' (much to her dad's delight). The story made sense, and Meg's investigation is fairly low key since she's tired all the time from raising twin babies.
I was hooked on this right from the first page. I love that Meg and Michael have the twins now (4 months old), with all the attendant chaos. And Meg is suddenly dealing with a bunch of animals in her living room since her dad and grandfather have confiscated them from the local animal shelter which is in danger of closing down and killing off the animals. There's craziness, as expected, as Meg tries to herd everyone into the barn. But when one of the key members of the rescue group is murdered, she gets even more involved. I liked how she didn't go running off to investigate this time. Every time she found a clue, she'd share it with the chief, but we'd get the benefit of both their thoughts as they discussed each one. At the same time, there's a crisis in the town since the mayor has borrowed money from a lending company and is threatening to provide collateral land to the lenders by seizing it by eminent domain (including Meg's and her parents' properties). In the meantime, the whole town is moving out of the town-owned buildings and finding other property in the county. Which means that the library will be in Meg's house and the police station at her parents' (much to her dad's delight). The story made sense, and Meg's investigation is fairly low key since she's tired all the time from raising twin babies.
May 19, 2025
I love the way Donna Andrews writes about communities all working together. I adore the way she writes multi-generational families and households. And I just cannot get enough of the way she writes domestic chaos and non-human characters.
This one really hit a chord for me, with the community all pulling together and the animal rescue theme. I loved Pirate the Second and Tinkerbell the Wolfhound. Plus the macaws.
I also really like the way that Andrews is being thoughtful about how Meg changes and evolves along with motherhood.
This one really hit a chord for me, with the community all pulling together and the animal rescue theme. I loved Pirate the Second and Tinkerbell the Wolfhound. Plus the macaws.
I also really like the way that Andrews is being thoughtful about how Meg changes and evolves along with motherhood.
August 18, 2023
The odd thing about the Meg Langslow mysteries, and especially in this book is that despite newborn twins Meg continues to juggle many balls. The story was pretty good, but her role, with newborns was simplistic.
January 9, 2024
Meg has had her babies and all is well. Wait! Another murder and grandpa has been attacked. It’s a good thing Meg can connect the dots.
June 12, 2025
Nothing like a bit of small town politics to set everyone off. One corrupt mayor would make himself a land baron, but not on Meg's watch!
June 28, 2023
When their local no-kill shelter loses its funding, local animal activists--led by blacksmith/new mother of twins Meg Langslow's family--"rescue" them & stash them in Meg's basement. After one of the activists is murdered, Meg devotes herself to solving the crime.
February 17, 2021
3 stars. Because, as amusing as it was, when my first thought was "she's done this before." Which she had...kinda. Again, she is at her best when she doing quirky relatives. Some have become rather normal, which is sad. Lots of missed opportunities.
February 26, 2018
Meg and Michael had twin boys! Jamie and Josh. So they are four years old and Meg is up in the middle of the night taking care of them when she hears sounds downstairs. She finds animals in her living room, and her father, grandfather, brother, and Clarence the vet all there. Turns out that the Mayor just instituted a kill order for the animal shelter and they broke the animals out to save them from being euthanized. But their get away driver didn't meet them at the rendezvous point. Dr Blake kept calling his number but no answer... and then the Chief showed up. He wanted to know why they kept calling his murder victim's phone.
So in this Meg installment, we learn that the mayor is a greedy idiot and put the town in debt to beautify a section of the town (where basically his family lives). Now the public town buildings (courthouse, police station, library, etc) are being claimed by the debt collectors and everyone has to move out. So Meg's barn is full of animals from the animal shelter, and now her library is about to become the town's library. Then she also learns that the mayor planned on seizing land from landowner (eminent domain) and selling it to the developers to pay back the debt. And her land is one of the properties.
But Meg's trying to figure out why Parker was killed. Turns out he was a player and had many women he was involved with. He had also been the one to discover what the mayor had done. We eventually learn that the killer is a woman named Francine. her husband was the County Manager and basically he failed the county by not stopping what the mayor was doing. But Francine had an affair with Parker, and realized he was using her to get information about what the mayor was up to. It's not clear but we assume that's why she killed him (that and she was jealous of the other women).
