Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews

Meg's parents have always been slightly eccentric and often pick up new hobbies (Meg's dad learning lockpicking has come in handy in more than one book). Now her parents are getting into the hobby of raising and showing roses. There's a lot that goes into the practice and a lot of rules around what kind of roses can be entered into competition. Putting together a show can be time consuming and Meg has been roped into being the lead on this particular flower show. She's having problems finding volunteers and it has quite a bit to do with the fact that she is dealing with Mrs. Winkelson. The woman has graciously allowed the show to be on her property. Well... "gracious" might be an exaggeration. The woman has tried to run the show according to her own rigid standards - standards that very much make it likely that she herself will be the winner. None of what she does makes life any easier for Meg. For instance, Mrs. Winkelson called up many of the competitors and told them only black and white roses (the color scheme of her entire property including all animals) will be shown. 

Because Mrs. Winkelson is so universally reviled, it should come as little surprise to the reader that she is the one targeted for murder. This time, Meg is more of an active sleuth rather than just a busybody or being pushed into it by her family. 

An okay story but not one of my favorites in the series. Mrs. Winkelson is kind of fun and I did like the flipping of some of the solution.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 21st, 2009

Follows Six Geese A-Slaying

Followed by Stork Raving Mad

Borrowed as audiobook from Hoopla

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023 as Audible audiobook

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews

Chosen to lead the local holiday parade (at least, it's the "holiday" now that she's in charge), Meg Langslow is wondering why she accepted. Well, she didn't exactly know that she was going to be in charge of everything. So that's why her house is teeming with most of the town of Caerphilly. Or so it seems. And many animals including donkeys, camels, elephants and more. Everything is chaotic and only made more so by the late appearance of Ralph Doleson who is playing Santa Claus. He is someone whom no one in town actually likes but yet somehow has a coveted role in the parade. He also has the temerity to kick Spike. True, the eight-and-a-half pound dog has a tendency to bite but that doesn't mean that he should be treated that way. It's just too bad that Meg's nephew is the one to find him murdered while in costume.

Regular readers will know who the murderer is pretty quickly but this is still worth reading.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 28th, 2008

Follows Cockatiels at Seven

Followed by Swan for the Money

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023 as Audible audiobook

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews

A woman drops off her two-year-old and then disappears.  Makes sense to me.  Okay, not really, but it's still a good story. Dealing with a child is scary but a great way to move along the character development in this series. We got to see Meg start dating Michael, get married, and now starting to consider whether or not she wants kids. This is a great practice run but a little scary since her friend Karen is no where to be found.

Added to that, Meg discovered that Dr. Blake Montgomery, well-known animal activist and TV personality, is actually her biological grandfather in the last book. Now her dad seems to be running around trying to impress his father: storing birds in the attic, helping snakes shed skins in the basement, and just generally being furtive.

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 8th, 2008

Follows The Penguin Who Knew Too Much

Followed by Six Geese A-Slaying 

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Reread January 2023 as Audible book

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Beckett Montgomery is working with his two brothers and mother to restore a historic in in downtown Boonsboro which is just down the street from  Clare Brewster's bookstore. Beckett's had a crush on her since high school. Unfortunately, Clare only had eyes for Clint, the man she married and then had three sons with. But then her soldier husband died in the war and Clare moved back to Boonsboro where Beckett began mooning over her again. Okay, just keeping an eye on her.

But he's finally worked up the courage to ask her out.

I am really enjoying this series. The secondary characters (Clare's sons and friends, Beckett's family) are rich and well-developed. Clare's relationship with her sons is awesome, we get to see both the joys and the frustrations of being a parent. We also get to see the beginning of Beckett's relationships as he navigates the murky waters of dating a single parent.

Four stars

This book came out November 1st, 2011

Followed by The Last Boyfriend

Audiobook from Audible

Opinions are my own

The Penguin Who Knew Too Much by Donna Andrews

Not my favorite in the series but still entertaining.

Meg and Michael have finally gotten to move into their home. Too bad Meg's father is so hell-bent on saving the animals of the Caerphilly zoo since it seems like the owner, Patrick Lanahan, is nowhere to be found. Well, until he turns up in Meg's basement. When her father starts digging a pond for the penguins, he finds the body.

