Customer Reviews

Cockatiels at Seven (Thorndike Mystery)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the ninth book in the Meg Langslow series. It is well written but lacks the rollicking fun of the previous novels. Don't get me wrong there are a few giggles but unlike the previous books in the series I didn't laugh out loud. Meg trying to solve a murder while trying to keep her various family members out of trouble is funny. Meg trying to solve a murder with an abandoned toddler in tow is not.

The charm and humor of this series has always been watching Meg and Michael deal with the over the top personalities around them. This book has very little of that. Although the author hints at other things that Meg would normally be worried about, we don't see it.

I enjoyed this book but was also disappointed in it. Even the title "Cockatiels at Seven" doesn't fit the story as all the previous titles have. If you are already a fan you may also find this book lacking. If you haven't already been hooked on the series this book is good but not typical.

The title/cover art is cute but totally misleading in that it implies a frivolous, lighthearted story containing cocktails and parties, which in fact have nothing whatever to do with the plot.

It isn't too serious, certainly, but this one has more depth of tone than previous books, focusing more on real feelings and even a little character growth. Michael features more than of late which is good (and with hardly any chuckling,thank goodness) and Jack Ransom makes a welcome (although disappointingly mundane) guest appearance but Timmy the toddler is the real star here.

However, there are no crazy relations around this time. Meg's father and long-lost grandfather are there - but they're not really amusing at all, just popping up occasionally in the background to park various reptiles and birds around Meg's vast house as usual - and their 'mystery' sub-plots are simply perfunctory, barely mentioned in passing (and although Rob's highlight scene is a classic, it's just abandoned without any further explanation as soon as it's over).

The actual mystery is quite good, although the villain was obvious as soon as the red herrings swam into view (although not to Meg, to whom it was a complete surprise despite all her sleuthing). Still, overall it's a good read, but I do hanker after a return to the classic madcap style of 'Buzzards' and 'Parrots'.

Maybe next time...?

This installment of the Meg Lanslow series isn't quite as funny as most of the previous volumes have been. Even when the birds get loose, it isn't the rollicking physical farce that some of the previous ones have been (parrots in the chandeliers, penguins on the croquet field...) Even Meg's relatives have calmed down some; the introduction of Dr. Blake, Meg's father's long-lost father, in the previous volume, has changed the family dynamics considerably.

I'm not saying you won't like the book - if you've been following the series, you'll certainly want to read this installment, and the mysteries involved are good ones, but it won't leave you snorting coffee out your nose suddenly, the way some of the previous books have. Or to put it another way, there were no bits that I absolutely HAD to read out loud to my spouse. One really good line about a baby wombat, but it was just a passing comment.

On the plus side, there is more than one crime committed in this volume, and the various plot threads tangle together in unexpected ways, which I did enjoy. There's the possible embezzlement at the college, the dead body (not found till halfway through the book) and the endangered species flavor of the month. There's also the mystery, though not criminal, of where Rob keeps disappearing to.

And then there's the other big question: are Meg and Michael ready to have kids? Would they be good parents? Is taking care of a friend's two-year-old unexpectedly a fair trial of how they'd cope?

Very little blacksmithing gets done, Michael is in faculty meetings for most of the book, and there are very few cockatiels involved at all. There's an emerald boa in the hot tub, and there are lots of finches. Seth Early's sheep are still around, and a few llamas; for dogs, we have Spike and later the dog of the murder victim. Oh, and there are the tropical fish over at Mutant Wizards.

If the above description leaves you a bit bewildered as to what's going on, that's a fair indication that you probably should go read a few of the previous books in the series. A great deal of the action involves the personal interactions between family members, close or distant, and if you don't have any background on the family, jumping into it in the middle like this might be a bit more puzzling than you'd expect. While you don't have to read every one of them, you'd probably be best off reading at least the first two in the series and then the one immediately previous to this one, before tackling this one.

