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
Dashing Through the Snowbirds
by
Donna Andrews
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Minotaur Books on October 11, 2022 and has 300 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, Cockatiels at Seven, Six Geese A-Slaying, Stork Raving Mad, Owl Be Home for Christmas, Murder Most Fowl, Round Up the Usual Peacocks
Thirty-second in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series revolving around an amateur sleuth who happens to be a mom and a blacksmith — who is amazingly organized. The focus is on a rush job to create new software.
My Take
Oh man, Ian is an idiot, which we learn through Andrews’ use of first person protagonist point-of-view from Meg’s perspective! Not understanding remote work. Not grasping the concept that making hotel reservations around Christmas may not be possible. Ian thinks Virginia is next door to Florida. And yep, you got it. Surprise. Meg and Michael have a whole new pool of campers. I don’t know why Meg is allowing Ian to use any room in their house for an office when he has a temporary office at Mutant Wizards.
It’s so sweet how Meg and her family do so much to make their “guests” welcome. In return Angela and Maeve want to gift them with a “map”, but are horrified at how convoluted their family tree is, especially with the Langslows’ preferred method of titling their relatives.
And while Meg is a prominent character, she’s not doing much in the organizing or blacksmithing end of things.
Ooh, Dad is doing something mysterious in the back pasture! Mother, of course, isn’t so mysterious with her Christmas decorating, just over the top per usual, although . . . there are rules.
I do have to get all stuffy. Sure, the Meg Langslow series is FICTION. I know it. Yet, I still wonder how the Langslows can afford to do all that they do. That gift of Dad’s? Wow. It’s so very thoughtful and put together. And expensive. Mother’s decorating? Expensive and where do they store it all?
I gotta say, I like Randall’s color ideas about the supplies. I wonder if we can do that here in my apartment building??
I keep going on about how supportive and compassionate the protagonistseses are, as well as the townspeople, and it truly comes through even more with how Mutant Wizards employees come through.
Andrews does keep it silly with family interaction, their reactions to the “bad” guys, the “surprises” provided by auto-correct, the Langslow-Waterston’s protective critters, the individual quirks of the characters, and it still dumbfounds me that Little Miss Muffet’s curds-and-whey is just cottage cheese!
On the non-silly side, there is a lot of concern about saving face and reputations while getting Mutant Wizards out from under a failing concern. Meanwhile, Grandfather has been influenced into DNA tech and seems to be going even further with analysis. Great does love to experiment.
Hmm, some of the cousins have a banned book group. It seems most of the family are book enablers. People after my own heart, lol.
It’s fun to watch how Christmas in Caerphilly evolves, revenue-wise, for the town. It does sound beautiful, and I’d love to delve into this Dickensian experience.
There’s plenty going on: the AcerGen employees are working all hours; Ian is ensuring they work constantly even as he harasses them; his way over-the-top rudeness; the elusive (and pregnant) yellow tabby cat; a menacing stalker; the mixed-blessings of Dad’s gift; and, Meg’s unusual efforts to ease the Canadians’ stay in Caerphilly.
The Story
A Canadian company wants to break into the genetics testing aspect of tracing your genealogy and expects Mutant Wizards to make the bells and whistles work.
Only, Festus has discovered a desperate need to terminate that contract. But not break it. Yep, there’s a difference. Not only that, but AcerGen is not paying salaries on time.
As for their morals and ethics about genetics . . .?
Almost as bad is that missing kitty.
The Characters
Meg Langslow and Dr Michael Waterston, a drama professor at the college, have a huge farmhouse they make available to anyone in need. Jamie and Josh are their twin sons. Spike is the furball who only tolerates Meg because she provided him with the twins. Skulk is the larger of the two barn cats; Lurk is the other. The Twinmobile is the SUV they use to haul the boys and their friends around. Dad, Dr James Langslow, is the local medical examiner who has a variety of interests including owling, mysteries, animal rights, gardening, and more. Mother subsumes her worries with decorating.
Rob Langslow, Meg’s brother, runs a computer gaming company, Mutant Wizards, although they’ve been diversifying. Lawyers From Hell was the first game. Delaney is Rob’s new wife (Round Up the Usual Peacocks, 31). Tinkerbell is Rob’s Irish wolfhound. The “airheaded” Kristyn is a part-time receptionist and one of Michael’s drama grad students. Other employees include Ash, who’s against littering, and Kevin McReady, Meg’s nephew who lives in their basement and is Rob’s left-hand man and a department head — he can make data sit up and beg (Widget is his Pomeranian). The Pit is an open-air common area at Mutant Wizards with a huge wall of windows. The brilliant Kevin and his friend Casey run Virginia Crime Time, exploring true-crime in Virginia through podcasts.
