Suffering from a chronic inability to say "no" to her friends and family, blacksmith Meg Langslow finds herself sliding down a bank during the eXtreme croquette tournament she was talked into hosting ... and lands on the body of a strange woman. As life goes on for nearly everyone Meg finds herself investigating the mysterious death and daydreaming about which suspect would make her life easiest. No Nest for the Wicket is an enjoyable cozy mystery, and echoes the tone and storyline of the previous books nicely. ( )

Meg and Michael are renovating their new house outside Caerphilly. During an Extreme Croquet match in the cow pasture, Meg discovers the body of a young woman, an abrasive historian whom Michael had dated for a while. Ties to town bigwigs and a possible outlet mall on the next farm over complicate the investigation.

As usual, Meg's eccentric family and odd neighbors provide comic relief, but this doesn't have the sheer wacky charm of some in the series. ( )

Meg and her fiancé Michael are attempting to get settled into their new home in Caerphilly, or actually their barn more like as the house itself is still going through all sorts of repairs and renovations. Since they're also hosting Caerphilly's first official extreme croquet tournament, their home is swarming not only with the Shiffley family work men, but with all Meg's family as well, including countless cousins and second cousins.

Therefore, there's no shortage of suspects when Meg finds a dead body at the bottom of a small ravine, following the path of her stray croquet ball. The woman's head has been bashed in, and it would appear that a croquet mallet was the likely weapon. Of course, in addition to the sheriff and local police force, Meg must do her own digging, attempting to discover the identity of the woman and the reason someone would want her dead.

I totally enjoyed this 7th book in the Meg Langslow mystery series, and like it's predecessors, the wacky, zany antics of Meg and family make getting there half the fun. Whether or not you remember whodunit in a year's time is irrelevant as the journey will remain with you for awhile to come. :) ( )

Fun--"no thinking" required. What a great book to unwind with. The characters could easily be found in any family. Happy Reading! ( )

No Nest for the Wicket - Donna Andrews (8/10)
Light mystery; book 7 in the Meg Langslow series.
I love Meg Langslow and her crazy family. In this book she and her fiance, Michael, are hosting an "Extreme Croquet" tournament that turns into a murder investigation when Meg finds the body of a young woman who appears to have been killed from a blow to the head with a croquet mallet. The usual insanity occurs and a fun time is had by all - except perhaps the victim and the murderer of course. ( )