Between a Flock and a Hard Place

Meg has a new assignment from the mayor. A home renovation television program has come to town to redo the Smetkamp's home in a charming, historic neighborhood. The neighbors are outraged, Mrs. Smetkamp is making constant demands, and the company is playing fast and loose with building permits.

Then someone herds the town's feral turkeys to the neighborhood. The turkeys are large, aggressive and resistant to being herded back to where they belong which is at Meg's grandfather's research facility. They manage to shut down the building project and cause all sorts of chaos in the neighborhood. While the sheriff is looking for the culprits, Megs father and grandfather want to find them too - because they want to know how they managed to get show more all the turkeys into the neighborhood. They've been having trouble moving the turkeys around.

While Meg is trying to arrange a turkey round-up, the mayor who is also a building contractor discovers that the TV crew has demolished almost all of the load-bearing walls in their reno and made the house not only unlivable but an active danger for anyone entering it. He immediately shuts down any activities at the reno.

On the night of the round-up, Meg discovers Mrs. Smetkamp's body is the small woodworking shed at the back of her home. It is an obvious murder since she was stabbed with one of the wood rasps from the scene. As usual, there are a lot of suspects from her disgruntled neighbors to the TV crew who had been trying to work with her.

This was another fun and funny episode in a long-running series. I enjoy Meg's ability to keep her head and solve problems. show less

Oh, Ms. Andrews, you truly, never disappoint your readers. This thirty-fifth cozy mystery book in series was absolutely hilarious.

Meg Langslow, our plucky protagonist, blacksmith, mother of twin boys and Executive Assistant for Special Projects to Caerphilly's Mayor Shiffley, has been called to historic Bland Street for an "intervention". It turns out that the much abhorred Smetkamps have won a home makeover from the TV show, Marvelous Mansions, and the neighbors are none too pleased with all the noise and inconvenience the construction crew has caused. To top that off, during the stealth of night, someone dropped off over a hundred feral turkeys on the Smetkamps lawn. The belligerent birds are wreaking havoc on everyone's gardens and show more lawns and attacking anyone who may try to defend their own property. During the Great Roundup, a body is discovered and a mystery needs solving. Who better than Meg to assist in that process?

Just reading about the feral turkey attacks and the defensive attire of the brave ones going in to save the day would be worth the price of this book. But the mystery itself, is equally entertaining. There are lots of red herrings, plausible perpetrators and likely felons.

Ms. Andrews is brilliant in her character creation: featuring a strong yet compassionate female lead with a highly eccentric family and great secondary characters makes for amusing reading. Her world building of the college town of Caerphilly (pronounced "carefully" ? ) is wonderful. The writing is solid and quite amusing times. When readers ask me for recommendations for a cozy mystery series, hands-down, it is this one. If you enjoy cozies, then this book could well be one for you.

I am grateful to Ms. Andrews and her publisher, Minotaur Books, for having provided a complimentary uncorrected digital copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Number of pages:‎ 304
ISBN:‎ 978-1250894083 show less

I look forward to every single book by Donna Andrews. Her cozy mysteries are simply a delight and all the Meg Langslow characters in Caerphilly are so much fun. BETWEEN A FLOCK AND A HARD PLACE has to be in my top five favorite books in the series. Between the troublesome turkeys and the incompetent home improvement show, this one was just a hoot!

Meg’s neighbors, the Smetkamps, have won a home makeover. But things aren’t going well. Not only are the neighbors upset, but the renovations aren’t up to code… and then there is the giant flock of feral turkeys that has invaded their yard. Every cozy mystery series has a theme, and Donna Andrews knocks it out of the park with quirky bird appearances in every book, from peacocks to show more toucans to falcons. The turkeys manage to cause quite a bit of chaos, which is hilarious to read on page, and as Meg and her friends are trying to help their neighbors, the question remains… how did the turkeys get there?

