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
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
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.
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