Customer Reviews

The Real Macaw: A Meg Langslow Mystery (Meg Langslow Mysteries)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book was OK, but surely not laugh out loud funny, whereas many of her previous books have been. I have truly enjoyed her previous entries in this series, BUT, my feeling is that once you have a popular series that is working, you do not throw another distracting element into the mix. In this case, it was the twins. Meg did not have time to do her zany stuff because she was too busy pumping breast milk, feeding the babies, worrying about the babies, and calling Michael to check on the babies. There were so many other characters, that no one had time to be entertaining. The standout of the whole book was the Border Collie.

During a 2 a.m. feeding for her four-month-old twin sons, Meg Langslow hears a noise downstairs and discovers dozens of animals from a local animal shelter have been moved into her living room. Due to budget cuts the shelter repealed its no-kill policy so her father, grandfather, and members of an animal rights group have stolen the animals out of protest and to keep them safe but when the volunteer who was to organize the clandestine transport of the animals to new homes doesn't show up, the group brings them to the only logical place: Meg and Michael's farm.

It turns out that the volunteer has been murdered and Meg discovers motive among his jealous lovers and those who are hiding a dark side of town politics. In the meantime the animals must be kept at the farm as evidence and exhausted new mom Meg gets involved in the investigation and the care of the animals while trying to care for her own babies.

I'm a fan of the Meg Langslow series and enjoyed this book. I do understand that this is fiction and not meant to be taken seriously, so I resisted the urge to overthink the idea a mom of infant twins leaving them to chase after clues while being able to still pump breast milk, keep up with feedings, and take naps with her home being overun with people and animals. I kept hoping Meg would react like a real sleep-deprived new mom and have a breakdown to restore order and boundaries but it never happened which fits with the character and sometimes comical tone of the series.

I'm not sure how Meg being a mom of two young children will work with future stories in this series but I'll read the next book to find out.

I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher but the opinion of it is my own and was not solicited, nor was a positive review required.

Four months ago Meg Langslow gave birth to twin boys. Her sons are on different sleep cycles so she feels sleep deprived. Thus during a graveyard feeding, she assumes she is hallucinating when she hears assorted animal noises downstairs. She looks only to find a horde in her home. She asks her father, grandfather and other animal lovers what is going on; they explain the formerly no kill shelter they rescued the animals from was going to murderer them due to a lack of funds.

They were brought to Meg's living room because the transporter Parker Blair failed to show up. Police Chief Burke arrives at Meg's home to find out why her zoologist grandfather kept calling Parker who he explains was murdered. Meg promises to stay out of the investigation though she has a history of involvement (see Stork Raving Mad). She becomes upset when Mayor Pruitt wants to seize her house and other homes under eminent domain to sell to a developer in order to pay off the finance company that upgrades the Pruitt section of town. He used county buildings as collateral and the firm is ready to take possession. Someone attacks Meg's grandfather and a blue macaw is replaced by another macaw. Meg assumes the assaults are linked to the Parker homicide. She begins to ask questions while helping the county by letting them using her barn to house the library, but almost gets killed for her efforts.

Donna Andrews has written another laugh out loud cozy. The heroine deals with the twins and her husband who remains in the background with relative but sleepy ease; she handles the animal kingdom guests with calm. However, her dad and granddad are over the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains with their caring lunacy encouraged by the eccentric Caerphilly townsfolk. The whodunit is fun to follow as Meg investigates, but it is the jocularity that makes the Langslow amateur sleuths super.

Harriet Klausner

Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow mysteries are the sort of books that beg for disbelief to be set aside so the reader can wallow in a slightly different, ludicrous reality.

"The Real Macaw" arrived at the end of a bad day and I was afraid I'd find one of my favorite authors had finally jumped the shark. Instead, she was off and running -- Meg's life is still controlled by the notebook that tells her when to breathe but it has some competition from her twin sons and a murder she can't quite keep her inquisitive nose out of. Her madcap family jump in and out of the plot and llamas, lambs, kittens, and pups, clamber through it while a mysterious macaw flies overhead muttering obscenities best kept from the twins' tender ears. Add in the Corsicans, a developer planning to build condos and a golf course on Meg & Michael's farm, and a county eviction.... well, just take a deep breath, dive in, and come up smiling at the end of the book.

Andrews, Donna (2011). The Real Macaw: A Meg Langslow Mystery (Meg Langslow Mysteries) (p. 219). Minotaur Books. Kindle Edition.

This has the classic Meg Langslow cover. I love that every title and story in the series has at least one animal as a central part of the mystery. And yes, in this one it's a Macaw...apparently very rare and with a colorful vocabulary. lol

Meg Langslow is back with her quirky and very large family. She has just had twin boys, so her and Michael are dealing with lots of sleep deprivation. Despite her worries in previous novels, she is a great mother. She still has her "notebook that tells me when to breathe" and I am happy to see she is willing to ignore it to snuggle with her boys. She adores them, and her and Michael shifted from being a married couple to being parents with little to no added friction. It helps that they are both smart and even tempered.