If that's not bad enough, he has told everyone that Meg would be happy to take any animals that they are tired of fostering. Soon her house and barn are filled with wolves, hyenas, lemurs, and more. And Michael seems strangely endeared by the llamas. Add to all of that, Dr. Montgomery is lurking about. He is a big name animal activist who supposedly is in town to help with the zoo or maybe take it over... but it seems like his motives might be a little shadier than what it looks like at first glance.

Three stars

This book came out August 7, 2007

Follows No Nest for the Wicket

Followed by Cockatiels at Seven

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Reread January 2023 as Audible book

No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews

This series continues its greatness.  I love that this book centers around extreme croquet.  I know I've played that way (putting wickets up all over and playing around whatever is in the way) but I didn't know anyone else did.

In this book, Meg has to figure out who killed a little-liked historian whose body she stumbles across as they're playing croquet. The lady's head is bashed in and, though the players all deny knowing her, she finds out that more than one is hiding the truth. Michael, Meg's fiance is not one of the people hiding the truth. He readily tells Meg that the woman, Lindsay, was someone he dated before they got together. Meg is incredibly pragmatic and not at all jealous that Michael dated before they met which I adore about her.

The how is fairly obvious but the who and the why have to be deciphered. Once Meg finds out that Lindsay once worked in the local college and was incredibly vindictive about perceived slights, she realizes that motives range from blackmail to revenge in the killing. 

Four stars

This book came out May 8, 2006

Follows Owls Well that Ends Well

Followed by The Penguin who Knew too Much

Borrowed as hard copy from the library

Opinions are my own

Reread September 2022 as audiobook, Reread January 2023 as Audible book

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon by Donna Andrews

In this book, Meg Langslow is involved with her brother Rob's burgeoning computer game company . He thinks there is something suspicious going on but he's not sure what. Since Meg recently hammered one of her hands, she isn't working her normal job so she's helping out while trying to figure out what is going on. If they could only keep a temp there long enough to answer the phones but they keep getting scared by the buzzard in the lobby and the pranks by the office workers. Then, one of the techies is killed and Meg has to help keep her brother out of jail.

Not my favorite book in the series but still good. The technology, of course, hasn't aged well but the rest of the story is good.

Three stars

This book came out September 6th, 2002

Follows Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos

Followed by We'll Always have Parrots

Borrowed as hard copy from library

Opinions are my own

Reread December 2022 as Audible book

Lord of the Wings by Donna Andrews

Meg is back and this time... it's Halloween. And Caerphilly has banded together to put together a holiday festival. Only, there's something deeper going on. First, the break-ins at the haunted house. Then the fake body parts at the zoo. And the bodies that start turning up. Once again, Meg is up to her eyebrows, trying to get her now six-year-old twins ready for Halloween, try to avoid/help the newly hired festival coordinator, and figure out what is once again going on in her small town. 
A very good addition to the Meg Langslow series. Readers definitely won't be disappointed.

Four stars

Follows The Nightingale Before Christmas

Followed by Die Like an Eagle

This book came out August 4, 2015

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible book October 2022, August 2023

The Nightingale Before Christmas by Donna Andrews

It's Christmas and Meg Lanslow has once again been talked into "being in charge." This time, she's coordinating interior designers in a show house. Of course, while they designers are all PITAs, there is one particular fella who's causing major problems for everyone. Is it a surprise when he turns up dead? Nope. As usual, Meg is solving a mystery while getting everything else on her list done. 

A fun read and enjoyable addition to the canon. Regular Langslow readers will enjoy.

Three and a half stars

This book came out October 21, 2014

Follows The Good, the Bad, and the Emus

Followed by Lord of the Wings

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible December 2022,  August 2023

Sweep of the Blade by Ilona Andrews

I hadn't read other books in the series and I did feel like I missed parts of the romance between Maud Demille and Armand, the Marshal of House Krahr, but the story swept me up quickly anyway. (When I read the other books later, this book was even better). The world building is amazing and the look into made up politics is... beyond. I lapped it up.
Maud had been married to a vampire whose bid to take over his family's house was rejected and so were he, Maud, and their daughter. Maud wasn't as concerned for herself but she was shocked that her daughter had been kicked out as well. Of course, Helen is half-vampire, half-human but that shouldn't have mattered to a species that usually reveres its children. She is exiled to a planet where the living is hard and water is scarce. Her husband has been killed and Maud is working on avenging him in a slow and methodical manner. 
The book begins with Maud's sister, Dina, coming to rescue them, but then there are swaths of story missing because they are in other books. What we get to see here is Maud and Armand figure out their relationship when Maud travels to his family's stronghold and begins to see whether and how she can fit in with his life.

