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    Murder with Peacocks: A Meg Langslow Mystery
    Unavailable
    Murder with Peacocks: A Meg Langslow Mystery
    Unavailable
    Murder with Peacocks: A Meg Langslow Mystery
    Audiobook11 hours

    Murder with Peacocks: A Meg Langslow Mystery

    Written by Donna Andrews

    Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Meg Langslow's summer is not going swimmingly. In her small Virginia hometown, she's the maid of honor at the nuptials of three loved ones — each of whom has dumped the planning in her hands. One bride is set on including a Native American herbal purification ceremony while another wants live peacocks on the lawn. Only help from the town's drop-dead gorgeous hunk keeps Meg afloat in a sea of relatives and outrageous neighbors.

    But when an offensive newcomer, who hints at skeletons in the guests' closets, is found dead under suspicious circumstances, level-headed Meg's to-do list extends from flower arrangements and bridal registries to catching a killer — before the next event is her own funeral.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateDec 17, 2018
    ISBN9781974925933
    Unavailable
    Murder with Peacocks: A Meg Langslow Mystery
    Author

    Donna Andrews

    DONNA ANDREWS has won the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, an RT Book Reviews Award for best first novel, and four Lefty and two Toby Bromberg Awards for funniest mystery. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Novelists, Inc. Andrews lives in Reston, Virginia. She has written over 30 books in the Meg Langslow mystery series.

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    Reviews for Murder with Peacocks

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      Maid of honor for three weddings in less than two hot summer months complete with Bridezillas, a body on the beach, attempts at murder, and what else?!?Meg Lanslow is about to lose her mind in the Commonwealth of Virginia!The audio is delightedly performed by Bernadette Dunne.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Meg Langslow heads back to her hometown to finish up the arrangements that are her responsibility as maid of honor for her best friend, her brother's bride, and her mother. Their weddings are all taking place within a 3 week time frame and Meg has to make sure that all the changes are managed and the brides discouraged from the impractical.At the first pre-nuptial social gathering, Meg meets her mother's fiancé and his former sister-in-law who is a disagreeable woman who quickly alienates everyone she meets. 2 days later she's dead.So started Meg's very amusing efforts to solve the murder so that the weddings aren't effected. Between the queen of Bridezillas and a dog that hates everyone, another bride who decides on a costume wedding 6 weeks before the event and calligrapher who has a few too many while addressing envelopes, and her mother who just seems to let everything slide by - even the death of a worker on a runaway lawnmower, the reader is held spellbound throughout. Definitely a series to continue in the future.
    • 3/5
      Meg Langlsow is a blacksmith who is taking the summer off to be the maid of honour at three weddings in her hometown. During her summer there, while hard at work trying to please three demanding brides and attracted to Michael who is rumoured to be gay, the sister-in-law of her mother's fiance is found dead on the riverbank below the yards on their street. Meg assists her dad, a retired MD, in trying to prove that a. this was no accident and b. how it might have been done. A number of apparently freaky accidents occur which Meg is convinced were attempts on her dad's life. As the summer progresses and the weddings get closer, the plot thickens.
      This is a cozy mystery, and I'm giving it two and a half stars because I liked it just enough to keep going and find out what happened but wasn't really laughing much at the humour, and it is supposed to be funny. Apparently the next book is funnier, so I may give that a go once I get one or more of my TBR books done, but at this point I don't plan to read the entire series. I also don't understand why mysteries have to let you figure out "whodunnit" so early, although this one did have a bit of a twist at one point (but I was still correct.)
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      This is a series I've been wanting to read for a long time. This first one was a hoot. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of Meg Langslow, uber maid of honor who is singlehandedly managing three different wedding parties scheduled in three weeks in her home town of Yorktown VA. The first is for her best friend, the second for her brother, and the third is her own mother.Each bride is trying her best to win the Bridezilla of the year contest. Andrews has assembled one of the looniest,but lovable cast of characters yet appearing in a cozy. There is the dog who hates everyone, the duck who follows a nephew around like a dog, a group of gossipy busy-bodies, two grooms who appear to be anything but enthusiastic about their upcoming nuptials, another bride (Meg's mother) who insists on major room redecorating at the drop of a hat, a drunken calligrapher, a group of Vietnamese seamstresses who can only be interpreted by the son (he's so gorgeous - is he gay?) of the shop owner, and the town Doctor, ex-husband (father of Meg) who sees murder and conspiracy in every bowl of salsa. It is a knee-slapping hoot with a great story, several red herrings to go along with the parading peacocks, and a little slightly blooming romance thrown in. I can't wait to read the next in this very popular series to see what else could possibly happen.
    • 4/5
      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
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      A fun, informative,first-in-series murder mystery. The hero, a decorative ironworker is back home for the summer arranging the details of three weddings in the small-town world of her wacky extended family. Hilarity, aggravation, murders and mayhem ensue. A very fun read. I look forward to reading others in the series and learning more about ironworking AND birds!
    • 4/5
      This book was very entertaining. A couple of layout out loud moments. Meg is caught up in planning three weddings. She is going crazy. Then the rude aunt of her mothers boyfriend is murdered. Who did it. She tries to investigate the murders along with trying to pull off the three weddings and get rid of any potential suitors thrown her way. Not really thought provoking. Very light read. As I said entertaining.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      Debut novel in the Meg Langslow series. This is a cute, light read about life and death in the South. In a bevy of languid Southern belles, Meg is a hyperkinetic heroine with boundless energy to arrange multiple weddings and solve murder mysteries. A bit thick, though, since she fails to notice that the studly young hero is not gay and is interested in her. A very light read, but fun.
    • 3/5
      Very cute and cozy - I look forward to reading the next one! I really enjoyed the charmingly kooky family members. A perfect summer book to relax with after a long hot day.
    • 4/5
      Funny series. Good cozies.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      A breezy, quick read with mystery and romance. Murder and mayhem plague a very small town, interferring with 3 wedding plans and dashing dreams of romance for the wedding planner. Suspects seem to abound, with a couple of red herrings, but the heroine solves the crime and saves the day. Good beach read, or a break between heavier reads! I would read more by this author for the smile factor.
    • 4/5
      When Meg Langslow heads home for the summer to organise three - count 'em, three - family weddings, she rightly anticipates chaos, but several murders and quite a few near misses bring more disturbance than even she expected.I liked Meg, and her family and the townsfolk are great (if insane) characters. There's a lot of humour, and while I'd worked out who did it, and a rough approximation of why, pretty early on, getting to the denouement was pretty entertaining.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      Meg Langslow's summer plans are filled with summer engagements. She returned to her small Virginia hometown to be a bridesmaid for three weddings: her mother, her brother and for her best friend.Early on she meets Michael Walterson, Professor of Theater, at a nearby college. He was managing his mother's dress making shop. Michael and Meg hit it off immediately.There's not much controversy in the story except dealing with Meg's best friend Eileen complaints that her fiance Steven complains about including the Native American heritage purification ceremony in the wedding. I can just imagine reacting to something like this in Virginia.Then one of the characters if found dead and the sheriff comes to investigate and suspicion spreads.The family relationships were interesting to view and how their personal connections can become upset.Meg was resilient and interesting as a main character who can be respected.The murder is a minor detail and the character who murdered is a bit obnoxious and unlikable. Not much of an affect on the main part of the story or the three weddings.
    • 4/5
      For cozy mystery fans who enjoy a little humor sprinkled in, Donna Andrews is the answer. This first in series is loads of fun. The mystery is good. The action going on in conjunction with the mystery is even better. (there were times that I laughed out loud with the mental picture of the scene unfolding) The characters are wonderful and their eccentricities are positively endearing. (I'm from the South and a lot of the characters were familiar to me... but I'd bet every reader knows a few of them regardless of geography) The fun kept going until the very end, when the knew-it-was-going-to-happen conclusion finally happened. I loved it and so did my reading group. Light fun reading. Recommended.
    • 2/5
      This murder series is set on the coast of Virginia, and follows the cozy mystery format. The series centers on Meg Langslow, a blacksmith artist, who visits her family hometown for the summer to plan and coordinate three weddings. The whole town seems to be related to Meg's family and the various characters provide much comic release. Meg's father is a retired doctor who loves gardening and his ex-wife. Meg's mother prepares for her wedding to a recent widower, and this will be the final of the three summer weddings. Not to spoil the story, the weddings do not go smoothly. After just reading the latest Elizabeth George, this novel provided laughter and very speedy reading, but no character vividly remains etched in my memory.
    • 4/5
      The mystery discussion group I sometimes attend at the library was discussing humorous mysteries, and since I don't care for Janet Evanovich's books, this was the suggested author. I enjoyed this tale of a single woman who comes home to help with an over-the-top wedding, solves a murder, and finds romance. I'll probably read some more of the series now and again.
    • 4/5
      While I still like Meg and her crazy family I am very happy that I read "Some Like it Hawk" first because I realized that Meg got much better at dealing with her family and friends. In this first in a series she is trying to do three weddings in a two-week period and is serving as bridesmaid in all of them. The first wedding is her good friend Eileen, the space cadet. The second is her brother's wedding with the ice-queen Samantha. The third is her Mother's to Jake, the shy spooky guy.