Rose Noire is Meg’s cousin who operates an organic herb farm. Winter Solstice, a.k.a. Winnie, is Rose’s Pomeranian. Cordelia Lee Mason is Meg’s paternal grandmother, recently found (The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, 17). The legendary Cousin Nora shows up. Cousin Festus Holllingsworth is a brilliant attorney who prefers tilting at windmills. He’s also Mutant Wizards’ outside counsel. Dr J Montgomery “Monty” Blake, a.k.a. Grandfather and Great, is Dad’s father, a world famous naturalist, and an environmentalist who owns the Caerphilly Zoo. Manoj Batra is part of the zoo staff. Blake’s Brigade is an informal group of enthusiasts who support Dr Blake’s passions. Caroline Willner runs the Willner Wildlife Sanctuary and is a good friend of Monty’s. Uncle “Tut”, a.k.a. Thomas Underwood Taliaferro Hollingsworth, is a mostly retired attorney who is on the Mutant Wizards board. Aunt Ida knows everything about the family tree. Emma is a very young cousin. Uncle Wes plays the harp.
Bowling — “how hard can it be?”
Caerphilly, Virginia, is . . .
. . . home base for Meg and Michael, Mutant Wizards, and Caerphilly College. Randall Shiffley is the mayor. While he’s mayor, he’s turned over management of the Shiffley Construction Company. Stanley Denton is a private investigator and a friend (The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, 17). Ellie Drayer is the head librarian. Seth Early is Meg and Michael’s neighbor who raises sheep. Wandering sheep. Exploring sheep. Deacon Washington, another neighbor who also attends the New Life Baptist Church, has a farm. Mrs Dahlgren is the persnickety Methodist church secretary where the Reverend Trask presides. Dr Clarence Rutledge, a devoted veterinarian who owns the Caerphilly Veterinary Hospital, works for the town and the zoo. Lucas Plunkett is Clarence’s valuable assistant (Round Up the Usual Peacocks). The tabby will become Merry. Flugleman’s Feed Store is running low on feeders and bird food. The Spare Attic is a storage facility. The Haven is a budget motel Rob fixed up as units for his employees. The Reverend Robyn. The Caerphilly Inn is a five-star hotel managed by Ekaterina. Osgood Shiffley runs a gas station. Dr Smoot is a vampire enthusiast. Janet and Fred know how to use a Zamboni.
Henry Burke is the police chief who’s married to Minerva, the director of the New Life Baptist Church — she’s also on the Mutant Wizards board. They’re raising their three orphaned grandsons: Adam, Calvin, and Frank. Willie Mays is their Pomeranian. Burke’s deputies include Vern Shiffley, Cousin Horace Hollingsworth (Watson is his Pomeranian), and Aida Butler (her Pomeranian is Whatever).
AcerGen . . .
. . . wants to be an ancestry.com but is focused on the Canadian market. The incredibly rude and idiotic Ian Meredith, a.k.a. Sasquatch, is the president. Hmmm, is Andrews sure that Ian is Canadian? Ian’s father, Gordon Meredith, is/was the founder of the company. Ian has forced twelve of his employees to come along, including Claudine who is the Québecois project manager; Angela and Maeve are avid birdwatchers; “Eeyore”, who finally smiles; and, Rhea. Clive is back at home base.
DNA Gnostics is a medical testing firm AcerGen uses. Quest and LabCorp no longer do business with AcerGen.
Cyrus Runk is a convicted murderer. His lawyers are with Mason, Morgan, and Friedman and include the beefy William T Morgan. I believe the Innocence Project helps those unfairly convicted. A Brady violation is when the prosecution doesn’t turn over evidence helpful to the defense. Mr Confessions-R-Us just can’t help it. CODIS is the Combined DNA Index System kept by the FBI. AFIS is for fingerprints.
Katherine Anne Koenigslutter is a Wisconsinite angry about a DNA mix-up. Elias Boyd claims to be a half-sibling. Jerosha Fawn, a.k.a. CatLady517, is a fan of Virginia Crime Time. Alfred Sloan is an attorney in Wisconsin.
Clay County is . . .
. . . Caerphilly County’s mortal enemy. The Clay County Motor Lodge is also known as the Roach Motel or Bedbugs and Beyond.
The Cover and Title
The background of the cover gradates from a deep mint green with snowflakes falling to white and then to a pale mint at the bottom. At the very top is the author’s name (with the last three letters of her last name tumbling) in the soft mint. Below it is an info blurb in a greenish yellow. Below that is the story graphic of a red toboggan rushing down the hill, spraying up blasts of snow, with owls riding on it, wearing scarves and hats. The best part is the sled hitting that poor snowman with his body parts flying through the air. Below the sled is the title in a deep red. The series info is in the deep mint and just to the right of the title and below the snowman.
The title is a play on the havoc Ian plays on his employees, Dashing Through the Snowbirds.
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