Recently married to Michael, Meg Langslow makes her Dad and Grandpa swear her baby sitting of their reptiles is short and temporary as she fears she will soon be bailing them and Dr. Blake out of some jail. Reluctantly she agrees to host the reptilians on her Caerphilly, Virginia farm though her guests give her the creeps.

At the same time her friend Karen leaves her toddler Timmy with Meg to baby-sit the child; a bit concerned as the boa dad left eats squirrels while Meg compares mentally little Timmy to the rodent. However, Karen fails to return to pick up her two years old infant. Not sure if Karen is in trouble or deserted Timmy, Meg, having solved cases before like THE PENGUIN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, investigates. She soon learns that Karen's sleazy former husband Jasper was a computer programmer at the same college where Karen works and Michael teaches. As Meg digs deeper, she uncovers Jasper's corpse and much more.

This is a zany amusing amateur sleuth as Meg's family, the snakes, and Tom the terrible two bring much humor to the heroine's frantic inquiry. What happened to Karen and why provides the suspense. Readers will appreciate the latest Langslow tale as snakes on the farm is a fun lighthearted frolic.

Harriet Klausner

I've grown to love the Meg Langslow books written by Donna Andrews. They are light-hearted and fluffy, filled with quirky characters and amusing side plots. They're great fun to read when you don't want to think too hard.

But the past few books in the series have left me somewhat disappointed. Why give your female protagonist an awesome job (blacksmith) and then almost never touch on it again? For the first time in several installments, Meg is back to work in this book, but it only last a few pages before she's interrupted. Andrews also has a habit of finishing off the main mystery rather quickly at the end and leaving a lot of loose ends. In Cockatiels at Seven, you find out "who dunnit", but not why or how, and this leads to a rather unsatisfying ending.

Still, Meg's inner voice is as amusing as ever, her husband is charming, her relatives are wacky, and the book flies by quickly. Anyone who has read the earlier books in this series will want to read Cockatiels at Seven. Newcomers looking for a good, light-hearted mystery might want to try some of the earlier works by Donna Andrews.

Meg is in blacksmith mode that Monday morning, wanting to build up inventory for an upcoming show. All that stops when her friend Karen stops by. Meg hasn't seen Karen for a couple years, so she is a bit surprised when Karen asks her to watch her toddler, Timmy, for a couple hours. As much as she wants to, Meg can't ignore Karen's obvious desperation, so she says yes.

When Karen hasn't reappeared by that evening, Meg is beyond panicked. And watching a Timmy hasn't helped her nerves. So Meg begins to hunt for the missing Karen. She's just begun when she finds the police searching Karen's apartment. Suddenly, it's looking like Karen might be on the run. Is she a criminal? Why did she leave Timmy with Meg? And can Meg find her and the truth?

This is another rollicking mystery. The emphasis is a little more on the mystery here, but I appreciated that. It started strong and held my interest until the end, which was a surprise to me. Members of Meg's family do appear, but they take a back seat in this book. Frankly, their usual antics were getting a little too predictable, so I appreciated the focus of the humor being on Timmy. I found him cute and funny and laughed quite a few times. Now that isn't to say that Meg's family doesn't get into the act. They provide a few laughs along the way as well.

I thought this entry was stronger than the last couple. I enjoyed every page. It should entertain Meg's many fans.

Newly wed Meg Langslow is looking forward to getting lots of work done in her finally completed ironworking studio today. They are at long last moved into to their Victorian farmhouse, she has convinced her father to remove at least most of the overflow from the local zoo, sent her husband Michael off to a day of faculty meetings and was recovered from the events leading up to her elopement two months ago. Nothing could stop her from filling the empty shelves of her studio with newly forged stock to take to the rapidly approaching craft fair. Well nothing other than an aggravating parade of drop in visits first from her eccentric family and then from a old friend, Karen who had her two year old son Timmy in tow with a plea that Meg babysit for a bit. When hour after hour passes with no word from Karen Meg grows concerned, and discovers just how challenging a job a toddler can be. Once again though Meg finds herself on the trail of a mystery tracking down the missing mother and uncovering a dead body and a swindle or two in the process.

