[.ca] Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon: A Meg Langslow Mystery (ISBN 0312277318)

Rob Gets His Game Going - To Murder:
Meg's brother Rob has been trying to make money off the role playing game he invented for years. He's finally formed Mutant Wizards and released it as a computer game, to great success. Now he's hard at work on the sequel in a new, larger office. But something is going on just below the surface. Rob is worried, so he asks Meg to investigate. Since she's just hurt her hand and can't work as a blacksmith, she agrees. After two weeks, she's done nothing but fill in for the receptionist and help them move into the new office space they share with a group of therapists. But then Ted, the office practical joker, turns up dead on the mail cart. He was a pain, but he was harmless, right? When Rob is hauled off for the crime, Meg leaps into action to give the police other suspects, turning up quite a few secrets in the process. This is the fourth adventure for Meg. This one didn't feel quite as funny to me as the others, possibly because many of the supporting players from the first three weren't here for the main action. There were still many amusing things along the way, however. For example, the "affirmation bear" had me laughing every time it showed up. The mystery plot is stronger here then others in the series, with quite a few unexpected revelations and a very nice twist at the end. A couple personal sub-plots keep things interesting as well. Everything comes together for a great climax that had me laughing and turning pages as fast as I could to find out what would happen next. While those looking for the continued hijinks of Meg's eccentric family will be slightly disappointed with this book, there is still much to recommend it. I enjoyed every page and found the book over all too fast. Here's to many more entertaining adventures with Meg and her family and friends.

Love the Birds!:
I was lucky enough to chance upon Ms. Andrews first book-"Murder With Peacocks"- when it was first published, and have eagerly awaited Meg and company's new adventures each time one comes out. My Hubby thinks I have lost my mind when I shake the bed with laughter while reading and re-reading these books at night! Since I am allowed to share a house with Spike's feline equavalent, I really enjoy his contributions to the story and his help in resolving the mystery. I keep asking my Katie-Kittie why other pets write best sellers or inspire them and all she does is be a Cat. I enjoyed the "Buzzard and Loon" greatly and hope the next installment of Meg's chronicle relates the adventures of the restoration of the spooky mansion and it's contents. Don't make us wait too long!!!!

I think this is the best yet in the Meg Langslow series...:
You shouldn't read this book anyplace where you will be embarrassed to burst out laughing. The Affirmation Bears are side-splittingly funny, in my opinion, and the author has such a funny way of stating things and such funny situations. Imagine what she does with a computer game company (the hero-detective's brother's) sharing office space with therapists -- she manages to poke gentle fun that is nevertheless laugh out loud funny at both groups. The description of the computer people (almost all men) painstakingly picking vegetables off their pizza or the competing ideologies of the therapists (one, for example, is a weight-acceptance therapist, whereas another specializes in eating disorder) are examples of the humor that will make people in these professions laugh at themselves. The plot takes a lot of suspension of disbelief, but is still well-done. Basically, there's something very odd going on in this new computer game company ("Lawyers from Hell" is the game) and Meg has been asked by her brother to try to figure out what's going on. She has to take a break from blacksmithing because she injured her hand, so she's trying to manage the wacky office. Not far into the story, one of the computer folk is murdered, and her brother is suspected of the crime -- so she must find out enough to get her brother off the hook. I highly recommend this book -- it's one of the funniest mysteries I've read, and I can hardly wait to read the next in the series. I might even buy the hardback...

Great Fun:
Meg is working for her brother to help him figure out what is wrong at his new company. As her brother wanders around doing his 'kung fu' imitation, a man is found dead. The police are not looking for other suspects and this leaves Meg to do the research. From getting knocked out by a moose head, feeding a buzzard, a vet covered in tattoos, and more- this is a funny book. Well worth reading. I think this is maybe on of her best books. Enjoy.

Funny, with a good insight in programming culture:
When her brother asks her to help him sort out the problems in his computer game company, Meg Langslow thinks it is the \oplain\c version of Lawyers from Hell causing the problems, but the dead man on the robotic mail delivery system is far more serious--especially when the police tag her brother as the primary suspect. Knowing that the police are unlikely to look past their first catch, Meg decides to investigate on her own. But every time she tries a late-night investigation at the company, she runs into gaming programmers, psychologists having affairs, and others behaving badly. An assortment of animals--including the pack of dogs that the programmers bring to work and a one-winged buzzard, along with a strange animal-loving motorcycle hood and hints of blackmail complicate the plot and give Meg fits as she tries to sort out what is really important. An excitng and wacky conclusion adds to an amusing and surprisingly thoughtful read. Author Donna Andrews nails the strange chemistry of a group of programmers struggling to create lives for themselves even as they survive a death-march toward product deployment. Meg is an entertaining character, thoughtful enough to be sympathetic, but with more curiosity than common sense. Although the ultimate killer is not especially hard to guess, in CROUCHING BUZZARD, LEAPING LOON, at least, getting to the conclusion is where the fun is. And this novel is a lot of fun.