Sunday, December 16, 2018

Two Cozy Mysteries by Donna Andrews

Reviewer: Joy Rosynek

 Toucan Keep a Secret by Donna Andrews

This is the 23rd and latest publication in the series by the author featuring Meg Langslow and her various engaging family members. The series, which began with Murder with Peacocks, always features a bird which is often integral to the plot. Andrews features different locales in the fictional town of Caerphilly and frequently revisits them, she has done so again as Meg finds the body of a very contentious vestry member in the crypt at Trinity Episcopal Church. As her husband, Michael, comments, “ Why do our local murderers always manage to commit their crimes when you’re around.”

Of course, for Andrews’ many readers, this is exactly why we look forward to each new book. I always know that there will be a plot twist or two, her family members will pop up to either help or hinder her investigations and foil the murderer. This book lives up to the previous novels in providing the reader with amusing dialogue, a visit to a mansion from another book and a reenactment of an unsolved burglary that helps to tie up many crimes from the past and present.

Hardcover:  294 pages
Publisher:
 St. Martin's Press (August 7, 2018)
ISBN: 9781250115478

Lark! The Herald Angels Sing by Donna Andrews

This is the fifth entry into a Christmas novel that features murder and mayhem in Caerphilly by Andrews. This time the bird in the title is not a bird, but a child left in the manger of the Christmas pageant that Meg Langslow is directing at Trinity Episcopal Church. A note left with the baby seems to indicate that Meg’s brother, Rob, is the father. While Meg is trying to find out the truth about the paternity of the baby and help her brother, the events that are happening in Clay County spill over into Caerphilly.

The Christmas novels always bring the spirit of Christmas to the reader, even if some of it is idealized. As a reader, we would want to visit the town of Caerphilly with singers on the sidewalk serenading the shoppers. We would like to buy bake goods from the stalls set up in the square by the various churches and synagogue. We could attend Meg’s husband, Michael’s, one man show of “The Christmas Carol” and the Baptist choir concert led by the police chief’s wife. We can visit Meg’s grandfather’s zoo and watch as the holiday parade passed by followed by a community sing along. However, this year the reader gets to experience what happens when the good ladies of the Caerphilly peacefully invade the infamous Clay County, the site of many misdeeds and save the day and some lives, including several of Meg’s closest relatives. Andrews’ Christmas novels always put one in a festive mood as Meg and the good citizens’ triumph in bringing the holiday spirit to their corner of the world.

Hardcover:  279 pages
Publisher:
 St. Martin's Press (October 16, 2018)    ISBN: 978125019294-3

Donna Andrews has won the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry awards, an RT Book Review for her first novel, and four Lefty and two Toby Bromberg Awards for funniest mysteries. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Private Investigators and Security Association. Andrews lives in Reston, Virginia.


No comments:

Post a Comment