Four stars
Follows One Fell Sweep
Followed by Sweep of the Heart
This book came out December 2018
Ebook of my own on Kindle
Opinions are my own

Reread January 2022, July 2022 as Graphic Audiobook from Libby, September 2022 as Audible book, December 2022

Sweep with Me by Ilona Andrews

The biggest Innkeeper holiday is coming up and it's a doozy. A celebration of the day that the innkeepers signed a treaty to start hosting alien beings on earth. It's a day that any creature may claim a room at any inn. 
One of her guests is from a race that rarely comes to Earth; an inkeeper might never see it in their time serving an inn. This particular Drifan is a liege, the leader of her group. And she has a meeting set up with a very rich, very shady developer.
Dina is also dealing with a natural hunter, a Medamouth, which would be fine if she didn't have a brace of Koo-Kos (very chicken and prey-like) also visiting. 
I wish this book had been longer but it was a nice little bite that expanded the world even if some of the storylines weren't necessarily needed. 

Four stars

Follows Sweep of the Blade

This book came out December 20th, 2016

Ebook of my own on Kindle

Opinions are my own

Reread in January 2022 as ebook, July 2022, December 2022 as ebook from Libby

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

As a detective, Nevada Baylor usually goes after divorce cases or insurance fraud. But she's now being forced to go after a rogue fire starter. A very, powerful fire starter. Who's also sort of hot. But is an egomaniac. 
Also after Adam Pierce? Connor "Mad" Rogan. He is known for killing. A lot of people. He also has a lot of magic, one that can be used sort of like telekinesis. Nevada doesn't feel like she has a chance; her magic is just the ability to tell lies. What can she do against two such powerful men?
With so much world building (people have magic, there are different types of magic, how the families with magic work, etc.), there isn't a ton of room for building characters. We learn more about both in later books but I wish there had been just a little bit more to connect to.

Four stars
This book came out October 28, 2014

Followed by White Hot
Audiobook from Overdrive
Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible book I own July 31, 2022, September 2023

The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews

It’s the holiday season and Meg is, as usual, in charge. This time, she’s riding herd on a Helping Hands group. People can call up and ask for help, Meg organizes groups of volunteers to get projects done. Current projects include spreading fertilizer, finishing a quilt, and helping a hoarder clean out his house. Harvey, the hoarder, is the bane of his neighborhood. And his family. But both groups are strangely against the Helping Hands coming in to clean out his junk. It gets to the point that someone bonks him on the head. 

Not a super deep story but we see all of the characters we’ve gotten to know and love as the series has built and there is a feel-good ending that regular readers will appreciate.

Four stars

This book comes out October 20, 2020

Follows The Falcon Always Wings Twice

Followed by Murder Most Fowl

ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Opinions are my own

Reread January 30, 2020, as audible book December 2023

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews

Catalina and Alessandro are thrown together again when, once again, powerful Primes threaten to destroy the city. Her new job as a Warden of Texas earns her (and her family) some protection as a new house but that also means that she is being thrown into situations that would endanger the lives of anyone less powerful than herself. That also means that she sometimes needs to rely on others that she'd rather not, including Alessandro.
The Big Bad in this one just isn't as well developed as it has been in other stories. And the revelation of the power behind the big bad was sort of a deflation. I really hope that we get to learn more about Alessandro soon. He is still a little too much of a mystery to really care about. But you still have an amazing family and their stories do let them grow more and the epilogue definitely made me immediately want to jump right into the next book.

Four stars
This book came out August 25, 2020
Follows Sapphire Flames

Followed by Ruby Fever
ARC kindly provided by HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread July 2022 as an Audible book I own

Owl Be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews

Meg is not expecting to have to deal with a death at her grandfather's conference on owls but... well. She does encounter them more than the average person. This time, she's in the middle of a virtual locked room mystery since Virginia is being hit by a massive snow storm, one that was unexpected but explained in the book in a nice touch. Of course, the murdered man was the nastiest of the lot, Professor Frogmore. A man who was not only rude, he was also a racist mysoginist. So, lots of people were ready to celebrate his death.

