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Owls Well That Ends Well
by
Donna Andrews
amateur sleuth, cozy mystery in a Kindle edition that was published by Minotaur Books on April 1, 2005 and has 352 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, Terns of Endearment
Sixth in the Meg Langslow series revolving around an amateur sleuth in a cozy mystery. The focus is on the last step in getting rid of Edwina Sprocket’s stuff.
In 2005, Owls Well That Ends Well was nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel.
My Take
It rotates between a love for books and a lust of greed with an underlying fear of scandal. We learn it all from first person protagonist point-of-view from Meg’s perspective. And she is one busy lady!
It’s a melting pot of subplots — series-wise as well as story-specific, from the tenure fear with the Drama Department being sandwiched under the so-superior English Department. English keeps trying to kill popular drama courses and refusing tenure. Nor does Mother’s decorating tastes coincide with Meg and Michael’s, so there’s the constant tension of what Mother is up to.
A standalone subplot is clutter! Ooh, never throw away another’s “collection”. Although, Andrews does throw out a lot of red herrings with a slew of misdirection. As for the plagiarism, it can be a career killer for scholars, although a little friendly blackmail can be helpful.
For all that there are too many relatives who love to descend on each other, they do love to help, they’re supportive, and a laugh a minute. They’re not all bright, as some demonstrate with how willfully they ignore the signs.
That Michael is a well-rounded lad. Gorgeous, acting experience, and the PhD in drama. Mother’s side of the family is pretty well rounded as well, which only raises the comic quotient. And, of course, there’s the “intellectual” side. No, I’m actually serious about this last. I love that Dad interacts with the kids, with everyone, in learning. It’s collective nouns and anatomy, as well as nature facts.
“a chattering of cousins, an unkindness of relations . . .”
Feel free to make use of these phrases during family gatherings, lol.
I do envy Michael and Meg their renovation of the house. It’s so much fun to design and create! Especially when it’s your own place! And a library. They’re envisioning a library . . . cue the holy grail music
There are those negative aspects — between Meg and Michael, I mean. They’re both working hard for the same purpose, just not in the same way, and that always fosters some resentments. More negatives are those Sprockets! Talk about an unthinking, greedy bunch of idiots! There are other idiots, of course. It’s a yard sale! Of course there are characters who should be allowed in early . . . and the ones who claim/disclaim “purchases” with no sense of reason.
The flea market is definitely a family and town affair. Band, chamber music ensemble, the choir, the assertive sheep, funnel cakes, Sno-Cones . . . spin-offs . . .
I gotta laugh. Meg mistakes many of Michael’s colleagues as family! More laughter ensues from Meg’s assessment of everyone’s clutter:
“I’ve evicted the Army of Clutter from the house . . . banished some of it . . . to the dump or the local antique stores, most of its forces . . . now encamped on our lawn . . . reinforcements from other households . . . even now plotting revenge.”
I did like the discount via costume. As for selling off those white elephants . . . don’t let the giver catch you, lol.
Poor Meg! Still, she does have her tricks for deflecting some of those who think they’re being helpful. Her assessment of her brother will also make you laugh: an intelligent underachiever with no common sense, lol. It seems his staff prefers he stay away from the office. The good-hearted Cousin Rosemary has more reincarnations than I can count. Rob’s given up on her multitude of name changes and just calls her Not-Rosemary. As for Cousin Ginnie and Morris’ issues, it’s a running theme that kept me fascinated.
Dad has convinced the family that Meg is a brilliant sleuth; Chief Burke is a holdout. Hmmm.
It’s action-packed AND character-driven with a wide, wide range of characters. It’s never a slow read and definitely easy with lots of laughter., lol.
Owls Well That Ends Well evolves from one mystery to another, from Gordon-you-thief’s larcenous approach to Schmidt’s terror of exposure. We’ll see how Meg can turn this into a bonus, lol.
The Story
Surprise. “Everyone knows” that a multifamily yard sale is a bigger draw than a single-family one. And so far, seventeen families on the Hollingworth side, have jumped in to help pad out Meg and Michael’s. And thirteen of Michael’s friends and work colleagues.
Meg is so looking forward to getting all this Sprocket clutter out of the house . . . if only so they can move their own stuff in. Unfortunately, someone has added a body to the sale.
The Characters
Meg Langslow, a blacksmith, is engaged to Dr Michael Waterston, a drama professor at Caerphilly College in Caerphilly, Virginia, as well as a regular cast member of a syndicated TV show. At all times she carries the-notebook-that-tells-her-when-to-breathe. Spike is the Small Evil One, the dog they’ve inherited from Michael’s mother. Sophie is the female of the nesting pair of owls. The Cave is/had been Michael’s apartment, a tiny dank basement one.
