THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE EMUS by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow is back. This time her grandfather is trying to rescue over 30 feral emu, and a PI friend is trying to track down Meg's long-lost grandmother. His search leads them to the emu situation - and a murder.

I am happy to say this long-running series is still producing fun, well-plotted mysteries. This story was thoroughly enjoyable! I like trying to figure out the murderer, but I did not succeed this time. I did catch another big reveal before it happened so I was at least satisfied with that. This book had a lovely family story as a "side dish" to the main mystery. Fans of this series will be happy with this new chapter in Meg's story. New readers can start here but probably won't enjoy the family pieces as much as those who have been along from the beginning. The entire series is worth a read if you enjoy cozy mysteries.

5 out of 5 stars

New book releases October 21. (It's unusual to get two in one year - it's a bonus treat!)

DUCK THE HALLS by Donna Andrews

A prankster leaves a cage of skunks in the choir loft of the Baptist church just days before Christmas. As cancelling all of their regular weekly events and the Christmas ones isn't an option, Meg and her organizational skills are pressed into service to maintain the schedule at all the area churches that open their doors to help. But the pranks escalate to arson and eventually murder. Meg's on the case, asking questions and keeping her eyes and ears open as she juggles her scheduling responsibilities, her family, and their Christmas festivities. Hopefully she can get to the bottom of things before innocent people go to jail and Christmas is ruined.

As I've already mentioned, I love reading Christmas stories this time of year, and this was a delightful addition to my collection. I literally laughed out loud as I read it. Meg is one of my favorite mystery characters. She has an odd and eccentric family, but she is completely down to earth and relate-able. I was able to figure out the culprit right before Meg did and I enjoyed the sleuthing journey along the way.

Four out of five stars

If you've never read a Meg Langslow mystery, I think you can follow the story pretty well if you start here. Some of the family relationships and quirks might mystify you. If so, go back and read the whole series - it's a delight! You can read some reviews of other books in the series here.