So now we need to read the next book to find out what happens to the town and Meg's property. Can't wait!
So in this Meg installment, we learn that the mayor is a greedy idiot and put the town in debt to beautify a section of the town (where basically his family lives). Now the public town buildings (courthouse, police station, library, etc) are being claimed by the debt collectors and everyone has to move out. So Meg's barn is full of animals from the animal shelter, and now her library is about to become the town's library. Then she also learns that the mayor planned on seizing land from landowner (eminent domain) and selling it to the developers to pay back the debt. And her land is one of the properties.
But Meg's trying to figure out why Parker was killed. Turns out he was a player and had many women he was involved with. He had also been the one to discover what the mayor had done. We eventually learn that the killer is a woman named Francine. her husband was the County Manager and basically he failed the county by not stopping what the mayor was doing. But Francine had an affair with Parker, and realized he was using her to get information about what the mayor was up to. It's not clear but we assume that's why she killed him (that and she was jealous of the other women).
So now we need to read the next book to find out what happens to the town and Meg's property. Can't wait!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 20, 2025
Meg Langslow is more surprised than she ought to be when she wakes at 2 AM in her babies' nursery and hears noises downstairs, and finds that her father, grandfather, brother, and various other conspirators have filled her living room with animals stolen from the local shelter, which has just rescinded its no-kill policy. Once the animals have been relocated to the barn, it's determined that the man who was supposed to take them to a safer place in his truck has been murdered, so Meg and the police have another case to solve. Parker was a ladies' man as well as a passionate animal lover, and there are many suspects in the case--even more when it becomes clear he was investigating corruption in the local town government (the corruption that led to impending bankruptcy which led to the change in the shelter policy, among many other things). With the town and county at odds and in an uproar, and her barn full of animals and her life already busy with two four month old babies, Meg naturally finds time to investigate.
These books are a great palate cleanser between less cheerful books, being so full of humor and ridiculousness and family unity that loves each other despite many quirks that would probably drive most people to insanity. I love that Meg is not your typical nosy amateur detective; a lot of the time, information simply falls in her lap through conversation or circumstances (though she also does investigate sometimes), and she almost always passes everything along to the police. I love that her first instinct in dangerous situations is to call 911 rather than try to handle everything herself. Her great strengths in her community are her connections, and her ability to see connections that others miss--helpful both in mystery solving, and in normal problem-solving for friends, family, and community. But man, is she lucky to have so many willing baby-carers who let her vanish for hours and hours while she's solving community problems and finding murderers!
These books are a great palate cleanser between less cheerful books, being so full of humor and ridiculousness and family unity that loves each other despite many quirks that would probably drive most people to insanity. I love that Meg is not your typical nosy amateur detective; a lot of the time, information simply falls in her lap through conversation or circumstances (though she also does investigate sometimes), and she almost always passes everything along to the police. I love that her first instinct in dangerous situations is to call 911 rather than try to handle everything herself. Her great strengths in her community are her connections, and her ability to see connections that others miss--helpful both in mystery solving, and in normal problem-solving for friends, family, and community. But man, is she lucky to have so many willing baby-carers who let her vanish for hours and hours while she's solving community problems and finding murderers!
March 22, 2019
I listened to this audiobook. I enjoy a few cozy authors and Donna Andrews is one. Her Meg Langslow series is humorous with an engaging ensemble. Meg is an amateur sleuth who is always in the middle of a murder in a small, close-knit Virginia town. All the books have a bird-related title. In this book the little town of Caerphilly is in a financial crisis. The town is going to make the local animal shelter start euthanizing dogs and cats to save money. Meg’s animal expert grandfather, her doctor father, her brother, and the local veterinarian steal all the shelter animals to save them. But their co-conspirator, a local furniture store owner, is murdered the night of the heist. Meg and her husband own a large farm, and all the animals end up in their barn. The dead man was an animal lover, and a notorious ladies man. Who wanted him dead? In the meantime the town’s public buildings have been mortgaged by the crooked mayor. When the lender demands payment, the town is in default, and all the local government is evicted. The mayor is unscrupulous and soon Meg begins to wonder if the murder has to do with exposing the mayor’s dirty dealings, or a jilted lover, or both. I would give this a better rating except Meg has 4 month old twins and yet she can leave them with others all day into the night without a thought (or aching breasts). And at the end of the book she is injured and talks about pain killers making her woozy. No breastfeeding mother takes pain killers that strong. But, I am nit picking.
