Customer Reviews

Stork Raving Mad: A Meg Langslow Mystery (Meg Langslow Mysteries)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was a little skeptical about the storyline, but I love this series. She really made the plot believable. Well, for the outrageous Langslow family and the equally dysfunctional Caerphilly College staff. She even made the unloveable college administrators come to life. It's a quick read, perfect for the summer. I hated to see it end.

I always enjoy the Meg Langslow series and although I enjoyed this one as well,I must admit, this one wasnt my favorite.

I read the previous book in the series "Swan for the money" and enjoyed it, but well.. was there a time warp or did I miss a book? Where was the romance and excited discussions about the possible pregnancy with her husband Michael? Actually the poor guy was almost nonexistant in this book, and in the end we are left hanging.

There are a lot of funny situations that could have been used in Stork Raving Mad, starting out with an uproar caused by the " woohoo we are expecting", and following up with the possible hilarious reactions to "Wow its twins" announcement. Instead we loose all that excitement and family mayham that should have happened when it was announced to Megs relatives and instead we go straight to a hoohum ... I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and a casual, with twins. Alright women out there, can anyone tell me honestly at 8 1/2 months pregnant with twins would you have really been so calm about 50 or so strangers living in and creating havok in your house..uhmm I dont thinks so. To boot in the end we are left hanging again..about the delivery and sexes of the twins.

I know this is one way of keeping us excited about the next book but like some of the other readers it really wasnt appreciated. Honestly, we would have bought the next book anyway.

I did enjoy the "who done it ...first, second, third" scenario. It was an interesting twist, but there were so many charaters, students, staff etc., they didnt seem as well fleshed out as usual. I prefer her zany realatives to random love struck students who suddenly jump to murder..errr well sort of. I did enjoy the random wacky naming of the twins..ie heckle and jeckle etc., which in turn kept me constantly thinking of other "twosome names" as well. I hope to see a better timeline in the next book ie.. hope we dont see the kids are suddenly 2 or 3 years old.

This is a fun series and adding babies, zany realatives, unusual careers and of course murder should make it interesting and fun. I look forward to the next book.

Meg and Michael are homebound on a dreary winter's afternoon, marooned in their huge Victorian home. Alas, alack, poor things, right? Ha! They have dozens of houseguests. Students from Caerphilly College, where Michael teaches drama, slung out into the cold by the College's heating system going kerflooie in the coldest winter anyone can remember.

Add to the madness Meg's mom on a kamikaze decorating binge for the arrival of Meg's twins (genders unknown and referred to by cute names throughout like Castor and Pollux and Heckel and Jeckel), her brother Rob's computer interns, and oh yeah a murder, and the fun never stops.

But many things do, sad to note. A major plot thread involving an elderly Catalan Franco resistor and the US premiere of his sixty-year-old play goes absolutely nowhere and would have been unnoticeable had it been absent. Meg's ancient and irascible grandfather is deployed a couple times to very little immediate effect, but rather to set up and explain future plots (he donates a state-of-the-art theater and TV production facility to Caerphilly). A student love triangle resolves itself remarkably swiftly and tidily, but not hugely believably, and with little fanfare.

Still, the book was fun, and it's number 12 or some ridiculous thing, so one isn't expecting new literary forms to emerge or the Pulitzer committee to scrutinize Andrews's CV for accusations of plagiarism before awarding her an investigative journalism award or some damn thing. She's telling a fun story, taken on its own merits, and delivers on the promise implicit in the series: Sane center Meg is instrumental in weaving the correct picture from the chaos of tangled threads that surround her. Expect more, it won't deliver; expect this, you're in for a very nice afternoon's entertainment.

Just about every small town has one, a family that just seems to attract odd things. In the little Virginia college town of Caerphilly that family is beyond a doubt the Langslow-Waterson family. Meg seems to be normal enough even though she is an artist, a artist who makes wrought iron sculptures of all things. Michael teaches at the local college, in the drama department. Despite that they seem normal enough it is just that things do happen when they are around, things like dead bodies appearing. Of course what do you expect? Meg is one of those Langslows from the next county over, that huge family with all those....interesting people, and now that Meg and Michael have settled into quiet little Caerphilly it seems as though the whole family is spending more and more time visiting them. Well so much for Caerphilly's reputation as 'quiet' or 'sleepy'.

