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Murder with Puffins
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Murder with Puffins
Unavailable
Murder with Puffins
Audiobook9 hours

Murder with Puffins

Written by Donna Andrews

Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Meg Langslow and her boyfriend, Michael, are searching for some romantic alone time. She knows the perfect place for a private getaway: her aunt's cottage on the tiny island of Monhegan. But when a series of events leads to the couple being trapped in the cottage with her entire family, their private getaway vacation slowly turns into a disaster.

Meg doesn't think anything more could go wrong until a resident of the island with close ties to her mother is murdered. When her father becomes the chief suspect, she knows she can no longer sit by the cozy fireplace. In a dash to save her father and her weekend, Meg finds herself knee deep in murder once again.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJan 14, 2019
ISBN9781974926633
Unavailable
Murder with Puffins
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 Puffins

Rating: 3.738596505263158 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

285 ratings20 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    situational-humor, family-dynamics, murder-investigation, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths The sleuthing isn't bad, but the super funny situational humor really made my day! The characters certainly are! Somehow I missed this one entirely even though I have read several of the more recent ones. Going to hunt up more of the series now.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    In her second adventure, Meg Lanslowe takes beau Micheal to her aunt's Maine cottage for a supposed private getaway, but ends up with her whole family there, as well as a hurricane. When a local artist is murdered, Meg gets involved because she fears her father or aunt will be implicated. And because she can't resist poking her nose in anyway.This novel is not nearly as successful a mix of detection and hmor as was the first, Murder with Peacocks. Andrews has painted herself into a bit of a corner with the remote location, and the opportunities for humor are pretty limited. The whodunnit aspect is OK, but the overall tone is rather forced.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I can't believe I've waited so many years to enjoy the adventures of Meg Langslow. I now know that I can grab one of these delightful Donna Andrews cozies at any time, settle down for a few hours, and emerge from any kind of bad mood, reading funk, headache, fight with the family, etc., in a much better mood.I normally dislike amateur sleuths who put themselves in harm's way, who dismiss competent law enforcement's efforts, and who think only they can solve the case. Meg Langslow can demonstrate all of these unprofessional attributes, but even while she's getting herself into a mess, her brain is at least kicking in to say "BAD IDEA- GET OUT OF HERE" and she has the soothing help of her developing romantic interest -- the handsome Michael. I just wish her ditzy father has more of the same impulse control----but then----it wouldn't be a good story.This one has everything I need for escapist lit....a great setting (can you beat a lighthouse, a Maine Island, and those darling cute puffins?), some more of the same loonie-toon characters (including her parents!!), a cast of possible suspects with just enough doubt cast on each to keep you guessing, and good writing. The dialogue is realistic, and while I realize that not everyone has the option of seemingly unlimited financial resources so they can just take off for an entire summer to traipse around to various venues on vacation, the plot itself is also reasonably believable, particularly if you live in coastal Maine and are familiar with stories of life on Matinicus.While this one was published over 10 years ago, the entire series is standing up well, and the newest one has just come out. I'm glad I finally got to them, and can't wait to sprinkle several others into my reading life for the foreseeable future.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the kind of homework I wish I'd had when I was in school. Staying up late at night trying to finish a well-written cozy mystery is far more fun than writing a paper.Meg and Michael have been overwhelmed with family interruptions and decide to escape to her Aunt Phoebe's cottage only to find on their arrival that her parents, brother, and Aunt are already in residence and that their romantic weekend will be with Hurricane Gladys and her relatives instead. That can't be the only thing that goes wrong, of course, so after Meg's father has a conflict with Victor Resnick, an artist and old beau of his wife's, suspicion seems only natural when Dad disappears at the same time as Gladys comes ashore and Victor is killed.The interjection of the birdwatchers throughout the story adds humor and whimsy while Meg and Michael wander the island trying to solve the murder and clear her family from suspicion.My only problem with the story was the constant repetition of the "trudging through mud and fall leaves". Yes, if you are outdoors in the rain before a hurricane and after, it is going to be muddy and trees will have lost leaves. Once or twice was enough, it wasn't necessary throughout the book.Hopefully, good weather in the next installment!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If you like your mysteries with minimal amounts of blood, lots of humor, and fun, engaging protagonists, you'll like this series by Donna Andrews. "Murder w/Puffins" is the second book in the series and it's the one that turned me on to the adventures of Meg Langslow, her boyfriend, Michael, and her eccentric family so it has a special place in my heart.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Meg Lanslow's relationship with her boyfriend Michael is going strong, but they are having a hard time finding some private time together. Meg thinks she knows the perfect place for a romantic getaway - her Aunt Phoebe's cottage in Monhegan, Maine. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned, the boat trip is rough because a hurricane is headed their way and once they reach the island, Meg and Michael realize it's been invaded by avid bird watchers. Even worse, once they get to the cottage they find that Meg's Aunt Phoebe, brother, and parents are already there! Due to the impending hurricane, Meg and Michael are stuck there and try to make the best they can out of the situation. But when a famous painter is found murdered on the island and Aunt Phoebe confesses to the murder and her father is a suspect, Meg is knee deep in murder once again. "Murder With Puffins" is a nice cozy mystery. There's a nice sense of humor throughout the book, including the title of each chapter: "The Agony and the Puffin", "East of Puffin", and "A Cat Among the Puffins" are some examples. The book is full of eccentric characters, including everyone in Meg's family. Meg is a spunky heroine but Mike is a bit bland in this book. The mystery itself is well plotted with plenty of suspects and plenty of motives, although the way the murder itself is committed is a bit unbelievable. I liked the fact that, unlike in most cozy mysteries, Meg doesn't want to confront the murderer herself but wants to go for the police instead. Nicely done.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    After the stress of organizing three family weddings in short succession, Meg Lanslow decides that a romantic getaway at an island off the coast of Maine with her hunky boyfriend, Michael, is just what they need. Aunt Phoebe is always telling family to “use the summer cottage anytime” and since the summer season is over, Monhegan should be very quiet and peaceful. But they arrive to find a house full of family, including Meg’s mother, father, Aunt Phoebe, Mrs Fenniman, brother Rob, and Michael’s mother’s dog Spike. With only three bedrooms and one bathroom, there won’t be much privacy here, and forget about retiring to a bed and breakfast; the island is overrun by birders here for the fall migration, and Hurricane Gladys has caused ferry service to stop. Trying to get away and despite the winds and rain, Meg and Michael opt to hike around the island. Instead of a panoramic view, however, they find a body.

