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
Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow!
by
Donna Andrews
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Minotaur Books on October 10, 2023 and has 304 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, Birder, She Wrote
Thirty-fourth in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series revolving around an amateur sleuth with a lot of jobs on her plate, from blacksmith to mom to mayor’s assistant. The focus is on a reality TV show involving blacksmiths and blades in Caerphilly, Virginia.
My Take
It had been the usual dance of family not understanding Meg’s desire to learn blacksmithing — “Oh, it’s a unique hobby” — to Meg preferring a profession that is NOT welcoming to women and that was free of family expectations.
While Meg does know her value, she has no interest in competing against blacksmiths who have specialized in making blades, so of course events force her to change her mind, lol. Andrews uses first person protagonist point-of-view from Meg’s perspective, so we learn all her thoughts about this.
Lol, Meg doesn’t care what people “expect” and that initial meeting scene of the contestants proves it when she pours that coffee out, *more laughter*. I just love this woman!
The producers are something else, although it is fun to read of the diversity they’re trying for amongst the contestants. Meg is a top contender . . . in their eyes. Poor Meg, the show’s host keeps interrupting her work, and here she’d been hoping to immerse herself.
Some of the blacksmiths are amazingly nasty! Andrews puts it right out there with two of them snarling and bitching with perspectives that are “uniquely” their own. They made me wanna smack ‘em around! So, of course, I just had to keep reading to see if they got theirs, ahem *grin*. The others are unexpectedly welcoming of the substitute contestant and you’ll enjoy them. Andrews doesn’t fully round out every character, but dang, you really get the sense of them all.
Looks like the sabotage isn’t all evil, as Meg’s family steps up with pranks that irritate the producers — couldn’t happen to “nicer” people, lol.
Throughout the story, Andrews spins out blacksmithing information in the shape of Meg needing to know the particulars of the steel, subverting the sabotage, and what an artisan must consider in their craft. Fascinating. Andrews makes a reference back to the blade Meg designed in Murder Most Fowl, 19. A nice switch-up was Victor’s input on blacksmithing in Western Africa. Then there’s that description of a lenticular painting . . . I had no idea that’s what they were. I’ve always wanted to try making one of those in fabric.
It appears that Ragnar is channeling Mrs Winkleson from Swan for the Money, 11, with that black theme. From Andrews’ initial introduction of Ragnar, it will blow your mind how amazing Ragnar is when it comes to Christmas. That gingerbread house party sounds like fun! Makes you wish Caerphilly consideration would infect the world.
Who’d’ve thunk? Meg and company aren’t hosting a gang for once. Ragnar is letting them use his estate to film and putting everyone up, so naturally Meg brings the family. Yep, family includes the dogs — Spike, Tink, and Poms. More “thunking”, always read that contract from stem to stern, and then talk to a lawyer!
One of the (many) fun bits about the Meg Langslow series is that huge family of hers and all that diversity that comes in so handy. That Kevin. What I wouldn’t give to have his tech skills around the house, lol.
I do love reading about Mother’s decorating, and what’s really amazing is that she keeps her client in mind, decorating to their taste, ’cause ya gotta admit that Ragnar can be a challenge.
A recurring theme in the series is how supportive everyone is. Not just Meg’s family, but the entire county. Can you imagine how much nicer our world would be if we all participated like this? Which leads right to Michael’s annual one-man reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a benefit for local charities.
It’s darned handy to have an in with so many official departments, lol.
It’s an easy and fun read (I wanna re-read already!) with lots of action, starting with an attack on a participant, the not-so-sneaky sabotage, the sheep and goats watching the activity at the crime scene — shades of those llamas, the behind-the-scenes activities and interactions, and more.
Be warned, you may want to have a small feast when you read this — Ragnar’s cook is amazing!
The Story
Poor Alec Franzetti. He had a great idea with dreams of grandeur. Only he’s not the personality to fulfill those dreams.
Alec is still hoping for more diversity and then there’s the attack on Faulk with Meg forced into competition against those who think women have no place in the profession. It’s enough to encourage Chief Burke to put a man undercover on the set.
It’s shaping up to be a dramatic weaponsmithing reality show. And if the show’s producers were hoping for drama, they’re in luck. The blacksmithing world is a small one, and some of the contestants arrived already laden with grudges and feuds.
It’s a high-stakes, cutthroat competition between people who wield large hammers and make swords and have forges full of fire at their disposal. What could possibly go wrong?
