The rest of the Meg Langslow mystery series

Owls Well that Ends well, No Nest for the Wicket, Penguin who knew too Much, Cockatiels at Seven, Six Geese A-slaying, Swan for the Money, Stork Raving Mad, Real Macaw, Some Like it Hawk, Hen of the Baskervilles, Duck the Halls, The Good, the Bad, and the Emus, Nightingale Before Christmas, and Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews, 4231 pages

In my earlier review of Andrew's first five books I compared her to Jasper Fforde and his Thursday Next series. While I have still enjoyed reading these books, the over the top silliness has certainly faded, and so has the likeness to Fforde.

All of these books are cozy mysteries. Since I did not know what cozy mysteries were while reading this series, allow me to explain. Cozy mysteries seem to be mysteries where the crime and the investigation of said crime takes place in a small community. They seem to require a nosey character who is not content to let the police solve the murder and investigate by asking around. Since the murderer is normally from the same community, the motive are more commonly revenge, greed or jealousy rather than drugs or violence. They also seem to have some sort of comedic element to them, and commonly have puny titles.

Since these are all part of the Meg Langslow mystery series, they obviously continue to follow her. My earlier suspicions that way to many murders happen around Meg still holds true, though the mysteries seem to be much better spaced in the later books with half a dozen months between them ex. Nightingale Before Christmas takes place at Christmas while the next book Lord of the Wings is the following Halloween.

All of the characters are fairly likeable and even some of the murders have not been all that evil. Something to watch out for though, the more people that dislike you, the more likely you will be murdered. It not only helps you not feel sorry about the murderee (Yes this is a real word according to Merriam-Webster) but also makes for a huge suspect list. Unlike most mysteries I have read in the past, I have only rarely guessed who the killer was before the reveal. Though having learned Donna's style I have gotten better.

Sadly, with my completion of Lord of the Wings, which came out this year, I have caught up to the series and must start the long and cruel wait for more books. Though with a little luck Donna will be writing a little more frequently than George R.R. Martin.