This is less comic than the previous eight volumes of this series. There are fewer visits from Meg's zany relatives and more emphasis on the mystery aspect of the story. As with the earlier books in the series the birds mentioned in the title make an appearance in the story but in this one the appearance seems forced rather than an integral part of the story. Fans of the series will enjoy reading about Meg and Michael settling into married life, those new to the series would be better to begin with MURDER WITH PEACOCKS and then reading the series in order.

Newly married to college professor/actor Michael and finally moved into their dream fixer-upper home, Meg Langslow was hoping for some peace and time to build up her iron sculpting business. She should have known better. Karen Walker, a friend she hasn't seen in years and who is a staffer at the local college's financial administration office, stops by and begs Meg to baby-sit Karen's toddler Timmy for a few hours. When hours turns into days Meg frantically attempts to track down Karen and discovers that her disappearance may be linked to financial discrepancies at the college. As always, complications arise from Meg's eccentric family members, namely a brother who has surreptitiously moved into her home and a newly discovered egocentric television naturalist grandfather.
Andrews keeps the ninth Meg Langslow mystery fresh by introducing the added element/hindrance of a toddler, yet she avoids the pitfalls common when bringing kids into the mix. Namely; 1) the child is saccharinely sweet, 2) a precocious thirty-five year- old in a child's body, or 3) manipulating the reader by placing the child in jeopardy. Instead, Timmy is an uncontrollable, unpredictable responsibility for Meg; in other words, a two year-old boy. This has the plot complication of forcing Meg to question her deafness to a biological clock while acknowledging Michael's stellar parenting skills. So even as Meg tracks down Karen, her coworkers, and the reason behind her disappearance, Meg must also cope with the pressure and expectations of motherhood. The wacky and ironic humor that is Andrew's trademark is more subtle than the previous entries in this series, as Meg's loving but exasperating relatives only make brief appearances. The actual mystery is less important to the novel than exploits of Meg and her family, but Andrews always succeeds in creating entertaining, funny, and very original novels.

Meg Langslow is finally getting down to some serious blacksmithing when an old friend Karen, appears, tells her she needs help watching 2-year-old Timmy, and vanishes.

A couple of hours later, when Karen doesn't answer her cell, can't be found, and definitely doesn't return, Meg starts to get a very uncomfortable feeling. Has something happened to Karen? Or could her old friend--a friend she hasn't seen in a couple of years--have simply decided parenting was too tough for her?

With her ditzy brother offering only a little help, her husband intent on using Timmy as an excuse for getting started on personal baby-making business, and her father and grandfather involved in some weird project involving animal welfare, Meg feels on her own. As she tries to track Karen down, though, she discovers her friend just might have been caught up in an embezzlement scandle. Surely, though, Karen didn't murder the body Meg finds when she continues to look into what could have happened to Timmy's mother.

Author Donna Andrews delivers another charming mystery complete with all of the weird characters who make up Meg's family, unsavory University politics, birds (there are always birds), and Meg's own insecurities and fears. Although each of the Meg Langslow mysteries can be read independently, it's fascinating to see how Andrews continues the development of the characters (especially Meg), and their relationships.

If you're looking for a beach read, or just need to be taken away for a couple of hours, it's hard to go wrong with the Meg Langslow Mysteries and COCKATIELS AT SEVEN is a welcome addition.

I love this series and have read all of them. This is the 7th book of the series. If you have not read any of them, you should start at the beginning if you can. Ms. Andrews has done a great job of developing the characters over the course of the series. If you aren't able to read the earlier ones, never fear, you can jump right in and never fell like you've missed anything. They are a wonderful escape and a very enjoyable read. I have recommended the series to several friends and I recommend it here as well! If you need an escape, it's cheaper than a vacation and can be read anywhere!