Six Geese A-Slaying: A Meg Langslow Christmas Mystery (Meg Langslow Mysteries)

From Publishers Weekly Bah, humbug! In the 10th entry in Andrews's fine-feathered cozy series ( Cockatiels at Seven , etc.), Meg Langslow is having a tough enough time trying to organize the Christmas parade, with its Twelve Days of Christmas theme, in Caerphilly, Va. Then someone drives a stake through the heart of Santa, played by grouchy Ralph Doleson, who hates children and animals (and no, he's not a vampire). Finding the killer who could totally spoil Christmas becomes number one priority for perky amateur sleuth Meg. Suspects include protesting members of SPOOR (Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors), six of whose members are playing geese in the parade, a local woman whom Doleson may have been blackmailing and a nosy Washington Tribune reporter. Though Andrews strains for humorous effect at times and the revelation of whodunit may strike some readers as far-fetched, fans will enjoy catching up with old friends among the regular cast of characters. (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Fans of comic cozies who have never read Andrews’ Meg Langslow mysteries have a real treat in store. This tenth book in the award-winning series takes place in Meg’s rural home-town, Caerphilly, Virginia. In fact, it takes place primarily in Meg’s backyard, the mustering point for the annual holiday parade. The theme this year is “The Twelve Days of Christmas” (hence the six geese), but tribute is also paid to other holidays, including the Hindu Festival of Lights. All seems to be going as well as can be expected, given Meg’s zany family, friends, and assorted animals, when her young nephew whispers, “Something’s wrong with Santa.” Indeed, something is very wrong, and it’s up to parade organizer Meg and police chief Burke (who was one of the camel-riding wise men) to figure out who murdered the old curmudgeon. It seems that while Ralph Doleson may have looked like Santa, his personality led to far more enemies than friends. Lots of silly but infectious humor and just enough mystery. --Judy Coon

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Meg and Michael’s house is serving as the marshaling point for the annual Caerphilly holiday parade. The theme is “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and it features twelve drummers from the school marching band, eleven bagpipers, ten leaping lords costumed in medieval finery from the college drama department, and so on. There are also assorted floats, a live nativity scene on a flatbed truck, the Three Wise Men on Caerphilly zoo camels, and Santa in a bright red horse-drawn sleigh. As organizer, Meg’s job is already hard enough. But when her nephew Eric, wide-eyed and ashen-faced, whispers, “something’s wrong with Santa,” things take a tragic turn. Turns out the local curmudgeon, whose beard and belly made him a natural for the role, has been murdered. Now it’s up to Meg and Chief Burke, who is playing one of the wise men, to tackle a two-fold mission: Solving the murder and saving Christmas…

“Fans will enjoy [this] entry in Andrews’s fine-feathered series.”—Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly

Bah, humbug! In the 10th entry in Andrews's fine-feathered cozy series (Cockatiels at Seven, etc.), Meg Langslow is having a tough enough time trying to organize the Christmas parade, with its Twelve Days of Christmas theme, in Caerphilly, Va. Then someone drives a stake through the heart of Santa, played by grouchy Ralph Doleson, who hates children and animals (and no, he's not a vampire). Finding the killer who could totally spoil Christmas becomes number one priority for perky amateur sleuth Meg. Suspects include protesting members of SPOOR (Stop Poisoning Our Owls and Raptors), six of whose members are playing geese in the parade, a local woman whom Doleson may have been blackmailing and a nosy Washington Tribune reporter. Though Andrews strains for humorous effect at times and the revelation of whodunit may strike some readers as far-fetched, fans will enjoy catching up with old friends among the regular cast of characters. (Nov.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

In Six Geese A-Slaying, Donna Andrews fans delivers another zany Meg Langslow mystery---this one filled with outrageous Christmas spirit...and mayhem.Meg and Michael's house is serving as the marshaling point for the annual Caerphilly Christmas parade. The theme is "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and it features twelve drummers from the school marching band, eleven bagpipers, ten leaping lords costumed in medieval finery from the college drama department, etc. There are also assorted Christmas-themed floats, a live nativity scene on a flatbed truck, the Three Wise Men on Caerphilly zoo camels, and Santa Claus in a bright red horse-drawn sleigh (eight reindeer were beyond the zoo's scope).Meg has been volunteered to organize the parade, which is to proceed from her house to the local campus, where Santa will take up residence to hear the Christmas wishes of the town's children. Of course, getting all the camels, pipers, leapers, and drummers in order is proving every bit as difficult as Meg feared it would be. Then her nephew Eric, wide-eyed and ashen-faced, whispers, "Meg, something's wrong with Santa."The local curmudgeon, whose beard and belly made him a natural for the role, has been murdered. Now Meg and Chief Burke, who is playing one of the wise men, are faced with the two-fold mission of solving the murder and saving Christmas! The local curmudgeon, whose beard and belly made him a natural for the role of Santa Claus, has been murdered. Now Meg and Chief Burke, who is playing one of the wise men in the annual Caerphilly Christmas parade, are faced with the two-fold mission of solving the murder and saving Christmas! Meg is in charge of the Christmas Holiday Parade when Santa is murdered. The press is on hand to make things difficult and to complicate matters Santa was a local businessman good at making enemies.