I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Cockatiels at Seven
by
Donna Andrews
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Minotaur Books on July 8, 2008 and has 326 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include The Real Macaw, Some Like It Hawk, The Hen of the Baskervilles, Duck the Halls, The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, Lord of the Wings, The Nightingale Before Christmas, Die Like an Eagle, Gone Gull, How the Finch Stole Christmas!, Toucan Keep a Secret, Lark! The Herald Angels Sing, The Falcon Always Wings Twice, The Gift of the Magpie, The Twelve Jays of Christmas, Murder with Peacocks, Murder with Puffins, Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon, We’ll Always Have Parrots, Owls Well That Ends Well, Terns of Endearment, Between a Flock and a Hard Place, No Nest for the Wicket, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, Six Geese A-Slaying, Stork Raving Mad, Owl Be Home for Christmas, Murder Most Fowl
Ninth in the Meg Langslow amateur sleuth cozy mystery series and revolving around a recently married blacksmith with a large family. The focus is on smuggling and a missing mom.
My Take
Ooh, snark! I love it, lol. Dr Blake doesn’t get why Meg is so happy to be a blacksmith. It’s so labor intensive. That reply Meg makes? ROFLMAO. It does help that Andrews uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Meg’s perspective. More laughter ensues as Timmy picks up on those excuses family makes: “I’m a turrel . . . This is as fast as I go.”
Meg also discovers how labor intensive having a toddler around can be — he’s already worn out five human steeds! As for the diaper-slinging incident. Well, I’m glad I wasn’t actually there, lol.
Family history is revealed that explains why Meg is so comfortable having cousins living with her and Michael.
As long as Dr Blake gets the results he wants, he’s not against chicanery. As for interference, ahem, Chief Burke is always apprehensive of Meg’s “investigating”.
Mutant Wizards is such a handy “character”. It employs so many brilliant computer techs who are always willing to help out. Yep, I love this company. Rob believes in taking care of his people and the atmosphere at work is fabulous. I do like those piranha in the fish tank!
The powers-that-be try to keep less contact between Rob and the rank-and-file . . . “easier to keep intact their belief . . . that Rob was a business mastermind and computer genius.”
Ongoing series drama is Michael’s hope of tenure, interactions with Dr Blake, Dad’s obsession with murder, and Chief Burke’s continuing frustrations with Meg’s interference.
Okay, Karen’s disappearance is the main bit of drama in Cockatiels at Seven and worrisome to boot with segues into her ex-husband’s more complicated activities, but that reveal about Rob’s disappearances . . . with Spike . . . are a major crack-up.
More tension ratchets up as that previous college scandal gets dredged up.
You might wanna watch where you step — poison ivy plays a major part with snakes adding their own special drama.
The Story
Hmmm, that child instruction manual is not a last-minute compilation. When Karen doesn’t show up to pick up Timmy, Meg gets worried. And when Meg gets worried, she dives in and under to learn if Karen is one of the bad guys or on the run from them. Meg also wonders if those chasing Karen will also be after Timmy.
Just to spice things up, Dad and Dr Blake need bailing out with an added scheme and Rob keeps disappearing. The question is, is Rob involved in something scary or is he just trying to avoid babysitting.
The Characters
Meg Langslow, blacksmith and amateur sleuth, just got married (in The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, 8) to Dr Michael Waterston, a drama professor at Caerphilly College. Their home is a recently purchased 3-acre farm with a three-story Victorian in need of a lot of work. Fortunately it has a number of sheds that can be re-purposed for whatever Dad and “Grampa” need. Spike is the eight-and-a-half pound furball a.k.a. the Small Evil One. Michael’s mom thinks she may be allergic to him.
Rob Langslow is Meg’s brother, who is slowly moving in. Dad is Dr Langslow, a man who reads mysteries by the truckload and who’s always trying to horn in when a body shows up. Mother . . . delegates. They’ve recently bought the farm next door, rescuing Meg and Michael at the same time (No Nest for the Wicket, 7). Rose Noire is the cousin who lives with Meg and Michael and is absorbed in herbal lore. Cousin Alice had taken care of Meg for her first three or four years of life.
Dr J. Montgomery Blake is Dad’s newly discovered father who took over the Caerphilly Zoo. His real father! One who is obsessed with zoology and the preservation of endangered species. He’s also world-famous for his television specials. He also has a nasty habit of dropping off animals “to lodge” at Meg and Michaels. Carlos Arroyo with US Fish and Wildlife, is very concerned with smuggling.
Caerphilly, Virginia, is . . .
. . . the town where Meg and Michael now live and where Caerphilly College is located. Seth Early is a neighbor who has a sheep farm with wandering, exploring sheep who, ahem, act more like dogs. Ms Ellie is the librarian. Henry Burke is the chief of police. Sammy Wendell is one of his deputies. Debbie-Anne is the dispatcher. Cousin Horace Hollingsworth is a crime scene tech in Yorktown, Meg’s hometown.
Mutant Wizards is Rob’s highly successful computer gaming company. Jack Ransom is technically second-in-command, but actually the real boss since Rob has no skills.but does roll with successful oddball ideas. Apple is the receptionist. Hal and Muriel are working on a new game line and welcome Timmy’s “expertise”. Ashok is in the User Experience Department, informally known as the Idiot-proofing Division. He had worked with Jasper before. Yeah, no way. Mother and Meg are on the board of directors.
At Caerphilly College . . .
. . . Karen Walker, who works in the college financial administration, is an old friend whom Meg hasn’t seen for a few years. Timmy is her son. Kiki is Timmy’s “secretive” stuffed cat. Jasper Walker, a computer tech, is the husband who ran out on her. Uncle Hiram Bass of Clayville is Jasper’s relative. Scout is his dog. Sandie is one of Karen’s co-workers, the tchotchke lady. Nadine Hanrahan is their uptight boss, a bureaucrat’s bureaucrat. Fred is a campus cop. Peter Willoughby is in computer support. Dr Driscoll, an avid birdwatcher, and his wife, Mabel, are meeting Michael for dinner. Dr Henry Blanke, with the drama department, and his wife, Phyllis, is a sympathetic colleague of Michael’s.
The Caerphilly Inn is a five-star hotel. Luigi’s is the Langslow-Waterston’s favorite restaurant — they give good pizza. The Whispering Pines is a run-down apartment building. The College Arms, a.k.a. the Armpits, are another run-down apartment complex. Dr Payne is a dentist. Hmm, I wonder if that name is a heads-up? Duke Borden runs a decorating shop.
Aubrey Hamilton operates the Prancing Poodle Kennels. Martin Hamilton is her deceased husband. There’s also the Belle Glade Bird Farm on the same property. Frederick “Freddy” Hamilton and Trey Hamilton are relatives.
The Cover and Title
The cover background is a gradient that starts with lime green and gradates down to a pale lime green at the bottom. At the very top is an info blurb in purple with the author’s name immediately below that in the same purple. Below that is a graphic of three white finches? cockatiels? clustered around a martini glass with red liquid and an orange parasol. Below that is the title in orange with the series info below that in a pale purple.
I’m not sure why the title is Cockatiels at Seven, except that it is punny. The primary focus on birds is finches . . .
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