The Hen of the Baskervilles

A Meg Langslow Mystery, Book 15

By: Donna Andrews

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Meg Langslow is helping organize the Virginia Un-Fair, Caerphilly's entry in the race to replace the old state fair. While patrolling the fairgrounds, Meg runs into her friend Molly. Molly is terrified that she may lose her farm because her idle husband has left her for a rich hobby winemaker and is demanding his half of the land. Meg enlists Mother's help to find Molly a divorce lawyer, which Mother is all the more willing to do because the unfaithful husband's new girlfriend is the bete noire of the wine pavilion. She is so universally disliked that Meg begins to worry about her safety. But it's the unfaithful husband whose murdered body she and Michael find that night.

©2013 Donna Andrews (P)2013 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Not at all boring

I really like this series.
Lots of fun, great character and setting development.
Very entertaining not too heavy.
Good job everyone!

This series is great fun!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Hen of the Baskervilles to be better than the print version?

I enjoyed both.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Meg Langslow is my favorite character because she is witty, sharp, and completely at ease with the very colorful characters in her small town.

Which scene was your favorite?

The chase scene with the evil deputy.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

I have enjoyed this series for years. The characters are hysterical. Bernadette Dunne, the narrator, did a wonderful job of breathing new life into them for me. I wish the entire series was available on audible.

I simply just can’t get enough

I simply just can’t get enough of this wonderful series. Donna Andrews keeps writing original storylines that are not just enjoyable but believable. The characters have become more like friends than fictional characters. If you’re a cozy mystery fan you’ll enjoy this one.

A Cluck of a Story - Get It

Would you listen to The Hen of the Baskervilles again? Why?

I listened to the book twice already. Yes, I will listen again. I am an invested reader having read all 15 books in the series. I feel like it is reunion time when July rolls around and I get to read about Meg's latest adventures and catch up on all the family gossip.

What other book might you compare The Hen of the Baskervilles to and why?

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos - another book from this series. Why? Because it takes place in a similar venue. Meg is dealing with unhappy vendors, theft and the like. The stories are different, but both are quite enjoyable.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I've gotten used to listening to books with the greatest readers ever. I'm sorry but Bernadette Dunne isn't one of them. This may be in part due to the fact that I read most of the 15 books before finding any of the series on Audible. I had a clear definition of what I expected the people to sound like. Unfortunately, some of them are way off the mark. The voice for Meg is good. I will say the Ms. Dunne neither adds to or detracts from my enjoyment of the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

This question isn't really appropriate to the story. Meg and her family are very upbeat and this story has a murder, of course, but nothing that "moved me". I will say that there is one character in the story that I intensely dislike. This person is a creep. Will this person get what he/she seems to deserve? Read the book to find out - I don't want to spoil the story for any of you.

Any additional comments?

If I had it to do over, I think I'd read the book before listening, just to see if there is a difference in the way I perceive the story. I love that absent family members were mentioned and their absence from the story was successfully explained away. So successfully that I hope Ms. Andrews' next book will tell us how things turn out for her grandfather in his latest adventure. I would also love to see more interaction between Meg and her twins. Meg was very busy in this story as the fair organizer in this story so she had to delegate most of her motherly duties to daddy and the rest of the family. I hope to see some moments between Meg and her children in future stories where Meg is able to just be in the moment with the boys and enjoy their company.

Funny as always

I sure like this author. I wasn't sure about the narrator but she grew on me, and I would listen to more by this team .😊

Love the Meg Langlow stories

Love it all the while trying to figure out who do it.Thanks for the readings too.

A step ahead for Donna Andrews

It’s time for the county Fair, um, Un-fair in Caerphilly, Virginia, and Meg Langslow Waterston finds herself in charge, again. At least she has a committee of help this time including Mayor Shiffley and Police Chief Burke. Since the fair in neighboring Clay county had been cancelled, the committee decided to hold part of the fair over the county line.

The fair had the usual contingents of farm animals, prize vegetables including record-breaking pumpkins, artisan crafts including handmade quilts, and hobby winemaking. The Un-fair featured the legacy or heritage breeds of many animals, breeds no longer popular with the big farmers and whose numbers were shrinking. Many of their owners were not letting their birds or goats or sheep out of their sight. Meg arranged for many of the owners to sleep near their animals. Meg and her husband Michael and twins Josh and Jamie, now 2 years old, slept near their llamas that they were showing.