August 30, 2019
The Real Macaw is the 13th entry in the Meg Langslow series and I enjoyed this book just as much as I have enjoyed previous entries in the series. I have not read this series in order but have still been able to keep up with the characters and everything going on just fine. This book centers around the financial difficulties that the town of Caerphilly is experiencing. The county manager has recently proposed that the county animal shelter repeal it's policy of being a no-kill shelter in order to save some money. As a result of this, Meg's grandfather, dad, brother, and several other concerned citizens of Caerphilly decide to break into the shelter in the middle of the night and rescue all the animals.
The animals all end up at Meg and Michael's house, where they are tending to the needs of their four month old twins. One of the men that volunteered to pick the animals up and deliver them to foster homes never shows and it's later discovered that he was murdered. Despite her best intentions, Meg gets involved in trying to figure out who the killer is. It also comes to light the reason behind the town's financial difficulties, and a recall campaign against the current mayor is initiated. The mystery was well done with several plausible suspects. The killer was not someone that I had on my radar as a suspect. It was such fun to be around all of Meg's friends and family. I highly recommend this series if you enjoy a light, fun, humorous cozy mystery. I definitely plan to continue reading future books in the series.
The animals all end up at Meg and Michael's house, where they are tending to the needs of their four month old twins. One of the men that volunteered to pick the animals up and deliver them to foster homes never shows and it's later discovered that he was murdered. Despite her best intentions, Meg gets involved in trying to figure out who the killer is. It also comes to light the reason behind the town's financial difficulties, and a recall campaign against the current mayor is initiated. The mystery was well done with several plausible suspects. The killer was not someone that I had on my radar as a suspect. It was such fun to be around all of Meg's friends and family. I highly recommend this series if you enjoy a light, fun, humorous cozy mystery. I definitely plan to continue reading future books in the series.
January 12, 2020
A solid 3-stars. You can read a synopsis elsewhere so just my comments here. Five-year-old Timmy is back in the household because his mother joined the military and has been deployed to Germany or somewhere. Meg explains that she enlisted to get her education paid for. I wondered why this was necessary since she worked for the college and colleges generally give at least their full-time employees free tuition. The twins barely interfere with the story since Michael seems to take care of them with the exception of filling the milk bottles.
This feels like the "I could do better if I had it to do over" version of The Penguin Who Knew Too Much. But, in this book, the farm is overrun with domestic animals instead of zoo animals. What's cuter than a beagle puppy? And more good news, the medical examiner is away on a trip.
Pet peeve: Everyone loves the cats and dogs. Everyone seems to think that the macaw would be fine if it hadn't been trained to be bad by humans. But the one animal that they choose to really bad-mouth is the iguana. When Rob says that he was thinking of getting one, he is told that they are too much work, that they require fresh fruits and vegetables, that they need sunlight, that they suffer from dry skin, that they get five or six feet long, that they are aggressive, unrewarding and that they are not affectionate. Whew! Sounds almost as bad as having children.
This feels like the "I could do better if I had it to do over" version of The Penguin Who Knew Too Much. But, in this book, the farm is overrun with domestic animals instead of zoo animals. What's cuter than a beagle puppy? And more good news, the medical examiner is away on a trip.
Pet peeve: Everyone loves the cats and dogs. Everyone seems to think that the macaw would be fine if it hadn't been trained to be bad by humans. But the one animal that they choose to really bad-mouth is the iguana. When Rob says that he was thinking of getting one, he is told that they are too much work, that they require fresh fruits and vegetables, that they need sunlight, that they suffer from dry skin, that they get five or six feet long, that they are aggressive, unrewarding and that they are not affectionate. Whew! Sounds almost as bad as having children.