The Characters
Meg Langslow is a blacksmith and part-time Mayor’s Assistant in Charge of Special Projects. Dr Michael Waterston, her husband, is a former successful actor and a drama professor at the local college where he also directs. Josh and Jamie are their twin sons. Spike is their nine-and-a-half pound Small Evil One. Tinkerbell is Rob’s Irish wolfhound. Mother, Meg’s, loves to decorate and Ragnar lets her loose. Dad, Dr James Langslow, is the local medical examiner with a number of passions. Rob is Meg’s brother; he and his wife, Delaney, are on a cruise with Grandfather, a.k.a. Great and Dr J Montgomery Blake, a world-renowned naturalist and environmentalist. Mutant Wizards is Rob’s computer company — and Kevin is in charge.
Rose Noire, a cousin who is the “patron saint of yoga and mindfulness”, operates an organic herb farm and lives with Meg and Michael. Kevin is a cousin who’s a whiz on computers and lives in Meg and Michael’s basement. Have I mentioned that there’s a housing crisis in Caerphilly? Grandmother Cordelia, Dad’s mom, lives in Riverton. The extended Hollingsworths are on Mother’s side of the family — the professions Meg lists are, ahem, extensive. The feared Festus Hollingsworth is a brilliant lawyer. Aunt Hildegard is a nun. Caroline Wilner, a family friend, runs the Wilner Wildlife Sanctuary.
Ragnar, a retired heavy metal drummer and a friend, has an estate outside town, Ragnarshjem, that he’s hired Meg to transform into a Goth castle. Alice is his cook. Ragnar is an amazing guy and always stepping up to help anyone out. That includes Erasmus Winkelman, an artist, and Lucifer, who is a stablehand. Some of Ragnar’s horses include Carmilla and Barnabas. Poor Horace.
Henry Burke is the police chief for Caerphilly and sheriff for the county. His deputies include Vern Shiffley, who is Burke’s chief deputy; Horace Hollingsworth, one of Meg’s cousins who is also their lone CSI tech; Aida Butler (Kayla is her daughter); Sammy; and, Marge. Debbie Ann is the police dispatcher. Maudie runs the family funeral parlor.
Minerva is Henry’s wife and together they’re raising their three orphaned grandsons: Frank, Clive, and Adam, who is one of Josh and Jamie’s best friends. Minerva is also the musical director for the New Life Baptist Church choir.
Randall Shiffley is the mayor of Caerphilly and always coming up with ideas to keep the town a going concern. The Caerphilly Inn is a five-star hotel managed by Ekaterina. Osgood Shiffley runs a garage and gas station. Rodney Peebles, recently released from Coffeewood, is a Clay County drug dealer. Rancid Dread is a local metal band. Jane Shiffley is a handy judge to know. Great-uncle Jasper can tell the weather, well, his shoulder can.
Blades of Glory
. . . is a new reality TV show put together by Alec Franzetti, an old friend of Meg’s and a previous pupil of Faulk’s. Jasmyn, Zakaryan’s niece, is the unhappy production assistant — a woman with Rose Noire’s heart. Roxanne Ballinger, one of Michael’s grad students, will fill in for Jasmyn. Sam Wilson is the director. B.J. “Tweedledee” Zakaryan, a.k.a. Uncle Brad, and Pierre “Tweedledum” Duval are the producers.
The contestants include William “Faulk” Faulkner Cates (Meg’s blacksmithing teacher. Tad is Faulk’s husband and an employee at Mutant Wizards since events in The Falcon Always Wings Twice, 27), the Black Victor Noone, the Korean-American Andy Kim, the snarly Duncan “the Hulk” Jackson, Brody “Blondy” McIlvaney is a scumbag, and the quiet John Dunigan — “five big, burly guys most of whom are tattooed and bearded”.
There are three judges and they include Marco d’Antonio, a well-known martial artist.
The Cover and Title
The cover suits the season with its red background that gradates from mostly red at the top to a scrap of red at the bottom and pink in the graphic’s center. It’s a snowy setting for an elaborate gingerbread facade that resembles Ragnarshjem with the requisite candy trimmings, including flying pennants and a gingerbread man standing guard. Three crows, a reference to the title, perhaps?, wear green Santa hats and striped scarves and fly around the building with the rightmost crow carrying a heavy hammer. At the the top is an info blurb in white. The author’s name is immediately below it in an embossed silver. The series info in black is below the “A” and above a crow on the left. The exclamations in the title are on their own lines and individually a’tilt in an embossed black “shadowed” by snow accumulations. Starting at the top are stars that morph into snowflakes as they fall.
The title makes me think of the end result with our expected winner as well as those blacksmith helpers off the set, as they Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow!.
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