Meg Langslow is caught up in politics. When her husband Michael decided to direct Macbeth, he incurred the wrath of English professor Philpotts, who has decided that the version of the play that got printed with Shakespeare’s First Folio was a corrupted version. Because of that, he wrote the definitive version of the Scottish play, but Michael insists on using the version that has been staged for centuries. And it shouldn’t be a problem—the drama department, where Michael works, is separate from the English department. But Philpotts has a lot of pull at the college.
So Michael teamed up with the history department to be able to use college resources for his Macbeth. They agreed, as long as a group of Scottish reenactors could camp out on their land for several weeks and they host a series of lectures for graduate students. But Professor Philpotts decided that the English department should put on their own play, so he reserved the campus theater and dorm rooms for his cast and crew before Michael could get his paperwork in.
And that’s why Meg and Michael’s house and barn are filled with the cast and crew of Macbeth, with a small tent city out in the fields for the Scottish reenactors. And if that’s not enough chaos, there is a documentarian, Damien Goodwin, following all the action, trying to make a film of it. Meg has told him in no uncertain terms that he cannot film their teenaged twin boys, and he respects that, but he is quick to film everything else that is happening, including the discovery of the dead man’s fingers.
Coming up from an old felled log, the dead man’s fingers at first looked like a body had been buried on the Langslow farm. But when her father came to investigate, he discovered that they were actually a type of mushroom. They could breathe easier about there being a dead body there, but there has still been plenty of mischief. One nearby farmer called the police to complain that some of his sheep were missing, Meg and Michael have found vandalism in their home, and apparently someone was using an open flame when the county is under lockdown for the drought.
Michael and the cast spend most of their days in rehearsal, and Meg’s mother has organized a cadre of cousins to help with the meals for entire gang, so Meg can spend her time on all the other organizational details and on forging the perfect creepy dagger for them to use in the play. So she helps return all the kidnapped farm animals, cleans up the vandalism, and when the documentarian wants to screen some of the footage he’s taken, she helps set that up, even has her father bring the town’s popcorn machine for her twins to work.
But as she stands at the back of the room watching the footage Damian has filmed, a collection of embarrassing moments, slips, falls, flubbed lines, and some misdemeanors, Meg knows that this will not end well. When the actress playing Lady Macbeth finally loses her temper and smashes his laptop, they all realize that the show is over. But it’s not until the next morning, when Meg and her cousin Rose Noire find Damian’s body, that she knows his documentary has been cancelled completely.
As Meg helps the police try to figure out who the vandal is, who is setting fires in the woods, who was hiding things in a hollow book in their library, and who killed Damian, she also has to figure out why the lead actress is having such gastrointestinal distress, who left two young geese in their chicken coop, where her latest dagger creation has disappeared to, and how to get rid of the seven adorable Pomeranian puppies before her twins find them and get too attached. And with a host of smart, strong, and talented family members, she will do her best to find all the answers. But will she get there fast enough to avoid getting killed with one of her own creations?
Murder Most Fowl is book 29 in the Meg Langslow series, and it seems like these cozies just get crazier and more chaotic each time. And it’s always up to Meg, with her special set of skills, to bring everyone together and find all the information that ends up cracking the case. And the more mayhem that shows up in these books, frankly, the happier I get. Not everyone can juggle the crazy extended Langslow family with grace and patience, but Meg does it. She can’t do it alone, but she has a wonderful support system, and I just love spending with these people.
I also really appreciate Donna Andrews’ heart for animals. While there are always birds in the title and in the story, there is also a great deal of respect and warmth for all the creatures that fill the pages, except maybe for the rats that showed up in one of Meg’s dreams. But the Langslow family is very friendly toward animals and open towards people of all creed, culture, or characteristic. Andrews specifically writes in a subplot about racism here, but in all her books, there is a feeling of acceptance for all individuals, no matter their quirks or challenges. She doesn’t hit you over the head with her inclusivity. It’s just a quiet affability that makes me feel welcome every time I sit down with one of Andrews’s books. I feel like I could show up there in Caerphilly, VA, and be invited over for dinner and that someone in the Langslow family would be willing and able to help me out, whether I needed a place to stay, a new job, updated décor for my living room, a good book recommendation, or a place to accommodate and feed 200 people with less than four hours’ notice. It’s just that kind of family, and I feel so at home there. It’s why I’m always so happy to come back.
Oh, and they solve crimes.
Egalleys for Murder Most Fowl were provided by Minotaur Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.
