Cockatiels at Seven

Meg Langslow Mysteries, Book 9

By: Donna Andrews

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

When her old friend Karen drops by with her two-year-old son, Meg Langslow reluctantly agrees to babysit. But when night falls, the toddler is still in residence, and Karen isn't answering her phone. Concerned, Meg spends the next morning retracing her friend's steps - and what she discovers makes her begin to suspect that Karen has either been killed or kidnapped or is on the run. Since the police don't seem to care, Meg once again plays sleuth - this time with a toddler in tow and with her extended family, as usual, complicating everything.

In this outrageous book of feathered fun, Donna Andrews once again proves her skill as one of the funniest, most entertaining mystery authors around.

©2009 Donna Andrews (P)2017 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Meg gets a toddler dumped on her

In Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews, Meg and Michael have returned from their honeymoon and back to the real world. Just as Meg is getting started again in her blacksmithing work while Michael attends orientation at Caerphilly College where he teaches in the drama department, an acquaintance she hasn’t seen in over a year, Karen, stops by with her toddler son and begs Meg to take care of Jimmy for just a short while. Then she proceeds to give Meg a whole notebook full of instructions on Jimmy’s care and numerous outfits of clothing and other supplies. But as the morning passes, Karen doesn’t show up to pick up Jimmy. As the day grows longer, Meg begins to become alarmed and starts trying to locate Karen, whose phone keeps going to voice mail. By the next next morning, with still no response from Karen, Meg decides to go to Karen’s house to try to locate the missing mother, only to learn that Karen has moved out of her previous home and into the local projects. But when Meg arrives at Karen’s new home, she finds the police there. Karen is not there, but her ex-husband is, the victim of murder.

Meg spends the next few days sleuthing to try to locate Karen, which of course includes sleuthing into the murder of Jasper. The police seem uninterested in the missing mother, so Meg feels that she must do her part to get to the bottom of things, which include figuring out what potentially criminal activity Jasper might have been into. In the midst of her own work, Meg notices her father and newly-located grandfather sneaking around, and they keep bringing new animals into her home, and Meg is less than excited about the emerald tree boa who needs help with shedding. But suddenly cages of birds start showing up too. What are they up to?

This book, as with all of the Meg Langslow books, never ceases to delight. The wild activities that all the characters get into add to the fun, and as usual, the book concludes with a madcap ending facing down the murderer. I really enjoy the characters in this series, who are drawn very creatively and with great fun. Meg’s family comes across as so lively and makes you really want to meet them. Her father and grandfather especially are a hoot, which is the perfect description for a series with puns about birds in all its titles.

The only issue I have with this book is that the speech of Jimmy, whom Meg guesses to be about two, is irregular in its levels of maturity. Sometimes he sounds too old for two and sometimes too young. But this does not get in the way of enjoyable listening.

Bernadette Dunne narrates the audio version of this book, which was just released. I really like her voice and the job that she does in her performances of these books. She really suits the role of Meg, who narrates the book. The voices she gives to each of the characters fits them well too.

I’m a big fan of Donna Andrews’s bird series, and this book did not disappoint. I had a great time listening to the book and look forward to the audio release of more of this series. I give the book five stars!

Funny murder story

I loved it. The usual twist and turns. I loved the addition of Timmy. can't wait until the next book.

Different theme but worthwhile

More serious than previous books, but good at bringing us along on Meg’s interactions with the new town and her grandfather.

Too much toddler

in general good and humorous but although Bernadette did her usual fantastic performance and was a quite credible toddler, the toddler portion seemed overdone.

Not my favorite of the bunch

verbal-humor, situational-humor, amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery

Funny, a decent plot with plenty of twists and red herrings, but the the cockatiels don't make it to the party. Didn't like it as much as most others in the series but I think that's just me.

Waiting for more

Any additional comments?

I enjoy this series and have read/listened to all the books more than once. I am truly hoping that Audible will continue to give us the rest of the series. I'm holding my breath for "Six Geese" and "Stork"!

Meg Langslow #7 (or #9)

I'm thoroughly enjoying this series - I finished this one off in less than a day.

Meg Langslow and her wacky family are at it again.

How can you not love Meg and her crazy clan? Donna Andrews has a great sense of humor. The stories and characters are great. Looking forward to the next story.

Thoroughly enjoyable and recommended

When her friend Karen drops by with her two-year-old son Timmy asking that Meg Langslow babysit “just for a little while,” Meg takes on the challenge. After all, what’s so hard about playing with a toddler? Meg puts away the blacksmithing project she’d just begun in preparation for a craft show, and goes through what Karen left with Timmy, finding several sets of clothes, diapers, bedding, Timmy’s favorite blanket, and a bedraggled stuffed kitty named Kiki. After dinner, Timmy is still with the Langslows, and Karen isn’t answering Meg’s phone calls.

When Karen hasn’t shown up for Timmy by morning, Meg begins to investigate. Taking Timmy with her, she starts her search by visiting Karen’s workplace in the financial offices of the college. A paranoid supervisor is more intent on where Timmy’s hands are going than talking about Karen. Later a co-worker pulls Meg aside and confides that something is seriously wrong. Police are raiding Karen’s rundown apartment when Meg arrives. She chides Chief Burke for treating Karen like a criminal when she is missing. Karen’s ex-husband had supposedly left town, but perhaps he has taken her. Could Timmy be the target of kidnappers? Could Karen be hiding from bad guys? Could she be a bad guy?

Meg continues to follow clues with the help of her large extended family. Meg’s brother Rob has been slowly moving into a third floor bedroom and has been missing for blocks of time. Meg’s dad and her newly discovered grandfather, Dr. Montgomery Blake, renowned zoologist, have been hiding some finches on the third floor and snakes in the basement. Meg learns of an old bird farm out in the country next door to a relative of Karen’s husband. Just what has her father been up to? Meg seems to be one step ahead of Chief Burke at every new discovery.

Babysitting alone is topic for a funny mystery, but Donna Andrews has expounded on this theme in so many ways. Embezzling, kidnapping, killing, and real estate schemes round out this zany story. While being hilariously funny, this ninth outing of Meg Langslow and family are a tad less madcap. With the welfare of a child at stake, the investigators are following all leads. They can’t control the trouble they get into checking them out!

Thoroughly enjoyable, and highly recommended.