As this 12th volume of this comic cozy series Meg and Michael are expecting twins. In fact they are expecting them at any time. They have gotten their huge Victorian farmhouse into a livable condition if not quite finished condition. Cousin Rose Noir has moved in help with the new arrivals, and of course there is the usual steady stream of Langslow relatives dropping by. All this Meg could take in stride, even while expecting twins and waiting to hear if Michael would finally be granted tenure. It all got to be just a bit much when the heating plant at the college went out and most of the theater students moved into the first floor of the farmhouse. Meg was still managing quite well when Michael asked to add another houseguest, a 90 year old Spanish playwright. The final straw came though when two college faculty members arrived threatening ruin for the drama department in general and Michael in particular. When one of them is discovered dead turning the farmhouse into a crime scene Meg realizes that her only hope for a little peace and quiet will be to solve the crime.

This is a hilarious series of novels. Meg's extended family is so delightfully wacky that a search of her family tree is almost certain to turn up Bertie Wooster. The situations that befall Meg and Michael as they face the usual struggles of young marrieds start out so plausible and then begin to careen out of control as Meg valiantly attempts to restore order into their life. I cannot wait to see how she will cope with twins added to the mix.

Maybe I'm getting tired of this series. This book had most of the nutty characters from previous books, but they did the same old thing....and after a while it becomes really boring. The mystery held absolutely zero surprises. And, to top it off, the reader doesn't get the ultimate pleasure of being in on the reason for the book's title (hint hint). It was a real ripoff!

Stork Raving Mad is the latest book in the Meg Langslow series, and it picks up approximately thirty-four weeks after the previous novel. I appreciate Andrews' sense of timing for the novels; instead of detailing every months or week bit by bit, Andrews hops and skips through a timeline that allows her to remain current, and gloss over major events without drawing them out unnecessarily. The hijinks are in full swing, the familiar cast of characters are accounted for, and the reader will be happy to meet the characteristically miserable victim and the even less likable guilty party.

I do have this to say about the last page: No fair.

In the last few weeks of her pregnancy, Caerphilly College Meg Langslow is struggling with finding adequate housing for recently displaced students (due to a heating plant problem). This includes one of her husband associate professor Michael Waterston's grad students Ramon Soto. In fact their home is housing several students including Ramon

Besides a housing issue, Ramon is upset after the English Department's nasty Dr. Jean Wright accompanied by admin services Dr. Enrique Blanco arrive to inform him his dissertation proposal a play is rejected. They explain his topic the performance of an obscure anti-Franco play is not acceptable as it contains offensive material. Soon afterward, someone kills Jean in the Langslow library. Meg investigates as only she can.

Although carrying twins and about to give birth in two weeks, Meg waddles her way through an amusing investigation. The key to this jocular jaunt is the heroine as she works on two difficult issues: how many people can you fit into a room and who killed the odious Wright. Readers will enjoy the best pregnancy whodunit since Fargo.

Harriet Klausner

All of Donna Andrews books are really funny. Yes people get killed but the characters are so enchanting and the situations are so funny, the murder sets things off. Great series, really funny, well thought out characters, and the plots are somewhat believable because of the zany characters. Great Summer beach read. Try to start with the first of the series , you will be hooked.

It's the beginning of December, and Meg is due to give birth to twins any day. And her house is anything but restful. The heat has failed at nearby Caerphilly College where husband Michael teaches, and Meg and Michael are hosting a smattering of drama department students since they can't live in the dorms.

One of these students, Ramon Soto, is days away from putting on a play as part of his doctoral thesis. That is until Dr. Jean Wright and Dr. Enrique Blanco arrive, saying Ramon never got the approval for his thesis. In the midst of the confusion this sets off, one of them is killed. Now a very pregnant Meg is caught between trying to rest while still finding important pieces of the puzzle. Can she solve this mystery before she gives birth?

I've got to admit this wasn't the funniest book in the series, although I did laugh some at the usual antics of Meg's family and friends. However, I did enjoy the book. The mystery kept me confused until the end, and the characters, both returning and new, were great. I especially loved the character of Dr. Wright because she was so much fun to hate. Truly, that was an evil woman.

You'll never go wrong reading a book in this great series, and the latest is no exception.

I have loved the series about Meg and her zany family and friends until this novel. This felt like a fill-in just to meet a deadline. Meg's husband was seriously sidelined in this caper, making only vague appearances with very little purpose. I loathed the ending for the cheap cop out that it was, forcing readers to buy the next book to see how the birth of the twins went. The biggest problem with this installment is the disjointed action with people running here and there. It was a whole lot of activity with very little purpose. Truly a disappointing turn in an otherwise very enjoyable series.