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
Birder, She Wrote
by
Donna Andrews
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Minotaur Books on August 1, 2023 and has 302 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, Dashing Through the Snowbirds
Thirty-third in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series revolving around a blacksmith mom who’s also an amateur sleuth. The focus is on those danged NIMBY complaints and murder in Caerphilly, Virginia.
My Take
It’s a look into the daily life of Meg Langslow and her family. That Dad of hers is so cute with all his passions and willingness to help. His lack of commonsense does add to his character. Ya gotta laugh at the anecdote about Dad’s Weaseltide dance (How the Finch Stole Christmas!, 22) that the high school and baseball team adopts, lol.
Andrews uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Meg’s perspective so we can’t help but hear and experience life through her eyes. Lol, we know all about her love for her family — especially Dad’s new passion — and how she feels about those danged NIMBYs.
Ooh, the introduction of that Colleton woman certainly brings some added spice. I gotta laugh at how frustrated Britni is with her latest choice in interviewees — Cordelia is not the person Colleton thought. Nor does Britni care for the family’s preferences whether it comes to where to eat or who to pal around with.
The hunt for the lost graveyard was filled with interesting, if somewhat horrific, facts.
Consistent fun in the series is the behavior of those llamas! Reading about them makes me wish I had a farm! There’s Grandfather’s and Cordelia’s antagonistic attitudes towards each other. There’s the primary place focus of Meg and Michael’s farm with their habit of hosting groups of people whether it’s as a residence or their many potlucks. This includes being a doggie daycare for the Pomeranians! Aida’s reasoning for naming her Pomeranian still makes me laugh. Hmph, as if!
Temporary “fun” is the remnants on the barn from Rob and Delaney’s wedding, lol. The Langslow-Waterstons are quite prepared for those frequent power failures, which are a joy for the boys. Britni? Not so much, lol.
It is reassuring to read that many of the small farmers in Caerphilly County have figured out how to thrive these days. There’s an ingenious tip on what to do about bullying hummingbirds. You may have guessed it that the whole Meg Langslow series is an environmental one, and if it encourages any readers to dive in, I’m all in favor. Metaphysically, Meg is a skeptic about Rose Noire’s beliefs although Meg makes a good argument for Rose Noire’s reading of auras.
The corruption rampant in Clay County makes a nice foil for the upstanding citizens of Caerphilly. Well, the majority of them, anyway.
Those of you who hate HOAs will enjoy Birder, She Wrote, as Meg and company dislike them too. Especially the police department, lol. That HOA sure doesn’t know much about the law. Meg is beginning to worry that her no doesn’t mean no to the NIMBYs.
On the other hand, those Shiffleys are very protective — I cracked up when Horace mentioned all the Shiffleys driving up and down a particular road.
I don’t know why Andrews has changed the name of the boys’ baseball team from the Eagles (Die Like an Eagle, 20) to the Meerkats. As the boys get older, do they change teams?
In some ways the pace is a bit slow, but it’s all worth it what with the action and all their various participants — it does my heart good to see all this cooperation! Of course, Andrews’ characters are an absolute hoot with their quirks.
Hmm, it seems that “organic” is not “odor-free”.
The best news? A new couple will be moving into Westlake with their multi-cultural family of a dozen kids! ROFLAMO.
The Story
It’s an “un”fortunate discovery in the long-lost slave graveyard when Deacon, Meg, Cordelia, and Horace find that new dead body. Nor is it the only dead body, or should I say . . . bodies!
It’s a find that leads to the unveiling a lot of the deceased’s irregular hobbies including drug activity at the library and that Britni’s busyness.
The Characters
The very organized, snoopy Meg Langslow, with her notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe is Randall’s very efficient assistant — Mayor’s Special Assistant for Headaches and Nuisances, has a supportive husband in Dr Michael Waterston, who is the drama professor at the local college. Josh and Jamie are their twin sons. Spike is their Small Evil One. Some of the critters on their farm include five llamas and chickens. Mother and Dad, Dr James Langslow who is the local medical examiner, have the neighboring farm where Dad has decided to start raising bees. Michael’s mother loves traveling abroad.
Rob Langslow, Meg’s brother, started up and owns Mutant Wizards, a very successful computer gaming company that has branched out. Delaney is his wife who does computer programming. Tinkerbell is Rob’s Irish wolfhound. It’s darned handy that Kevin is so into tech, including surveillance. Kevin McReady, a cousin, is amazing on the computer and lives in Meg’s basement. He’s also a department head at Mutant Wizards and the official computer and data consultant to the Caerphilly PD. Widget is Kevin’s Pomeranian.
Rose Noire, another cousin, is the nature-crazy cousin-in-residence who loves gardening. Winter Solstice, a.k.a. Winnie, is her Pomeranian. Grandfather, a.k.a. Great, is Dr J Montgomery Blake, an eminent naturalist, who owns the Caerphilly Zoo. Blake’s Brigade is a group of volunteers who embrace Grandfather’s interests. Grandmother Cordelia, who lives an hour away in Riverton running the thriving Biscuit Mountain Craft Center, is Dad’s mother and the more practical birder. Cousin Festus Hollingsworth is a brilliant attorney who owns a local farm.