      I'll admit to grinding my teeth more than once as all of the people involved in the wedding go blithely about their lives doing whatever the hell they want, all the while expecting Meg to do dresses, caterers, ministers, and the thousands of other details involved in a wedding, let alone three of them in two weeks! Even the peacocks from the title fall to Meg to find and deliver.

      There is a lot of humor in the book and it is a great way to introduce almost all of Meg's crazy and extended family. Not that I'll remember most of the names. Since most seem to be bit players I'm sure I'll remember the main characters and now can't wait to get to the rest of the books.
    • 4/5
      Very funny a waiting for Evanovich pick. First in the Meg Langslow series
    • 5/5
      With a hard working but attitude blessed heroine, loads of mostly lovable but idiosyncratic relatives in a small town setting, three back-to-back weddings, witty repartee, and a slowly building romance, Murder With Peacocks is tons of fun--and as an added bonus there are plenty of sequels. Meg Langslow, a decorative blacksmith, is taking the summer off to return to her hometown and shoulder maid of honor duties for all three of the weddings, but misdeeds and murder keep getting in her way. The ingredients add up to a sort of modern day, thoroughly enjoyable Jane Austen meets P. G. Wodehouse mystery. I have high hopes for the rest of this bird-titled series.
    • 4/5
      Much better than I remembered.

      I was annoyed the first time I read this book, and I didn't like the characters. However, I wound up reading later ones and liking them a lot, so I revisited this book.

      It was funnier and better written than I remembered. I did listen to the audio version, so maybe that helped. Bernadette Dunne reads this whole series, and she is great.

    • 3/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      funny. silly. good beach read.