I like that Andrews does time jumps between many of the books and makes an effort to not have the "Murder She Wrote" syndrome of why-would-people-live-there? Some of the characters were a little caricature-is but this book once again knocks it out of the park.

Four stars

Follows Terns of Endearment
Followed by The Falcon Always Rings Twice

This book came out October 15th

ARC kindly provided by St. Martin's Press and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread May 2021 as ebook from CloudLibrary, July 2021 as ebook from Libby, December 2022, December 2023 as Audible book

Terns of Endearment by Donna Andrews

Meg's grandfather has been asked to lead a series of bird talks on the cruise line Pastimes. In return, he got a friends and family discount. So the entire clan has packed up and headed to Florida to get on the boat. Even waiting to embark is sending up red flags since the porter does not seem willing to take aboard her family's 32 bags. The trip only gets odder after Meg meets a group of 4 writers who had a friend die recently; the woman they blame, Desiree, has also joined the cruise. It becomes quite quickly obvious that Desiree is a exactly as the other writers describe her, thoroughly despicable. Is it, however, a surprise that her shawl and shoes are found on deck 4 along with a suicide note. This happens on the same day that the boat's engines go silent.
With the officers of the boat behaving as if all is well (it very noticeably is NOT), the staff size mysteriously small, and the appearance of a body (not Desiree's), Meg is up to her eyeballs in mystery.
Andrews usually does a great juggling her large cast of minor characters and mostly does okay in this book but there are some places where it feels like there are a LOT of people introduced; this will probably be confusing for new-to-the-series readers but not as hard for those of us who are Langslow fans. I appreciated that the book was moved out of Caerphilly but was never really pulled into the story.

Three and a half stars

This book comes out August 6th, 2019

Follows Lark! The Herald Angels Sing

Followed by Owl Be Home for Christmas
ARC kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

Reread as Audible book December 2023

Tightrope by Amanda Quick

Opening with our heroine, Amalie Vaughn, literally on the edge of death, Then it slips into a confusing third person omniscient overlook overlook of almost everyone in the book. It smooths out when Amalie gets to Burning Cove. She's picked up a mansion for a song. Too bad it's because a phony psychic was murdered there. And now that her first paying guest has also been murdered (on stage, by his own robot), she's not very hopeful that the profile of her hotel will improve. And now, Matthias Jones, a known associate of Luther Pell (night club owner and mob affiliate), is in her hotel. She just knows that the gossip is going to go wild.
Add in an enigma machine, a man intent on revenge, a star willing to do anything to reclaim his fading star, and a gossip columnist and this is a wild ride. There is a lot, a LOT going on in this book and it could have been pared down a bit but it was still a fun read.

Three and a half stars
This book came out May 7, 2019

Follows The Other Lady Vanishes
Followed by Close Up 
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread June 2022 as audible-owned audiobook

Toucan Keep a Secret by Donna Andrews

In addition to her regular duties of blacksmithing, being a mother to twins, helping the mayor, Meg Langslow is helping out the Episcopalian priest while she's on bed rest. After a meeting one night, she sees light moving in the columbarium (crypt). When she goes to investigate, one of the most contentious lay officials has been killed and many of the niches destroyed.
Linked to a robbery in the late-80s, this crime will result in more crimes including someone shooting at Meg.
Another great book in the series. Andrews knows how to move the timelines and still keep readers involved without an info dump.

Four stars

Follows How the Finch Stole Christmas!
Followed by Lark! The Herald Angels Sing

This book comes out August 7
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Reread July 2021, as Audible book December 2023

The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick

Like the other heroines of this series (only one other so far, but we're given the pattern), Adelaide Bankcroft has a reason to hide her past. She's in Burning Cove after escaping from an insane asylum; the place her husband consigned her to in order to get control of her inheritance. Now she's working as a tea shop waitress who also creates specific teas for the shop's customers - the tea can do things like create calm or help with insomnia.
Jake Truett is in Burning Cove ostensibly to relax his overworked nerves. But he has an ulterior motive, one that perfectly aligns with keeping Adelaide safe.
I quite enjoyed this book and hope that we get to see the full story of what happens between Raina and Luther.

Four Stars
This book comes out May 8, 2018

Follows The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Followed by Tightrope
ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread August 2022 as audiobook from Audible