On night after putting one of the twins' down after a feeding she hears animal noises coming from downstairs...praying someone turned on Animal Planet, she goes to investigate. Turns out the CORSICANS (read the book) stole all the animals from the county shelter because it had just changed into a kill-shelter. Most of the area is outraged...and things are destined to get worse before they get better. In all of this mess a murdered body is found behind the victim's furniture store.

Meg really stays on the outside of this investigation more than any other book because of the boys. She wants to stay safe, but being that all the animals are at her house and most of the discussing of the town's problems happen at her place, she gets pulled in anyway.

Donna Andrews does a fantastic job of writing a witty and charming story and weaving a fantastic mystery into the middle of it (and yes I was surprised). She also makes me laugh, the comedy in here is so dry and subtle and completely fits my sense of humor...especially Meg's goofy, large family on her mother's side.

Yup, 5 stars...I love these books! If you read them out of order, it's not too big of a deal. But if you read them all I doubt you'd regret it either.

In the middle of a 2AM feeding with her four month old twins, Meg hears noises from downstairs. Investigating, she finds her grandfather, father, brother, and a bunch of animals. Seems the trio have robbed the local animal shelter and rescued the dogs, cats, hamsters, and one macaw that were set to be killed in order for the county to save money.

The trio had planned to meet up with Parker Blair and use the truck from his furniture business to take the animals to pre-arranged safe places in neighboring counties, but the plan hit a snag when Parker never showed up. Turns out that this was because Parker has been murdered. Was this because of his overactive love life, his involvement in the robbery, or something even more sinister?

If I had one complaint about this book, it was be the fact that I didn't find it that funny. I can remember back in the heyday of the series when I would literally be laughing out loud at the antics of the characters. Now, they've become so familiar that I find them at most amusing.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. I love the characters, and it's always nice to spend time with them. While the plot started out feeling like a retread of an earlier book in the series, it soon took off into some unexpected directions that kept me very interested in the story. I enjoyed every page.

This book will appeal to Donna's many fans. While it may not be the best book in the series, it is still a very fun read.

I think "We'll Always Have Parrots" is still my favorite Donna Andrews book, but this one comes close to that for murder plot mixed with the zany cheerfulness of Meg's family and friends. I loved the fact that the Macaw was a "real" clue to the murder. This book moves right along with the asides all being tied in at the end.

I have been a fan of this series from the first book "Murder With Peacocks" (one of my all time favorite books.) Ms. Andrews latest book "The Real Macaw" is a welcome installment in the series. Meg has had the twins and she and Michael are learning to cope with parenthood times two when craziness once again descends upon the group. Meg's contribution to the action is a little more subdued in this book (though more than the last when she was about to have the twins.) She is tethered a bit more to home and so can't be around and about as much, so she is a bit more of an observer. I am hoping that in future books, Meg is back to her blacksmithing, something we haven't heard about in the last few books.

In this book, we get to visit with a number of old friends and get an interesting set up for future books. I'm looking forward to the next book already - wondering who did what and where will it all go forward?

I recommend the book but more importantly, the entire series.

I pre-ordered this book to have it downloaded to my Kindle on the day it was released. (gotta love it!) And I anxiously awaited its arrival. I was not disappointed. I think this may be Ms. Andrews best one yet. I have enjoyed this series immensely. Ms. Andrews is a really good writer and just keeps getting better. One of my favorite aspects of this series is that the main characters and some of the supporting cast have been developed over the series. With each book, I've discovered a new dimension to one or more characters. This keeps the story fresh and adds continuity throughout the series.

In this book, Ms. Andrews introduces the reader to Meg's and Michael's (her husband) new life as the parents of twins. Meg's parents and wacky extended family are back but in this book they play a more minor role than in previous books. This book focuses more on the Caerphilly community and local political issues. I had a hard time putting this one down. You will too! It's a great summer escape with many laugh-out-loud moments. The only problem now is that I have to wait for the next one!

What a joy to have a new Meg Langslow adventure to make me forget about the oppressive summertime heat. This latest in the series is a winner, with at least one smile per page, and often several belly laughs.

Sleep-deprived Meg, now the mother of four-month-old twins, has a lot on her plate besides babies: a 5-year-old house guest whose mom is overseas with the army, a houseful (and then a barn-full) of stray animals (including the foul-mouthed macaw of the title), shenanigans of corrupt local politicians, helping pack up and move the county offices (including the public library) because their buildings are set to be repossessed, a sinister threat that her property and several nearby farms (including her parents') will be taken from them by eminent domain and turned into a golf course -- and, of course, murder.

Was the dead man killed because of his well-known philandering, his work with animal rescues (including the caper with Meg's grandfather, dad, and brother that landed all those pets at Meg's house), or possibly the research he was doing into a political scandal involving the mayor?

Before Meg can come up with the answer, her grandfather is attacked and ends up in the hospital, so she redoubles her efforts to find the killer before she has two murders on her hands.

Needless to say, Meg does figure out whodunnit. But fans of this series will be eagerly waiting for the next installment to find out what happens about the town's political mess, which isn't resolved.

This series is one of the few that I buy in hardcover anymore. "The Real Macaw" is definitely worth it! An entertaining and amusing read.