    This is book two in the Meg Lanslow series, each of which has a title referencing birds (I don’t know why, because Meg is a blacksmith and knows nothing about birds). I was not impressed with the first one, but this fulfilled a challenge so I decided to give the series another try. I’ll admit this one is better but still not good. The author apparently thinks that adding many eccentric family members somehow makes this humorous and colorful. I just find them annoying and ridiculous. At least in this book there is a focus on solving the murder, although it seems that only Meg and Michael are doing any investigating; the local authorities seem content to wait until the hurricane passes and the police can arrive from the mainland.

    And speaking of the hurricane … these fools are running all over the island’s rugged terrain in this massive storm. And the only injuries are a couple of sprained ankles. No one gets hit by flying debris. No trees fall across roads. No major flooding (the gift shop is at the pier and seems to operate throughout the time frame of the book). Half the time Andrews doesn’t even mention rain.

    Well, at least it’s a fast read and the basic murder investigation is mildly entertaining.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This 2nd i the Meg Langslow series is a lot of fun and funnier than the first book, at least to me. Meg and Michael set out to Aunt Phoebe's summer cottage in Maine for some alone time. Imagine their surprise when they get there and Meg's Mom, Dad, brother Rob and Aunt Phoebe are all in residence. Makes the cottage a lot crowded and the pair despair of ever getting to spend time alone. The murder of a local "big time" artist provides Meg some welcome focus for her attention, especially when she realizes that Mom, Dad and Aunt Phoebe could all have excellent reasons for killing the bitter artist.

