[Murder with Peacocks] by Donna Andrews is the first of her Meg Langslow mysteries and great fun. It was a nice, light read, but with enough detail that it kept me interested right up to the end. It was pretty obvious who the bad guy(s) were, but Andrews did a great job with character development so it was quite the entertaining read. A nice break in our dreary Pennsylvania weather. I'll keep an eye out for others in the series. ( )

I expected to really enjoy this one but somehow it fell flat for me. Maybe it was all just a bit too over the top -- the abundance of relatives, the abundance of weddings (I didn't mind the abundance of peacocks, however). Maybe my problem is that I imagine myself in the situation too much -- much as I was never too amused by the "Kramer" character in Seinfeld (I kept picturing having him as a neighbour myself), the idea of organizing a wedding for an unpleasant sister-in-law and receiving little thanks for the trouble is a bit too realistic to be enjoyable (but then, I also sympathize with David Bowie's laments about Iggy Pop's constantly emptying Bowie's fridge during their shared years in Berlin, so don't mind me:).

The first mystery in Donna Andrews' Meg Langslow series, Murder with Peacocks is a laid-back and comfortable book, perfect for slow evenings after a long day. As an author, Andrews doesn't seem to ask much of her readers, and instead lets them drift along as she develops her story at her own pace. Murder with Peacocks doesn't "pop" like many mysteries do, but the style of the writing just adds to the slow enjoyment of the reader. I will certainly be pursuing the series in the future. ( )

The first of the Meg Langslow mysteries, this kicks off with Meg, a blacksmith, packing up for the summer so she can go home to Virginia and help out with the three weddings she is maid of honour for: her best friend, Eileen, who is terminally vague and is currently considering a Native American herbal purification ceremony; her sister-in-law-to-be, Samantha, who is highly demanding and currently requiring peacocks to be sourced for her wedding; and her mother, who is marrying her new beau after an amicable divorce that was positively cheerful and who still has Meg's father pottering around, gardening.

Cue a whirlwind of far too much wedding planning (but it was fun, because you know it's all going to be a disaster), peacock wrangling, dodging dodgy wannabe-beaus, endless garden parties, deliciously described food, the drop-dead-gorgeous but probably gay Michael, and one dead body and what looks like a serial murder trying to bump Meg and/or her family off. And, believe me, there's a lot of family to bump off.

And therein lies the charm of this series (well, the first book, at any rate). Meg's family are charmingly, dottily, scattily, eccentric. Meg's father is a retired doctor with an obsession over crime and poisonous plants. Meg's mother is part of the local royalty and is a perfumed bulldozer who gets her own way just by expecting it. The smaller roles are delightful too, I really liked the aunts and uncles playing croquet during a garden party, and yelling "duck!" whenever a ball gets too close to the other guests. Croquet is obviously not quite as genteel as one would have expected. And Meg is terribly good fun too, with a good blend of niceness, ability, intelligence, and sass. (Sass has to be my favourite thing in literary female detectives.)

It's rather nice to have the Evil Person in a murder mystery just being unpleasant - she's mightily unpleasant, of course, but the worst thing she seems to do to Meg & her family is blatantly out one of Meg's aunts as wearing a wig.

This was also a well-plotted whodunnit, which kept me guessing until the end.

This series was originally recommended to me by my mate Miss FiFi Trixibelle (well, no, that's not really her name, but we like to torture her by calling her that), and it only just got rejigged in my memory when RichardDerus highly recommended it over on his thread. So, thank you both! It may have taken me a while to get around to it, but it was worth the wait. ( )

Richard was touting this series so much on his 75 Challenge thread (and getting them on Hot Review list—so I got a double dose of the reviews!) that I finally broke down this weekend and decided to try the first one. I picked it up at the library Saturday morning when hubby and I started on our long list of errands. He drove and I read. The first 50 pages I was thinking, “Okay, this is cute. I think I’ll probably enjoy this.” By the time we got home I was half way through the book, so as soon as we unloaded the car I plopped myself in my recliner and continued to read. Suddenly I burst out laughing aloud. Hubby asked what I was reading and I read him the funny part—even he chuckled. I then said to him that this book was definitely getting three stars! About an hour—and several guffaws —later hubby said he thought I was enjoying it enough to give it a higher rating, so I said 3 stars for the mystery and extra ½ star for the humor. By the time I finished the book that night hubby insisted I had had too good of a time with the book not to give it at least 4 stars.

This is not generally the type of mystery I enjoy but this was one of the best humorous novels I’ve read in a long time. The mystery was okay—although I knew “who dunnit” early on—but the delightful characters and the humor made me think of Jerome K. Jerome or P.G. Wodehouse at their best. I will definitely be reading the next one in the series! Highly Recommended—4 stars ( )

Cute fun read ( )

Ich lese ja eigtl. nicht so gerne Krimis, weil sie mich deprimieren. Ausser natürlich, wenn sie so lustig und unterhaltsam sind wie dieser da! Und eine Romance ist auch noch enthalten, also komme ich voll auf meine Kosten. Werde die Fortsetzung sehr gerne auch lesen.

