Between a Flock and a Hard Place

Readers will flock to New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews’s next installment in the award-winning Meg Langslow series.

Meg’s neighbors, the Smetkamps’, have won a makeover for their old home from Marvelous Mansions, a flashy, yet dubious company, focused on making historic homes more “modern.” The company already several days into its makeover of the Smetkamps’ house, and tensions are running high–not only between the officious, demanding Mrs. Smetkamp and her neighbors, but also between her and the renovation crew. Meg, who is trying to keep the peace and prevent the makeover crew from trampling on every clause of the county’s building code, arrives at the Smetkamps to find that Caerphilly’s resident flock of feral turkeys has moved into their yard–or been relocated there by someone who wanted to cause them trouble.

The turkeys are huge, territorial, cranky and aggressive – and impossible to move! Meg does what she can to calm down the irate neighbors and help the makeover crew make progress in spite of the turkeys. She comes up with a plan to gather a group of turkey wranglers to snatch them early in the morning. But when they arrive, they find the body of Mrs. Smetkamp in her backyard. Someone stabbed her, and then tried to make it look as if she was attacked by one of the turkeys, but Meg, the Chief, and the Sheriff are not fooled. Together, they must figure out what really happened to Mrs. Smetkamp…and what to do with all these turkeys!

My Review:

I adore Meg Langslow. I love her wild and whacky family, her quirky neighbours, the town of Caerphilly with all its Southern charm and the sheer madcap mayhem that ensues in every book. And, of course, there’s murder. I mean, really, what more can you ask from a cozy mystery? Oh — and the pun-y titles! The books are worth collecting just for those titles alone!

In fact, I am so enamoured with this series that it’s become an annual reread, well, re-listen, for me. I divide the books by 12 and read…er, listen, to 2 or 3 a month (saving all the Christmas books for last, of course.) This is my fourth year and I’m still as enchanted as the first time I met Meg and company!

I contribute some of my fascination with all things Langslow to narrator Bernadette Dunne. She has become the voice, well voices really, of this series, bringing distinctive qualities to each character that are consistent with every book! And her comedic beats are priceless. I get the feeling that she is getting just as much enjoyment out of the story as I am and that feeling is contagious…hence my compulsion to revisit each book every year. A brilliant author/narrator team!

‘Between a Flock and a Hard Place’ is #35(!) and held me gleefully spellbound all the way through. Lots of familiar characters — and I love how Grandfather is still going strong though he is well over 100 now. Spike too, he’s too ornery to die. 🙂 Absurd situations that seem downright normal for Caerphilly kick off a rollicking riot of twists and turns, high drama, and lots of laughs. And the way the town pulls together in times of adversity is inspiring! Just all kinds of feel good, heartwarming hilarity – the perfect cozy mix!

My thanks to Macmillan Audio and Net Galley for providing me with an audio edition of this book.