Just as they think they may be coming up with a plan to snatch the turkeys, they find the body of poor Mrs. Smetkamp… and then Meg not only has to figure out who set the turkeys loose on the neighborhood, but who killed her neighbor, and if the two crimes are related. I enjoyed this one. The mysteries are always well plotted with good clues that are not easy to figure out and keep you guessing all the way to the very end! I can’t wait for the next Meg Langslow mystery! 5/5 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for review purposes. show less

Donna Andrews and her Meg Langslow mysteries are reliably well-done cozy mysteries with strong clues and sneaky red herrings. Add a large crazy family and an interesting selection of animals and you are bound to have a fun few hours of reading.
In this installment, (35th in the series, but can definitely stand alone, too) there is a collision between a shady reality show, a very cranky neighbor and a large herd of feral turkeys. As the mayor’s go-to person for handling random problems, Meg must keep everyone’s temper from flaring as she confronts noisy construction, spying neighbors, and turkey poo while trying to figure out a murder.
As always, I love the care that Meg has for her friends, family, neighbors and town. She is smart show more and willing to get her hands dirty, but she doesn’t run into danger without thinking or letting someone know where she is going. She is generous, but not a perfect person as is most of the other supporting cast. The complex characters and their relationships are what keep me returning to this series. On top of that, these books are very funny—I never realized a turkey could seem both menacing and goofy at the same time.
The one thing I noticed in this particular novel, and it may be because I had an early reader’s copy that has not perhaps been fully edited, but on several occasions, there would be two people having a conversation, and a third would chime in that I had no idea was in the vicinity. It was strange and took me out of the story.
All in all, this was great fun and highly enjoyable.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free digital copy. show less

A home renovation tv show is making over the Smetkamp’s home in a historic neighbourhood in Caerphilly much to the chagrin of the neighbours so tensions are already high when someone releases dozens of feral turkeys near the house. It shuts the project down but the turkeys are territorial, aggressive and, in general, creating complete chaos. When Meg Langslow, as the Mayor’s assistant, is called in to help with coordinating efforts to round up the recalcitrant fowl, she stumbles across the dead body of Mrs Smetkamp in the shed and it is very clear she has been murdered.

Between a Flock and a Hard Place is the 35th book in the Meg Langlsow cozy mystery series by Donna Andrews and it is all kinds of fun. As always, the story is show more entertaining with a nice thread of humour running through it and the mystery was interesting with plenty of suspects and red herrings to keep the reader guessing. Visiting Meg and all the other denizens of Caerphilly is always a pleasure and I look forward to more adventures with them in the future. I read an arc of the book while listening to an audiobook narrated by Bernadette Dunne who does a wonderful job.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the arc and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook show less

pet-dog, TV-film-industry, amateur-sleuth, Virginia, unpleasant-victims, unputdownable, scam, situational-humor, verbal-humor, local-law-enforcement, sniffer-dogs, family, relatives, small-town, elitism, cozy-mystery, murder-investigation, friends, friendship, frustration*****

I couldn't wait to read this one even though I've preordered the audio! Pub Date 06 Aug 2024
If you're new to this series, don't pass it up. Each one can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone, but you'll want to find out why there are so many Pomeranians (and some of them are sniffer dogs!) Meg comes from a large family but only a few of them are highlighted in this episode. There are nasty neighbors, lots of feral turkeys causing a mess, a work crew without a clue, a show more film manager who isn't what he says he is, and a whole lot more. Loved it!
This cannot be an unbiased review because I reread some of them (the print copies walk away so now I have them in audio) and wait with bated breath for each new one.
I requested and received a temporary EARC from St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
#MegLangslowMysteries Pub Date 06 Aug 2024 show less

Whether it’s your 35th or your first Meg Langslow outing, this cozy mystery should keep you guessing. Read my full review here.

Publication is expected August 6.

#NetGalley #MacmillanAudio #BetweenaFlockandaHardPlace