The gift of the magpie A Meg Langslow mystery

Donna Andrews

Book - 2020

"Meg's running Caerphilly's Helping Hands for the Holidays project, in which neighbors help each other with things they can't do and can't afford to have done. Her hopes for a relatively peaceful (if busy) Christmas vanish when someone murders Harvey the Hoarder, whose house the Helping Hands were decluttering. Was there any truth to the rumor that he had something valuable hidden beneath all his junk? Was one of his friends, neighbors, or relatives greedy enough to murder him for the rumored treasure? And what about the magpie that has been bringing her family bits of tinsel and costume jewelry - does the bird's latest gift hold a clue to solving the crime?"--Provided by publisher.

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Subjects
Genres
Humorous fiction
Mystery fiction
Detective and mystery fiction
Christmas fiction
Published
New York : Minotaur Books 2020.
Language
English
Main Author
Donna Andrews (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
291 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781250760128
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

With Christmas fast approaching, Meg Langslow's house is full of visiting relatives, and she is in charge of Caerphilly's Helping Hands for the Holidays, where neighbors volunteer to help those who need assistance with projects, from building a handicapped ramp to finishing a quilt. Their biggest challenge to date is to declutter hoarder Harvey Dunlop's home before the authorities move in in response to the complaints from his neighbors and the feigned concern of his cousins. The project is progressing well when Meg finds Harvey in his garage, badly injured. Meg and the other volunteers are saddened when Harvey dies, convinced he was in the process of turning his life around. Suspects include Harvey's neighbors, his cousins, and a woman who claims to be Harvey's girlfriend. Meg assists Chief Burke with his investigation, and, with the support of friends and family, she uncovers the killer. Framed by the warmth of the holiday season, this satisfying entry in the long-running cozy series delights with humor, familiar quirky characters, and a Christmas miracle.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

The Christmas spirit suffuses bestseller Andrews's atmospheric 28th Meg Langslow mystery (after The Falcon Always Rings Twice). During the holiday season, Meg is the project manager for Helping Hands, "a sort of Make-A-Wish program for grownups," in Caerphilly, Va. Her volunteers step in to assist citizens with anything that needs doing, including sourcing organic manure and rounding up experienced quilters. The main task at the moment is helping Harvey Dunlop (aka Harvey the Hoarder). Harvey's conniving cousins and rapacious neighbors have filed complaints with the town council about the unkempt appearance of his home. It falls to Meg and her crew to declutter and repair the property. After only one day of packing up debris and possible treasure, Meg arrives to find Harvey lying in a pool of blood on his garage floor. He's rushed to the hospital, where he's declared dead. Never mind the slight murder investigation that ensues. Caerphilly, with its endearing residents, is the kind of place every cozy fan would like to escape to during stressful times. Andrews consistently entertains. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

Ornamental blacksmith/general do-gooder Meg Langslow's Christmas activities entangle her with a fellow resident of Caerphilly, Virginia, whose domestic life is even more chaotic than hers. Unlike Meg, who's surrounded by members of her own cheerfully argumentative family as well as the Shiffleys, Caerphilly's somewhat more benign version of the Snopeses, Harvey Dunlop has chosen to surround himself with stuff--objects of dubious value he can't bring himself to throw out. So Meg, her friend Caroline Willner, Meredith Flugleman of Adult Protective Services, and other concerned members of Helping Hands for the Holidays have banded together to strong-arm, er, help and encourage him to go through his house with a shovel and relocate his treasures to an empty building Randall Shiffley owns in the hope of deep-cleaning the house and then urging Harvey to move on without moving his prized junk back in. Except for the unwelcome appearance of Morris, Ernest, and Josephine Haverhill, the cousins who seem to be Harvey's only living relatives, the preliminaries go well. But when Meg shows up at Harvey's for the main event in the decluttering marathon, her host is unresponsive, brained with a spittoon in his garage. As Harvey hovers between life and death, Meg plunges into his family history to uncover a motive for the murderous attack. Readers patient enough to wait for any mystery, or for that matter any significant conflict, to develop will be rewarded when their own suspicions about whodunit are proved exactly right. Andrews lays on the good cheer with a trowel. Even the rabbi's wife gets a cameo. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.