    Plenty of fun in this one, Meg and Rob taking a "walk" around the island which takes hours because of the imminent hurricane. Rob brought along Spike so he isn't missing but spends more time off stage than on for once. There is a wonderful supporting cast here, the island is known for its Puffins, a sort of penguin looking bird so there are a crowd of "birders" complicating Meg's attempt to solve the murder. The locals are a colorful cast who both hate and love the summer people (hate the intrusion, love the money spent on their island.)

    Now I'm truly looking forward to the next in the series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very good second installment in the Meg Langslow series of mysteries.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    June 27, 2002Murder with PuffinsDonna AndrewsI was in the mood for some light reading, and since I’d so enjoyed this writer’s first book, I was confident this one would satisfy, too. It’s just a light little mystery, nothing earth-shaking, but fun. It wasn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as the first one, but it was good. Meg is the protagonist, and she and Michael (the guy she hooked up with in the first book) go to an East Coast island for a romantic getaway, which turns out not to be so romantic when the rest of the family turns up, as well. A local artist who built some horrible eyesore of a house, and whom everybody on the island hates, winds up dead, blah blah blah. Meg’s family provided a great deal of the entertainment in both books – the eccentric father, the brother who has a law degree but wastes time creating games, the polished, sophisticated mother – and truthfully, that element is the most compelling part of the books so far. I don’t know if I’ll read another one – haven’t been much into mystery lately – but for modern cozies, they’re very good.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Second in the series. Meg Langslow and her boyfriend Michael sneak away for a private weekend on the island of Monhegan off the coast of Maine. Unfortunately, her family (and a crowd of birdwatchers) have also decided to spend some time there, and the hurricane strands all of them. When one of the residents turns up dead, everyone is a suspect until Meg & Michael solve the mystery. Good fun!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    When Meg Langslow remembers the family cabin on the island of Monhegan just off the Maine coast, she thinks she's found the perfect place to spend some time alone with her boyfriend, Michael. Unfortunately, the rest of her family also decided that this was the perfect weekend to get away and enjoy the island as well. Making it even worse right now is the island has been overrun with a bunch of bird watchers who came to observe the puffins. Did I forget to mention Hurricane Gladys has decided to visit the area, stranding everyone on the island for the next few days? To further complicate the situation, a local celebrity is found murdered near his home. He wasn't well liked so the list of suspects includes just about everyone on the island, including Meg's dad. Meg knows her dad couldn't have done it, so she sets out searching for a way to exonerate him.

    This is the second book in the Meg Langslow series (after Murder with Peacocks). I thought it was a cute and enjoyable cozy mystery. There are several great plot twists, and the story was humorous and fun to read. I'm not a huge fan of cozy mysteries so I don't know if I will continue the series, but if you are a fan you are bound to enjoy this interesting cast of characters.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    A gift with puffins as its motif was something that I was determined to like but this really stretched my resolve. I like cozies. I particularly like funny cozies. Here was an author whose debut had won a Lefty for funniest mystery. How could it fail? I am unsure where to start the list: the characters, the attempt at humour, or the postmodernism? Our heroine did not engage me. Her litany of complaint about conditions on the island that bounds the 'locked room' of this mystery was indended to amuse but relentless whinging lacks charm and one wonders just how her perfectly tolerant boyfriend bears the burden of her discontent with his own physical discomfort in the cold wet storm that isolates the island and ensures that the murderer cannot leave before she solves the crime. The quirky characteristics of the detective's family are the basis of mere caricatures so they too are unsympathetic and the other suspects are even more shallowly drawn. When the author is not trying to amuse the reader with funny behaviour she resorts to the kind of postmodernist tricks that usually delight me: the detective's father adores murder mystery stories and alludes to devices and specific tales; a shockingly inept biographer reveals part of the plot of the mystery; within this story of a family is an author of a series of books about a family. Any of these would entertain me were they introduced with more delicacy. Indeed, everything happens too abruptly here. Even the identification of the murderer is sudden and otherwise unremarkable. The sum of these effects and anachronisms like amazement at the functionality of a digital camera in what appears to be contemporary America is an appearance of authorial carelessness. And such lack of care is a waste of a fine plot and an inherently interesting setting. Rather than read another novel in this series I will wait for the next Agatha Raisin and find a book about island birdwatching.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This murder mystery book was quite entertaining, but was not very suspenseful. The story has many twists and turns that keeps the reader wanting to find out more, though.