Meg’s Family
Rob Langslow is Meg’s younger brother has a successful computer game company, Mutant Wizards. Dad, Dr James Langslow, is a sort-of retired doctor who adores treating people and reading mysteries, along with his own hoard of other interests, including his recent election as president of SPOOR. Cousin Rosemary Keenan chants her sun salutations and evolves into Rose Noir — the e comes later. Cousin Dolores has her morning aerobics. Cousin Emma and Claude are from Wichita. Cousin Bernie is obsessed with the family’s genealogy. Cousin Leo is a mad inventor. Cousin Horace Hollingworth shows up in his gorilla suit. (He’s also a crime scene tech with the sheriff’s department in Yorktown.) Darlene is no longer Horace’s girlfriend — the traitor! Aunt Millicent and Cousin Emily cater to the shoppers’ stomachs. Cousin Everett has a boom lift and is selling Playboys. Uncle Floyd is a target. Cousin Dermot is upset that his high chair is being sold. Young Eric is here. He and Frankie are running a protection racket, ROFL. Cousin Dierdre is an animal rights activist. Aunts Gladys and Josephine do not fight fair over that shawl. Aunt Minnie might be able to salvage it. Cousins Basil and Cyril are twins plotting their way onto an organizing show. The elderly Aunt Catriona makes some interesting purchases. I agree with Meg — I don’t wanna know, lol. Cousin Morris “knows” his marriage is ending with what Cousin Ginnie, his wife (and a dessert chef for an upscale restaurant), is selling. Uncle Ned is always on the lookout for foreign spies. Great-aunt Hester has a limited knowledge of pornography. Cousin Sidney runs a towing service. Aunt Cleo is selling beloved paintball guns . . . and guess who’s buying them, lol. Why is Aunt Verbena buying birdhouses and feeders if she lives in a high-rise condo? Mrs Fenniman is Mother’s best friend.
Henry Burke is the chief of police, who is not keen on Meg’s interference. Minerva is his wife and they’re bringing up their three orphaned grandchildren, who include Frankie (he’s the little Darth Vader). Clyde (he’s on leave) and Sammy are some of the police officers. Debbie Anne is the police dispatcher.
The inconsiderate Gordon “Gordon-you-thief” McCoy runs the Antique and Junque Emporium and is hated by most everyone he encounters. He is talented and knowledgeable, if only he’d had integrity. Carol is his furious wanna-be-ex wife. Ralph Endicott is Gordon’s ex-partner.
The Hummel Lady thinks she’s all that. Maggie Mason is a bookseller. The 1920s Whispering Pines Cabins were converted into apartments. The Spare Attic, the former Brakenridge textile mill, is a storage facility. Seth Early is Meg and Michael’s sheep farmer neighbor.
Caerphilly College
Dr Gruber is the chairman of the Music Department. Professor Giles Rathbone, who adores books, especially detective, fantasy, and science fiction, is one of Michael’s closest friends, a member of Michael’s tenure committee, and an English professor. Professor Hutson has a table. Dr Snyder is the department chairman. Professor Arnold Schmidt is one of the stuffier English teachers — one of the Great Stone Faces. Sorry, sorry, sorry, he’s a professor of literature! He’s also the world’s leading scholar on Ginerva Brakenridge Pruitt‘s ouevre. You have so gotta read what Michael and Meg say about Mrs Pruitt’s output, ROFLMAO. Ezekeil Brakenridge, Ginerva’s father, had built the factory.
The late Edwina Sprocket had been a hoarder of Olympic caliber and had owned the house Meg and Michael bought. Her grand-nephews include Barrymore Sprocket, who is a total PITA. Captain Ezra Sprocket is rumored to have buried treasure.
SPOOR is a local conservation group: Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors. R Austin Freeman pops up again (also in the Lord Peter Wimsey stories). I have got to get to reading some of his work! Luigi’s is their favorite pizza place.
The Cover and Title
The cover is . . . whoa . . . an electric purplish fuchsia. At the top is the author’s name in white with a testimonial just below it. A golden owl is flying off with an old book (in brown tones). Right justified, starting at the bottom of the clutched book, is the title in yellow followed by the series info.
The title is borrowed from one of Shakespeare’s plays as Owls Well That Ends Well, when owls show up everywhere . . . and even save the day. Well, part of it.