Nice, light mystery. I really enjoyed it. ( )

I laughed out loud while reading this book ( )

http://tinyreadingroom.blogspot.com/2... ( )

A fun introduction to Meg and her eccentric family. This is a nice light crime series with a likeable and intelligent protagonist and a lot of humour. ( )

Cute funny mystery, What I really liked was that the murderer was not immediately obvious at the beginning of the book and that a nifty little romance was included. What I didn't like was that the motivations and actions of the murderer were explained at the end of the book as he held the heroine hostage to hold off the police. That is kind of lame and lowered my rating a half-star. ( )

Meg Langslow is participating in, and organizing, three weddings for family members and her best friend. While dealing with myriad details, she pitches into solve a murder. The mystery and humor are blended pretty effectively through the eccentric characters, especially Meg's father. A light but fun read. I'll try another. ( )

Donna Andrews won the 1998 St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Contest with this cozy mystery. It was the first of the Meg Lanslow series. Meg is a blacksmith. Well, maybe one should say that she creates decorative ironwork. "Murder with Peacocks" begins Meg's adventures as an amateur sleuth as she spends a crazy summer as an attendant in three weddings -- and a solver of a murder. Along the way we meets her eccentric family and one particular local resident who will become very important in her life. If you love quirky, hilarious mysteries, give the Meg Lanslow series a try. ( )

Meg plans to spend the summer in her hometown in Virginia, organizing 3 weddings, her mother's, her best friend's and her brother's. It is a real challenge because her mother and best friend are helpless and she does not even like her brother's fiance. Before she can get the first wedding ready, a body shows up and her father, retired doctor and avid mystery fan, is trying to solve the murder, with Meg's help of course. She has nothing else to do. One disaster follows another and Meg finally decides that all these coincidences just can't be, well, coincidences. With the help of the hunky dress shop owner, Meg decides she has to solve the mystery, before more people end up dead.

I really enjoyed this mystery. Meg and her family are a hoot. I look forward to more in the series. ( )

I first found this book by visiting my local library and typing "murder" and "wedding" into a keyword search (I had a rash of weddings I was gearing up to attend. I need some sort of outlet). This was the only book that came up in the search. I liked it so much that not only did I purchase six copies to give to other bridesmaid friends of mine, I also skived my reading tastes strongly to mystery.

Poor Meg Langslow has been roped into being the maid-of-honor for three different brides, whose weddings will all take place within a 15-day timespan. The author's clever way of begining and ending each 'chapter' is wonderful, the characters just beg for more books to be written about them (the book is really worth reading just for the character interactions alone), and the ending was satifying (if not quite unique). But the real mystery? None of the brides were the ones murdered. ( )

This is my first book by this author. I really enjoyed it. While I thought the story probably went on longer than necessary, the characters were endearing, and the dialogue was fun and quick-witted.

I'm looking forward to reading more of her books. ( )

Very funny a waiting for Evanovich pick. First in the Meg Langslow series ( )

Funny series. Good cozies. ( )

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 eagerly anticipating Murder With Puffins, which I've requested from my local library. ( )

This book was a delight. The characters are quirky, funny and quite, quite insane. The story rolls along at an easy pace and goes in logical but totally unexpected directions.

Meg Langslow knows she has a busy summer ahead of her. She's bridesmaid at three weddings and the main organiser of them all. Meg's mother is getting remarried, despite no-one understanding why she and Meg's father ever split up in the first place, especially since her father spends almost all his time at the family house as if he had never left, only staying nights in his new home with Meg's sister. Her brother's fiance - the one who decided her wedding requires the peacocks of the title - has given Meg the honour and the hard work of being chief bridesmaid. To round the number out to three, her best friend is also getting married and Meg is in charge of her wedding as well.

The entire prospect is daunting, one bright spot being Michael, who is running the local dressmakers while the owner, his aunt, is recuperating from an unexplained accident. She is soon informed he is gay, which given his good looks she considers a disappointment, but his help and friendliness is much appreciated. Between them, they start undertaking the difficult task of getting three bridal parties outfitted, while Meg also has to deal with all the other wedding preparations.

Once guests start arriving, things only get more frantic. Especially when Meg's mother's sister-in-law to-be arrives in town. She is a tactless, disagreeable woman who clearly has the ability to make enemies at the drop of a hat. The only thing that could make life more difficult than her presence is her death. When she is found dead below the cliff near Meg's family home, difficult is an understatement.

Her father dives in to trying to solve the mystery - in his own unique fashion - while Meg attempts to keep her attention on the weddings. Even so, with Michael's help, she seems to keep finding herself in the middle of it all to the point that someone starts trying to kill her.

Andrews writes the book in a quirky and easy-to-read style. Meg's various trials are sympathetically written and yet funny to read. Her accidental solving of the murder slides easily into place beside the wedding planning and she is an engaging and sympathetic character. Meg's father is beautifully drawn and his gift to his ex-wife who is about to marry someone else is truly touching. The other characters are generally well penned, but my favourites remain Meg, Michael and Meg's father.

Oh, and the peacocks. They are there to stay. ( )

This is the first in the Meg Lanslow series and very much a cut above the usual cozy mystery fare. Meg has been shaghied into being bridesmaid and organiser for no less than 3 weddings that are scheduled within a week of each other; a condition that inspires her to keep a notebook reminding her when to breathe and incites 3am phonecalls from brides who have decided that they must have peacocks or renaissance costumes to truly off-set their special day.

Meg's normal occupation is as a blacksmith, as well as unofficially keeping her very unconventional relatives in line. One of the wedding guests is murdered and as Meg's father, a mystery buff and doctor, is under suspicion she decides to do some sleuthing of her own to clear his name. Meg's on a deadline to find a killer, ensure that three weddings go off without a hitch and in the process meets a striking young man called Michael. The mystery angle is average but the characterisation and humour of this installment makes it an absolute charmer. ( )