Product Description

Winner of the St. Martin's Malice Domestic Award in 1997 for her first work Murder With Peacocks, Donna Andrews brings back her zany characters and disastrous events.In an attempt to get away from her family, Meg and her boyfriend go to a tiny island off the coast of Maine. What could have been a romantic getaway slowly turns into disaster. Once there, they are marooned by a hurricane and that is only the beginning of their problems. Meg and her boyfriend arrive at the house only to discover that Meg's parents and siblings, along with their spouses are all there. When a murder takes place, Meg realizes that she and her boyfriend can no longer sit by a cozy fireplace, but must instead tramp around the muddy island to keep try and clear her father who is the chief suspect.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #508079 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

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

From School Library Journal
YA-Meg Langslow and her boyfriend take a ferry to an island off the coast of Maine to share a quiet, romantic weekend together. Instead, they arrive during a pre-hurricane storm and find most of her family staying in what should have been her aunt's empty summer cottage. With the ferry cancelled and the tempest upon them, they all try to make the best of several uncomfortable situations: the weather, cramped quarters, coping with the many birders who are also stranded on the island, and everyone's anger at the island's resident artist, Victor Resnick. When his body is found in a tidal pool, Meg focuses her sleuthing skills on finding the murderer, a wet and slippery proposition as the storm rages on. Andrews creates a host of quirky individuals, complete with intense birders and cranky curmudgeons. Her sense of humor adds a lot to the novel, with one-liners and situations guaranteed to bring a smile. Built on the plot lines of a traditional "cozy" style of mystery, the story wends its way to a satisfying ending, treating readers to an entertaining cast of characters in an interesting locale.
Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Meg Langslow is back for another loony adventure in the latest installment of Andrews' bird series. Although the author's dry humor and offbeat characters are much more entertaining than her mystery plots, enough happens in these stories to hold readers' interest. This time Meg and her boyfriend, Michael, head to the remote island of Monhegan, off the coast of Maine. Meg's hopes for a romantic interlude are blown away when a hurricane hits the island. Compounding matters, she discovers that her entire family is staying at the normally empty family cottage, and the island is being overrun by birdwatchers. The final blow comes when one of Meg's mother's old beaus is found murdered, making Meg's father a suspect. As Meg and Michael investigate, they learn a great deal about the colorful inhabitants of Monhegan--both human and avian. The puffin angle proves very amusing, especially as it is manifested in the character of Rhapsody, a weird children's book author who writes about the "Happy Puffin Family." An enjoyable flight of fancy. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

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.

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 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.