From Publishers Weekly
In Agatha and Anthony-winner Andrews's fourth wacky bird-themed mystery (Murder with Peacocks, etc.), Meg Langslow, a temporary switchboard operator at her brother Rob's computer-game company, Mutant Wizards, must find the real killer when Rob, who made his fortune from a game called Lawyers from Hell, is accused of strangling the office pest to death with a computer mouse cable. Keeping exposition to a minimum, the author lets crackling dialogue propel the plot. The office boasts a menagerie of remarkable pets, notably George, a buzzard with only one wing who has a perch by Meg's desk. There's a smile on nearly every page and at least one chuckle per chapter. The denouement may stretch credibility, but getting there is such fun it scarcely matters.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"There's a smile on every page."--Publishers Weekly
"This may be the funniest installment of Andrews' wonderfully wacky series yet."--Romantic Times
Review
"There's a smile on every page."--Publishers Weekly
"This may be the funniest installment of Andrews' wonderfully wacky series yet."--Romantic Times
Review
"There's a smile on every page."--Publishers Weekly
"This may be the funniest installment of Andrews' wonderfully wacky series yet."--Romantic Times
Book Description
Poor Meg Langslow. She’s blessed in so many ways. Michael, her boyfriend, is a handsome, delightful heartthrob who adores her. She’s a successful blacksmith, known for her artistic wrought-iron creations. But somehow Meg’s road to contentment is more rutted and filled with potholes than seems fair.
There are Michael’s and Meg’s doting but demanding mothers, for a start. And then there’s the fruitless hunt for a place big enough for the couple to live together. And a succession of crises brought on by the well-meaning but utterly wacky demands of her friends and family. Demands that Meg has a hard time refusing---which is why she’s tending the switchboard of Mutant Wizards, where her brother’s computer games are created, and handling all the office management problems that no one else bothers with. For companionship, besides a crew of eccentric techies, she has a buzzard with one wing---who she must feed frozen mice thawed in the office microwave---and Michael’s mother’s nightmare dog. Not to mention the psychotherapists who refuse to give up their lease on half of the office space, and whose conflicting therapies cause continuing dissension. This is not what Meg had in mind when she agreed to help her brother move his staff to new offices.
In fact, the atmosphere is so consistently loony that the office mail cart makes several passes through the reception room, with the office practical joker lying on top of it pretending to be dead, before Meg realizes that he’s become the victim of someone who wasn’t joking at all. He’s been murdered for real.
Donna Andrews’s debut book, Murder with Peacocks, won the St. Martin’s Malice Domestic best first novel contest and reaped a harvest of other honors as well. This is the fourth book in the Meg Langslow series, which features the intrepid Meg and her cast of oddball relatives. Their capers are a lighthearted joy to read.
From the Back Cover
Donna Andrews has won...
The Agatha
The Anthony
The Barry
The Malice Domestic Award
for...
Murder With Peacocks,
the first novel in her bird-themed mystery series
Now, more feathers are about to fly in. . .
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
As a favor to her brother, Meg agrees to tend the switchboard at his computer game company Mutant Wizards. For companionship, besides a crew of eccentric techies, she has a buzzard with one wing and her boyfriend's mother's nightmare dog. Not to mention the psychotherapists who refuse to give up their lease on half of the office space. This is not what Meg had in mind when she agreed to help her brother move his staff to new offices.
In fact, the atmosphere is so consistently loony that the office mail cart makes several passes through the reception room, with the office practical joker lying on top of it pretending to be dying, before Meg realizes that he's become the victim of someone who wasn't joking at all. He's been murdered for real. Now Meg has to play out one dangerous scenario to find out who's guilty-before a cold-blooded murderer ends her game for keeps.
About the Author
Donna Andrews is the author of three previous books featuring Meg Langslow. She lives in Reston, Virginia, near Washington, D.C.
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Poor Meg Langslow. She's blessed in so many ways. Michael, her boyfriend, is a handsome, delightful heartthrob who adores her. She's a successful blacksmith, known for her artistic wrought-iron creations. But somehow Meg's road to contentment is more rutted and filled with patches than seems fair." "There are Michael's and Meg's doting but demanding mothers, for a start. And then there's the fruitless hunt for a place big enough for the couple to live together. And a succession of crises brought on by the well-meaning but utterly wacky demands of her friends and family. Demands that Meg has a hard time refusing - which is why she's tending the switchboard of Mutant Wizards, where her brother's computer games are created, and handling all the office management problems that no one else bothers with. For companionship, besides a crew of eccentric techies, she has a buzzard with one wing - who she must feed frozen mice thawed in the office microwave - and Michael's mother's nightmare dog. Not to mention the psychotherapists who refuse to give up their lease on half of the office space, and who conflicting therapies cause continuing dissension. This is not what Meg had in mind when she agreed to help her brother move his staff into new offices." In fact, the atmosphere is so consistently loony that the office mail cart makes several passes through the reception room, with the office practical joker lying on top of it pretending to be dead, before Meg realizes that he's become the victim of someone who wasn't joking at all. He's been murdered for real.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
In Agatha and Anthony-winner Andrews's fourth wacky bird-themed mystery (Murder with Peacocks, etc.), Meg Langslow, a temporary switchboard operator at her brother Rob's computer-game company, Mutant Wizards, must find the real killer when Rob, who made his fortune from a game called Lawyers from Hell, is accused of strangling the office pest to death with a computer mouse cable. Keeping exposition to a minimum, the author lets crackling dialogue propel the plot. The office boasts a menagerie of remarkable pets, notably George, a buzzard with only one wing who has a perch by Meg's desk. There's a smile on nearly every page and at least one chuckle per chapter. The denouement may stretch credibility, but getting there is such fun it scarcely matters. (Feb. 10) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Bereft of her drama teacher sweetie, off filming a TV series, blacksmith/amateur sleuth Meg Langslow (Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingoes, 2001, etc.) has gone undercover as an office manager at her brother Rob's suburban Virginia software firm because he thinks something's fishy. But it's hard to imagine how things could be any fishier than the normal routine at Mutant Wizards, whose regulars include a programmer dressed as a police officer; a system administrator who's running a porn site off the company's hardware; a disgruntled ex-employee, a tattooed biker, and a rabid fan of Rob's program, "Lawyers from Hell," who seem to have the office staked out for unrelated reasons; a system administrator who's stalking Meg personally; half a dozen leftover psychotherapists who refuse to vacate their offices; and an Irish wolfhound, a pair of St. Bernards, and a one-winged buzzard. In fact, the only reason Meg doesn't notice that office wag Ted Corrigan's corpse has been dumped on the automated mail cart that keeps going past her desk at reception is that Ted had been playing dead all morning. The plot ought to thicken with the news that the office jokester was the office blackmailer, but Andrews is too busy cracking gorgeous jokes to develop any of the suspects, or most of their secrets; the star of the wildly over-the-top finale could have been any of a dozen faceless lunatics. Even so, Andrews is unlikely ever to find a setting better suited to her brand of frantically inventive farce than Silicon Valley East.
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