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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Meg to the rescue - again, October 24, 2009
This review is from: Swan for the Money (Meg Langslow, No 11) (Hardcover)
This is the 11th in the Meg Langslow series of comic, cozy mysteries. Meg is a successful ornamental blacksmith, recently married to Michael, a soap opera star turned drama professor. They live in the college town of Caerphilly which seems to be populated with more than its fair share of eccentrics, oddballs and just plain kooks, most of whom are related to Meg. Each story incorporates not only memorable characters and wildly improbable situations but also somehow include some sort of bird into the story and into the title.
Meg's parents have taken up a new interest - growing and showing roses. As usual Meg has found herself roped into this new enterprise, her elegant mother has maneuvered Meg into organizing and running the biggest rose show of the season. The committee had vetoed Meg's suggestions of where to hold the event as too boring and so the estate of an eccentric rose enthusiast was secured instead. Unfortunately the owner, Mrs Winkleson, is not a charming eccentric like Meg's family, but is an overbearing, obsessive bully. Mrs Winkleson has decreed that the event must conform to her preferred color scheme, black, white and grey. She has even offered a special prize for the blackest rose of the show. As is the norm with this series Meg bounces from one zany misadventure to the next, aided (or hindered) by family and friends as they stumble over a dead body or two along the way.
The appeal of this series is not in the mysteries but in Meg and the ever expanding cast of secondary characters. The overall story arc of this series is quite pronounced so for maximum enjoyment begin at the beginning.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blood Red Rose Show, August 21, 2009
This review is from: Swan for the Money (Meg Langslow, No 11) (Hardcover)
It's just hours from the first annual Caerphilly Rose Show, and things are getting out of hand. Not only does Meg have to organize the volunteers and make sure everything is set up correctly, but someone is sabotaging her parents' best shot at the black rose award, something unique to this competition.
Things aren't going well for Mrs. Winkleson either. The eccentric woman is hosting the show on her estate. She is obsessed with trying to make everything in the world conform to black and white. And her little dog has been kidnapped. Things get even worse when a body shows up. Does it have any connection to the other things going on? Who is taking this show seriously enough to kill?
This series is always a fun treat, and the eleventh book is no exception. The plot got a little bogged down approaching the half way point, but it quickly picked up again for the second half. The series regulars are fun as always.
But what made this book for me was Mrs. Winkleson and her animals. She collects animals based on their black and white color scheme. And they are a riot. I especially loved the fainting goats. Everything they showed up was a riot. The animals provided the best laugh out loud moments, but the humans did provide a few grins and chuckles as well.
If you haven't discovered this series already, you are in for a treat. Really, you can pretty much jump in anywhere and enjoy the adventures of Meg and her extended family.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another in a great, fun series!, September 24, 2009
This review is from: Swan for the Money (Meg Langslow, No 11) (Hardcover)
I'm a sucker for the Meg Langslow series by Donna Andrews. Every single one is a winner. Murder With Peacocks is one of my all-time favorite books and Andrews remains on my list of writers of the most fun books. The stories are set up by the fact that Meg just can't say no when imposed upon to undertake some wildly complicated event (or events, as in Murder with Peacocks). Add in extremely quirky characters (and yet these people remind me of MY family), a victim who seems to be chosen to bring maximum complications into Meg's life, a touch of the nastiest little dog on the face of the earth, and Andrews stirs up a fun read every time. Swan for the Money continues the tradition as Meg tries to coordinate a rose show, handle an eccentric and nasty hostess, keep her relatives in line, and still find time for the love of her life, husband Michael. Will Meg be able to hold the aggressive swans at bay, and make a success of the rose show? Will her dad find the culprit who massacred his experimental roses? Will the nasty hostess come to a bad end? And will Meg ever get to ask Michael to pick up a pregnancy test while he's in New York away from nosy neighbors?
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