Dashing Through the Snowbirds

May 1, 2022

Lord Bertram Deeley drops dead on a cruise he's organized to his luxurious Luxor home, and guest Lady Emily (an Alexander stalwart) has a horde of suspects--and a link to a millennia-old crime--as she uncovers the Secrets of the Nile (40,000-copy first printing). Delightfully fowl-mouthed best seller Andrews sends readers Dashing Through the Snowbirds as Meg Langslow hosts a group of Canadians forced by a nasty boss to work far from home over Christmas, then investigates when the boss is murdered (40,000-copy first printing). Green takes the reins from the late, formidable Beaton in Devil's Delight, with Agatha Raisin and colleague Toni encountering a young man who claims hysterically that he has stumbled upon a dead body near the Mircester Naturist Club, though no body can be found (75,000-copy first printing). In Haines's Bones of Holly, effervescent private eye Sarah Booth Delaney and colleague Tinkie head to Bay St. Louis, MS, to judge the annual library tree-decorating contest with two rivalrous authors, one of whom soon disappears (40,000-copy first printing). In the New York Times best-selling McKinlay's The Plot and the Pendulum, library director Lindsey Norris unearths a skeleton at the Dorchester family estate, where she is cataloging a huge bequest to the library. In Rosenfelt's latest, Santa's Little Yelpers--a litter of puppies at lawyer Andy Carpenter's dog-rescuing Tara Foundation--are being fostered by volunteer Scott Tillman, formerly imprisoned, who's discovered evidence that would exonerate him of the crime he insists he didn't commit (50,000-copy first printing). From Pinckley Prize-winning Rendon, an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, Sinister Graves brings back young Ojibwe woman Cash Blackbear, who helps her sheriff guardian investigate when the body of an unidentified Indigenous woman is swept into town by ferocious floodwaters.

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August 15, 2022
The run-up to Meg Langslow's latest holiday celebration is complicated by a houseguest who behaves badly, a series of stalkers on her tail, and the fear that Caerphilly, Virginia, won't have a white Christmas. While Mutant Wizards, the tech firm founded by Meg's brother, Rob, is working on the software they're supplying AcerGen, a genealogy-tracing firm founded by Gordon Meredith, several AcerGeners have taken up residence in the house Meg already shares with her husband, drama professor Michael Waterston, their twin sons, and what seems like every relative imaginable, though some of these may just be passing through. Meredith Senior is reputed to be a lovely man, but Ian Meredith, his son and heir apparent, is rude, high-maintenance, and getting sued by Katherine Anne Koenigslutter, a client who claims that AcerGen shared her DNA profile with a predatory half brother who wants half the value of her farm. Also lurking in the shadows is Cyrus Runk, a convicted killer freed on a technicality in which AcerGen was involved. So even though Meg manages to act surprised when her father reveals the ice rink he's been building on the grounds, it's hard to imagine anyone being surprised when Ian, unwittingly one-upping Mutant Wizards' decision to sever its ties with AcerGen, gets fatally attacked on the newly opened ice rink with a hockey stick containing the fingerprints of Cyrus Runk. The few and obvious suspects have to fight for attention with the regulars who vastly outnumber them. Despite the avian title, the seasonal guest of honor is the very pregnant ginger tabby cat who's taken up residence in a local church's creche. Andrews' sturdy formula shows distinct signs of wear. Merry Christmas anyway.

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August 15, 2022
A cold and snowy Christmas season is in full swing in Agatha Award winner Andrews’s lively 32nd Meg Langslow mystery (after Round Up the Usual Peacocks), with every corner of Meg’s large Victorian house in Caerphilly, Va., festooned with evergreen garlands, red bows, and cheery baubles, courtesy of her indefatigable mother. In addition to the large extended family, Meg is also playing host to 11 Canadian employees of AcerGen, a Toronto “wannabe Ancestry.com” and their boss, arrogant and slovenly Ian Meredith. Meg must cater to the whims of the Canadians for the sake of her brother Rob, whose company, Mutant Wizards, has landed a lucrative contract to revamp the AcerGen website now that they have expanded into home DNA testing. When Ian is murdered, credible suspects pop up around every corner: dissatisfied and possibly dangerous clients, stalkers, and disgruntled employees. Andrews does a masterly job juggling all the elements of the plausible plot and fills it with entertaining red herrings. As usual, it’s the well-drawn and amusing cast of characters, including some fine dogs and cats, that’s the main draw. Readers will hope Meg has many more adventures to come. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary.

October 1, 2022
Christmas is fast approaching, and Meg Landslow is hosting a dozen Canadians from AcerGen, a genealogy company working with Mutant Wizards, Meg's brother's company, to develop an updated website. Unfortunately, AcerGen's president, Ian Meredith, is an obnoxious jerk and a sexual harasser, who also takes shortcuts in his business dealings. To protect Mutant Wizards' reputation, the board takes steps to terminate the contract, but then Ian is murdered, and there is no shortage of suspects, including his downtrodden employees, his harassment victims, and customers whose privacy was compromised by his company. Meg's investigation is easy this time as the suspects keep showing up at her house looking for Ian, until she is kidnapped by the culprit. A pregnant cat, her father's Christmas surprise, preparations for the holidays, and a snowstorm complicate Meg's life in this satisfying entry in Andrews' long-running series. The quirky characters and the strong sense of community will appeal to readers of Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity cozies.

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