When they awaken, they discover several acts of theft and vandalism. A pair of Bantam Russian Orloff chickens had been taken from the chicken coop. A beautiful handmade Boston Album quilt had been stolen from the arts and crafts tent. A pumpkin weighing over a ton was smashed. While searching the grounds, Meg runs into her friend Molly who makes cheeses, yet since she wants to divorce her husband Brett, who has taken up with a socialite active in hobby winemaking, she is worried if she will be left with any land to continue making cheeses after the divorce. Later that evening Brett is found dead on the Clay county side of the fair. Police Chief Burke has no choice but to allow the Clay county sheriff and his deputies to be involved in the investigation. However, while the two disparate forces do not join together well, they both swiftly accuse Molly of his death when evidence shows up in her trailer.

The character list is rounded out with Meg’s Mother and dad, Dr. Langslow, as well as cousin Rose Noir and Horace, the crime tech. Of course there were many laughs and giggles throughout the book. However, the mystery in this book was not as straight forward as it has been in earlier titles in this series. With such an award-winning series, one might expect Donna Andrews to continue on the same path. With this fifteenth entry in the series, I found more depth and dimension to this entire story. More thought was needed to solve the whodunit. More energy was given to the stories behind items stolen or vandalized. It was all a bit more serious. A small shift in Ms. Andrews’ focus has brought us a perceptibly better mystery while keeping the charm, quirks, and laughter of previous stories.

I think this is a step forward for Donna Andrews, and I applaud it.

Fancy chickens!

situational-humor, verbal-humor, family-dynamics, friendship, animals, cozy-mystery, murder, law-enforcement, suspense

The publisher's blurb covers much of the mystery plot, but I must be weird because my best takeaway was learning about Heritage and Artisanal domestic farm animals. Well, except for the costumes for the llamas. Don't get me wrong, I thought the mystery was well done, the laughs delightful, and the characters exceptional, it's simply that I like to learn something while having an enjoyable read.
Bernadette Dunne is the best narrator!

Loved It Highly Reccomend

Have read this book a few times. First time to listen to it. Love Meg, her family and friends.

One of the funniest mysteries!

In <strong>Hen of the Baskervilles</strong> by Donna Andrews, Caerphilly is hosting its un-fair, with a special focus on rare breeds of animals and strains of grown food. As the fair gets ready to open the first day, Meg Langslow, who has acted as organizer of the un-fair, gets a call that a pair of Russian orlaf chickens has been stolen. Then, more vandalism takes place throughout the un-fair. People's suspicions fall upon Jeanette, the rich woman who has stolen the husband of Meg's friend, Molly and is suspected of stealing other farmers' rare animals. With Jeanette's driving everyone crazy in the wine tent, Meg begins to get concerned that Jeanette is at risk of being killed. But when Meg and her husband, Michael, find a body, it is Brett Riordan, Molly's husband who is now living with Jeanette, not that of Bret's mistress.

Since the body was found between the Caerphilly County and Clay County line, Chief Burke is forced to take a deputy from Clay County onto his investigative team, leading to all sorts of drama with the man's unprofessionalism. When the police find the gun in Molly's van, Meg jumps in to help her friend.

<strong>The Hen of the Baskervilles</strong> is a delightful addition to the Meg Langslow series. I have listened to this book many times, especially when I need something comforting to enjoy. The book has so much humor and a creative setting. I learned a lot about the rare breeds of animals on display, and I really enjoyed the appearance of Michael's llamas in several competitions at the un-fair. I learned so much about the creatures, making me come to appreciate llamas. There do seem to be a few gaps in the book, in particular that I was unclear on certain details of the solution to the murder.

In addition to the great story, I love the characters. Meg shows off the organizational skills that we see in the first book, <em>Murder with Peacocks</em>, and which become even more central to the character later in the series. We also see personal growth in Randall Shiffley, who started off as the construction company foreman and has risen to the position of mayor. The twins, Josh and Jamie, have grown to be almost three, and they show us fun as they show off their dogs in the children's dog show and get their parents to take them to the midway, where Meg's brother, Rob, gets to finish all the junk food they discard when distracted by something new. Finally, the chief antagonist of the book, Jeanette, has so much life in her that we feel mad at her along with all her neighbors and people in the wine tent. We want to

Bernadette Dunne does an effective job at performing this book and making it seem very realistic. One of her strengths is the unique voices used for each of the characters. I don't need to hear the name of the speaker to know who is saying the lines. With the fun setting of the un-fair, Dunne adds to the pleasure of listening to this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed <strong>Hen of the Baskervilles</strong>, with all its fun plot details, humor in the story, and creative characters. This book delights me every time I listen to it, and I look forward to many more times of being entertained by this book. I give the book five stars.