    The overall story is interesting; Meg wants a romantic getaway but ends up being stuck in an island because of a hurricane in a cottage with her family, and she ends up investigating the death of a person who everyone disliked which thus leads to her finding out some secrets of her family and the locals.

    The characters in the story (a total of about 20) are realistic and they have much dialogue throughout the story.

    I really liked how the reader learns more about the dead person at the same time that Meg and Michael are investigating the murder.

    The book is quite humorous especially with the each chapters' title which make reference to puffins and relevancy to the what is going to occur in each chapter (es. The Puffin Who Knew Too Much).

    I also liked how there was some inclusion of realistic aspects and scenarios for the character of Meg. By this I mean that the author included instances of Meg thinking of her relationship with Michael and her femininity. This made the story veer off topic for a second, but it added interest to the story nonetheless.

    Overall, this book is a nice and quick mystery read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the second book in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series. We rejoin Meg as she tries to escape the fame that has come with solving a murder and trying to find time alone with her boyfriend Michael. So she decides to whisk them away to her Aunt Phoebe's summer home on Monhegan Island, Maine since it is past the summer season and should be fairly quiet. However when she gets there, she finds her parents, brother, aunt, and family friend; a ton of birders roaming around; and a hurricane about to hit the island. If that wasn't enough, she and Michael then find the body of a man that many on the island aren't too sad about his passing. So much for a romantic getaway.