Caerphilly, Virginia, is . . .
. . . is where Meg and Michael’s farmhouse and the college are based. Randall Shiffley is the mayor. Shiffley Construction is a reputable builder. Mel and Janice Shiffley? are starting a mead business. Judge Jane Shiffley is good for warrants. Osgood Shiffley operates a tow truck. Jeanine Shiffley is a real estate agent.
Henry Burke is Caerphilly’s chief of police. His deputies include Meg’s cousin Horace Hollingsworth, who is their CSI tech and is training Watson to be a cadaver dog; Vern Shiffley; Aida Butler (Kayla is her daughter who’s now saying “As If”); and, Sammy. Debbie Anne is the police dispatcher. Braden Shiffley is summer interning with the police department to see if he wants to major in criminal justice. Dagmar, another Shiffley cousin, trains dogs for search-and-rescue, pest control, and cadaver-hunting.
The Burkes are raising their three orphaned grandsons: Frank, Calvin, and Adam (he’s Josh and Jamie’s best friend and has adopted Willie Mays, another Pomeranian).
Deacon Washington, one of Meg’s neighbors, wants to look for the Muddy Hollow graveyard for slaves. Isaac Washington is his helpful grandson who runs the farm. TJ, Isaac’s wife, makes a fine picnic basket. Isaac Jr is another of Josh and Jamie’s friends. Seth Early is another neighbor who owns a flock of adventurous sheep.
Flugleman’s is the local garden supplier. Gertie Flugleman is the family mariarch. The Frilled Pheasant is a cutesy restaurant. Muriel’s Diner is a favorite. Luigi’s makes great pizza. The Shack is a Shiffley down-and-dirty barbecue joint that is way popular. The New Life Baptist Church does a good fish fry and has a famous choir directed by Minerva Burke, the chief’s wife. The Reverend Wilson is its rector. Ellie Drayer is the head librarian. The Caerphilly Inn is a five-star hotel managed by Ekaterina. Maudie manages the family funeral home. The Reverend Robyn Smith is the rector of Trinity Episcopal, who was the true founder of the Ladies Interfaith Council. St Clotilda’s Guild was set up to do good works. I do love how cooperative all the different religions are in Caerphilly! SPOOR, Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors, is a local bird conservation group. Fred is the editor at the Clarion. Mrs Vetrano belongs to the Garden Club and appears to be quick. The club has a weeding bee that helps out those who are laid up. Dominion Power is the electric company.
The NIMBYs of Westlake, the ritzy neighborhood in Caerphilly, are “not from around here” and paid no attention to the fact that they were buying houses in farming country. They include the recently widowed Walter “Wally the Weird” Inman, a retired businessman and yard Nazi with nothing else to do; Harry and Connie Brownlow own a Maltipoo named Wuzzums, a.k.a. Wild Thing, was something of a “slut” — seems the Brownlows gave that attitude to their dog, ahem; the Griswolds — the unexpected Shane is their frustrated teenage son; Mavis Anstruther, who is a member of the Caerphilly Garden Club who doesn’t understand why her suggestion to use a southern plantation theme for a garden show keeps being vetoed (her husband, Virgil, died a year ago); and, Kimberly is Mavis’ daughter who learns a horrible secret.
Edgar Bortnick is a native who raises bees and is a wildlife photographer. Sam Shiffley, a cousin of Randall’s, owns the organic pig farm raising Red Wattles and Gloucestershire Old Spots next to Edgar. The Sting is not just an overnight party at Edgar’s.
The whiny Britni Colleton is a content provider with Sweet Tea and Sassafras, a magazine more interested in the socially obsessed.
Riverton is . . .
. . . where Grandmother Cordelia lives. The Ghillie Dhu is a fairy-infested B&B with a landlady, Mrs MacGilleBhriìghde, who used to be Gibson.
Clay County is . . .
. . . heartily disliked by Caerphilly County. Sheriff Dingle is but one of the corrupt policemen.
Loudon County is . . .
. . . where Inman used to live.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a royal blue to pale lilac and back to royal blue gradated background. This time there’s a wooden table and chair with a green cushion set at the bottom of the cover with an old Royal typewriter facing the chair. That’s one heckuva clue there. A glass vase with a white grave lily sits on the right side of the typewriter as multi-colored hummingbirds and bees flitter about the typewriter. A pair of binoculars hang from their strap on one side of the chair’s back. At the very top is an info blurb in white. The author’s name is below it in pale yellow with the last three letters in the author’s last name tipping over. In the middle between birds and typewriter is the series info in black. Just below the table edge is the title in a brighter pale yellow, with some letters askew. A fun montage and don’tcha just love it when the illustrator appears to have read the story!
The title has fun with a minor “character” in the story with Birder, She Wrote.
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