5 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved this book! I read the 4th book in the series,
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon back in February via a BookCrossing bookring and I found this one even better than that.
Meg Lanslow, a 30-year-old blacksmith, heads back to her home town of Yorkstown, VA for the summer to be the maid of honor in 3 weddings, her mother's, her brother's, and her best friend Eileen's, all within 2 weeks of each other. After a few days, the mayhem begins with the first dead body found on the beach behind her mother's house. Of course, this wouldn't be a Meg Lanslow mystery if the conditions and circumstances surrounding the murder weren't zany and strange.
As Meg and her Dad go sleuthing to uncover the culprit, they unwittingly become the murderer's next victims, presumably because they're getting too close to the truth. Aided by Meg's new friend Michael, the dressmaker's son, hilarity ensues and a few more bodies are found, fortunately of characters that you've come to dislike anyway.
Even when you think you've got it all figured out, some new twists are introduced that cause you to rethink your suspicions. This book kept me enthralled from the first page to the last, and I'm looking forward to
Murder With Puffins, the next book in the series.

Keri E. (
Kairbear) wrote on 3/24/2007...
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
I really loved this book and plan on reading the rest in the series. I stayed up all night to finish it. The writing is really good and the characters are likeable.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Meg Lanslow is a blacksmith whose summer is dominated by weddings: her mother is remarrying, her brother is wedding for the first time, and her best friend is also getting ready to tie the knot. When a soon-to-be inlaw turns up dead, Meg's father (who reads too many mystery novels) decides to investigate. As the countdown to the weddings proceeds, the number of untimely demises increases.
Murder with Peacocks is a cozy for closet cozy fans - those like myself who may publicly scoff at the body count surrounding Jessica Fletcher yet secretly enjoy the eccentric characters and happy endings. It is also a book for people - again, like myself - who have a dry sense of humor and appreciate sarcasm.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
1st book in this series by the author - amusing mystery

Heddy S. (
heddy) wrote on 9/5/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
This book is an Agatha Award Winner for Best First Novel. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me guessing. I'm looking forward to reading her next novel.

Beth H. (
beth213) wrote on 8/20/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Read this book! The characters are great, the writing flows, and you will want to keep reading all of the series once you are done the first book. Donna Andrews has a great sense of humor, you won't be dissapointed!

Ago S. (
compac) wrote on 7/31/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Format of book is a daily journal of the main character. This made the story a little slow in the beginning, but once a murder took place I had to keep reading to find out what happened. The end was also satisfying and clever. In other words, it was not apparent to me, and I read a lot of mysteries.

Dorcas M. (
dormet) wrote on 5/1/2007...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fun, quick, light read. The characters really make this series! This is the first.
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Donna Andrews' debut novel which won the St. Martin's Maloice Domestic Award! Clever and witty, this cozy mystery entwines us
in several weddings and murders filled with southern hospitality!
Meg Langslow's summer is filled with problems which she helps others solve while she deals with some crazy relatives and friends!
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
1st in a cozy mystery series. A lot of humor.