April 28, 2017
Meg’s twins, Jamie and Josh, are finally born, and Spike the dog, a/k/a the Small Evil One, are home and Meg is up to her elbows in being a new mom, dealing with her kooky family, and solving a murder and let’s not forget Timmy, a little boy who Meg and Michael are taking care of while his mother is deployed.
Meg’s dad, James, granddad, Monty, brother, Rob, and Clarence, the Vet, have stolen the rescue animals and unloaded them in Meg’s living room while they wait for Parker, the local furniture store owner, to bring his large furniture truck to take the animals to an animal shelter in another town. Wondering what is taking Parker so long to arrive; Granddad Monty continuously calls Parker hoping to get an answer. They hear a car pull up and look out the window to see Chief Burke. Chief Burke is asked what brings him out in the wee hours of the morning. Chief Burke informs them that he is investigating a murder and came by to ask why
Granddad Monty has been calling the dead guy’s cell phone for the past couple of hours?
Author Andrews is the master at creating fiction that combines kooky characters, lighthearted fun and laugh out loud humor.
Meg’s dad, James, granddad, Monty, brother, Rob, and Clarence, the Vet, have stolen the rescue animals and unloaded them in Meg’s living room while they wait for Parker, the local furniture store owner, to bring his large furniture truck to take the animals to an animal shelter in another town. Wondering what is taking Parker so long to arrive; Granddad Monty continuously calls Parker hoping to get an answer. They hear a car pull up and look out the window to see Chief Burke. Chief Burke is asked what brings him out in the wee hours of the morning. Chief Burke informs them that he is investigating a murder and came by to ask why
Granddad Monty has been calling the dead guy’s cell phone for the past couple of hours?
Author Andrews is the master at creating fiction that combines kooky characters, lighthearted fun and laugh out loud humor.
October 2, 2018
Meg and Michael are new parents to twins and find they have a houseful of family, friends and animals when the local animal shelter has to shut down. Meg's father and brother help friends rescue all the animals and they end up being "temporarily" housed at Meg's. One of the people who was supposed to transport the animals is found dead. The search starts for the killer and Meg finds out he had a lot of girlfriends and they are jealous of each other. Later someone attacks her grandfather and steals a foul mouthed macaw.
Eventually it is discovered the macaw actually belonged to the victim and since it repeats everything it might have clues as to who the killer is. In the meantime the townspeople find out the mayor has put the town in some serious financial difficulties and the town's buildings are going to be repossessed by the lender. Everyone pitches in to help evacuate the buildings and find temporary offices and decide how to get rid of the mayor and tackle the financial problems.
A fun cozy. Meg has a huge extended family with many of them worked into the story via all the different jobs they have. Lots are quirky and it makes for a enjoyable tale.
Eventually it is discovered the macaw actually belonged to the victim and since it repeats everything it might have clues as to who the killer is. In the meantime the townspeople find out the mayor has put the town in some serious financial difficulties and the town's buildings are going to be repossessed by the lender. Everyone pitches in to help evacuate the buildings and find temporary offices and decide how to get rid of the mayor and tackle the financial problems.
A fun cozy. Meg has a huge extended family with many of them worked into the story via all the different jobs they have. Lots are quirky and it makes for a enjoyable tale.
February 10, 2019
Meg and Michael only think that they are overbusy what with her looney family, infant twin boys, and the 5 year old son of the formerly underemployed coordinator of the drama dept who chose to join the military to finance her PhD. Then they are inundated by all of the animals of the county shelter when the volunteers try to rescue them but one of their number is murdered. Besides the animals and the murder, there is the uproar that begins when a pair of surveyors come in preparation for the building of a golf course and condos on their property! More madness ensues when it turns out that the mayor has taken out loans on the administration buildings but never made the payments, and now the bank is demanding evacuation and the whole town comes out in force to move everything out. Through it all, there is plenty of laughter to be had!
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