    I enjoyed this book. Meg has plenty of gumption and just goes after the answers. I didn't know the killer until the end which always makes me happy, and the story resolved itself nicely, included the few little side mysteries thrown in. One of my favorite parts though, wasn't necessarily the story though, it was the chapter titles. The titles use songs, other book titles and the like, and replaces a key word with puffin(s). I found it fun trying to figure out what the title was alluding to. For instance, the first chapter is titled 'My Puffin Lies Over the Oean'. I'm sure most can figure out that reference.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    After the chaos of the summer (weddings, peacocks and murder among other things, chronicled in Murder with Peacocks) Meg Langslow and her boyfriend Michael are desperate for some time and space to themselves. Meg suggests they go to the island of Monhegan off the coast of Maine, where her Aunt Phoebe has a summer cottage and Meg has an open invitation. There might not be any electricity and it is no longer exactly summer, but that should just help insure they get some peace and quiet. Meg couldn't be more wrong. They arrive along with a coming hurricane to find the island swarming with bird watchers - and Meg's parents (back from their honeymoon in Europe), her brother Rod, Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Phoebe's friend Mrs Fenniman. The cottage is already full and Michael ends up sharing a room with Rod while Meg gets the sofa. So much for a romantic getaway. Things only get worse after Meg and Michael find themselves in a confrontation with local artist Victor Resnick, who take potshots at them when they stray onto his land. They soon discover no-one on Monhegan likes Resnick and he likes no-one in return. This includes Meg's parents, since her mother knew him when she spent summers on the island as a teenager and local gossip has it that Meg's father is intensely jealous of this. Then the hurricane hits, the island is cut off, Meg's father and Aunt Phoebe go AWOL at the height of the storm and when Meg and Michael go looking for her father the next morning they find Resnick instead, face down in a tidal pool and quite, quite dead. Meg's father is immediately considered a suspect and when Meg and Michael find a draft of a horribly purple prosed biography of Resnick that implies he had an affair with Meg's mother when she was only fifteen, things look even worse. Meg takes it upon herself to solve the case, clear her father and save her mother's reputation, all before the hurricane abates enough for the ferry to start running again and the mainland authorities can arrive. Like its predecessor, this book was wonderfully fun to read. Meg is a great character, her family remains totally insane and Michael puts up with them all with great grace. Andrews has had much fun with the chapter titles, taking known titles and sayings and substituting "puffin" in there somewhere. Examples include "A Long Day's Journey into Puffin" and "Zen and the Art of Puffin Maintenance". My main reservation is that as I approached the end, I began to feel that the focus on the book was much more on the detection than on the solution. Working out who did it suddenly seemed to take about thirty seconds, and any following confrontation with the murderer seemed anti-climatic, as if it was just a side issue. Indeed, the book didn't end there, since it was now more important for Meg and Michael to discover the author of the awful Resnick biography and find a way to hush up any potential scandal. All of which they manage of course, even if some of their methods are far from conventional. That said, this is still a very fun book to read. I thoroughly enjoyed going along for the ride with Meg and Michael and I look forward to their further adventures.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Meg and Michael want some time alone, so Meg drags him to her aunt’s cottage on a closeby island. The ferry ride over was quite rough, but then, a hurricane is coming. Their alone time is but a faraway dream when they discover that the expected deserted cottage is already overrun by unexpected relatives, including her vacationing parents who returned home early. The island is also overrun by hoards of birders. When an unpopular resident of the island is found dead, it’s either death by misadventure or perhaps even murder. The book is a hoot with charming chapter titles, and with Meg and Michael off to find out what really happened, all while dealing with her quirky relatives. There is plenty of humor, even if romance is hard to come by in this second installment of this fun series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another charming Meg Langslow mystery. In Murder with Puffins Meg and Michael find their romantic diversion interrupted by a hurricane, the unexpected company of family, an island full of enthusiastic bird watchers, and an inconvenient murder. I really enjoyed Andrew's book for her protagonist - I like Meg for her flaws and realism, and can really relate to the role she plays in terms of family dynamics. My one quibble is that the book is a bit dated; the amazement inspired by and attention focused on digital cameras is a bit much. However, it is ultimately a very small detail, and the book as a whole is very enjoyable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Murder With Puffins finds Meg Langslow and her boyfriend Michael on a ferry off the coast of Maine, headed toward her aunt’s cottage on the island of Monhegan. They are crippled by seasickness – and no wonder! The huge swells in the ocean are due to an approaching hurricane. The couple hopes for some time alone, but when their queasy journey ends and they arrive at the cabin, they find Meg’s family is already there. And of course, before too long there’s a murder on the island.

    This is a perfectly respectable cozy; Meg’s voice is wryly humorous and the setting creates its own tension, filled as it is with bad weather and eccentric birders and islanders. With the exception of Meg’s father, her family members seem to have lost a little of the quirkiness that delighted readers of Murder With Peacocks, and narrator Bernadette Dunne gives Meg’s Virginia mother the voice of a Minnesota housewife. To be fair, if I hadn’t read the first book in the series, I wouldn’t even be considering these things; in fact, this could easily be a standalone. No need to read #1 first. Book and narrator both rate four stars.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I will be 100% honest. I couldn't finish this book. I couldn't suspend reality high enough to believe anything about Murder with Puffins. It's not the author's fault in the least. I just know too much about Monhegan Island. I know for a fact no one would make the trek out to this remote island without making sure they have a place to stay, especially in the off-season. Everything is extremely limited so it's not like you can pivot easily if your original plans don't work out. It's not as simple as hopping back on the boat either. Meg and Michael are looking for a romantic hideaway and they chose Meg's aunt's cabin on Monhegan. It is supposed to stand empty at this dismal, rainy time of year. Except this time Meg parents, brother, neighbor and aunt are all in residence. How could Meg not know that? The island is crawling with birders so there isn't a single room available elsewhere... Then there is the islander who scares people off with shotguns and winds up dead. Someone Meg's father is accused of murder and it's up to Meg to clear his name. It's a fun story. I couldn't concentrate on the entertainment of it all because reality kept getting in the way. Oh well.