[.ca] Murder With Puffins: A Meg Langslow Mystery (ISBN 0312939574)

From Amazon.com:
Meg Langslow and her boyfriend Michael want to be alone, but fate's conspired to make it all but impossible. Meg takes her aunt Phoebe up on an invitation to spend an Indian summer weekend at Phoebe's supposedly empty cottage on the coast of Maine. Braving a hurricane and a horde of determined birdwatchers, they make the last ferry to Monhegan Island, only to find their plans to be alone dashed by the unexpected appearance of Meg's entire family, including Aunt Phoebe. To make matters worse, a famous and slightly megalomaniacal sculptor, who may have been Meg's mother's lover years ago, has taken up residence on the island. When he's killed in an accident that turns out to be murder, Meg's sweet, slightly dotty father is fingered as the suspect. The elusive puffin, revered by bird lovers and captured in kitsch by an island artist named Rhapsody, is the leitmotif in this charming cozy, the second outing in author Donna Andrews's series. The first book, Murder with Peacocks, won the Agatha Award for the best first traditional mystery. Murder with Puffins is a bit short on drama and suspense, though long on charm. Meg and Michael are appealing, but the minor characters, especially Meg's parents and the colorful island locals, are infinitely more interesting. --Jane Adams

One Puffin Too Many:
In general, I am not a fan of the 'cozy' mystery story. No offense intended, but my taste runs to dark fiction, horror, and other equally bleak genre. However, every once in a while, an uncontrollable fit comes over me, and only the lighter side of the mystery world will do. The 'cozy' is my way of escaping my normal fare without turning my back on murder and mayhem. No doubt a form of having my cake and eating it too. In pursuit of these sudden urges, I recently discovered Donna Andrew's stories about Meg Langslow and her romantic partner Michael Waterston, and have been keeping 'Murder with Puffins' on hand for just such an emergency. Meg and Michael are also trying to escape, in their case they are trying to get away from their charming but eccentric families and friends. Meg takes advantage of a standing offer and heads off with Michael to Monhegan, a semi-civilized island off the coast of Maine. What they did not count on was finding that the entire Langslow clan has independently arrived at the same idea. Upon arriving on the island, Meg discovers that she has fled the frying pan for the fire. True to form, in the middle of a chaos concocted of a mass of birdwatchers, an equal number of Langslows, and a hurricane, the most unpopular person on the island dies in mysterious (and inconvenient) circumstances. Since one of the possible suspects is Meg's father, our two intrepid vacationers thrust themselves hip deep in an investigation that leads them to every quirk and secret Monhegan contains. Nor does it help that the weather has made communication with the outside world impossible. One of Andrew's admirable traits it that all her characters seem to have some level of native intelligence. They may be weird, suspicious or inexplicable, but they generally can indulge in repartee and make the occasional quip. Even the lesser lights are not completely dim. Thus, her stories are comedies of manners, not simple burlesques. Her plots move along lightly, and she manages to avoid the sins of over-writing. All of which creates a very pleasant entertainment, and explains why the author has enjoyed immediate acceptance and received several notable awards. Whether you are addicted to this genre, or are, like me, an occasional visitor, you will find this series excellent reading. While 'Murder with Puffins' will not suffer from being read out of order (it is the second in the series), I still think it best to start at the beginning with 'Murder with Peacocks.' Take my advice and read them all.

Murder and Mayhem off the Coast of Maine:
All Meg wanted was a quiet weekend alone with her boyfriend Michael. She thought she'd hit the perfect solution when she remembered the family cabin on the island of Monhegan. When they arrive, however, they find that the island is in the path of hurricane Gladys. Furthermore, her family has also decided get away for a few days. Trapped in the small cabin with her family on an island full of stranded birdwatchers, Meg and Michael try to make the best of it. Then a local celebrity is found murdered near his house. His list of enemies includes most of the island, but Meg's dad is the chief suspect. Now, Meg is searching the rain soaked island for clues, hoping she can clear her dad before the real killer leaves when the ferry resumes after the storm. While I enjoyed the first book in this series, I loved this one. The plot is more focused here. It starts out slowly, but once the body is found, things quickly get moving. There are several great plot twists, and the story reaches a satisfying conclusion. Yet, the book is still filled with the humor that made the first fun to read. And the characters are alive and interesting as well. Anyone looking for a fun, light-hearted mystery need look no further then this series. I'm already planning my next visit with Meg and her family and hope to enjoy many more to come.

Murder Most Fowl:
Meg and new boyfriend Michael are trying to have a romantic getaway in the 2nd book of this series. What goes wrong? Well, first they get seasick, end up in the middle of a hurricane, get stranded on their island destination with Meg's family, and then stumble upon a corpse. In true Meg fashion, everything that can go wrong does go wrong. This book was funny and contained a large list of zany characters. Like the first book in the series, there are many, many suspects and Meg's dad appears to be the lead suspect. Also like the first book, I felt that there was too much information and too many suspects to sift through them all. I liked the comedy, but I hope in future books Meg's dad is featured more as a help to solving the case rather than a suspect. This book (and series) are great for a vacation read or a long day at the beach. The first book in the series is "Murder with Peacocks". Enjoy!

Disappointing second for Donna Andrews:
I so much enjoyed "Murder with Peacocks" that I had high hopes for "Puffins," but was disappointed from top to bottom. It was a meandering, plotless story, lacking utterly in the humor, romance, excitement, and pace of the first. The characters were as drab as the setting. The writing felt self-conscious; the dilemmas were tepid; worst of all, Michael totally lost his spark. He was not believable as a male -- or even as much of a person. Pretty much a sidekick dishrag. He was so endearing in "Peacocks!" I only bothered to finish it because I was up feeding the baby anyway. Was this a rush job? And the attemps to "puffinize" the book with cutesy puffin titles were embarrassing.

Disappointing Sequel:
I was truly disappointed in this second book in the Meg Langslow series. I really enjoyed the first one and, while I enjoyed this one as well, there were two things that disappointed me; one, the motive for the murder just did not wash with me. I cannot see anyone murdering someone for the reason given. And two, the manner in which the murderer is actually caught is almost ludicrous. I cannot imagine the policemen missing such an obvious thing. Then, after the murderer is captured, the police continue searching for him (you will understand what I mean when you read the book). So, while this book is enjoyable and recommendable, I have to say that I will hesitate on buying the next one in the series.