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    The Real Macaw
    The Real Macaw
    The Real Macaw
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Real Macaw

    Written by Donna Andrews

    Narrated by Bernadette Dunne

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Meg juggles twins, murder, and a back-talking bird after the local shelter repeals its no-kill policy and her home becomes a safe space for dozens of animals.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media
    Release dateJun 5, 2018
    ISBN9781666600704
    The Real Macaw
    Author

    Donna Andrews

    DONNA ANDREWS has won the Agatha, Anthony, and Barry Awards, an RT Book Reviews Award for best first novel, and four Lefty and two Toby Bromberg Awards for funniest mystery. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and Novelists, Inc. Andrews lives in Reston, Virginia. She has written over 30 books in the Meg Langslow mystery series.

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    Reviews for The Real Macaw

    4.5/5

    39 ratings12 reviews

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    • 4/5
      There are some fictional characters that would make great friends, and Meg Lanslow is one of them. Despite the fact that she's so busy, she always seems to have time to talk over tea.In this, the thirteenth book in the series, Meg is especially busy because she now has 4-month old twin boys, Jamie and Josh, along with her blacksmithing business, her husband, and her large (and seemingly ever-present) extended family.For example, the book begins with Meg getting up for a middle-of-the-night feeding. Just as she is dozing off with Jamie in her arms, she hears what sounds like a dog barking. At first, she assumes it's just someone watching television with the sound turned up too loudly, but when it continues, she goes downstairs to find the living room filled with animals.Her brother, father, grandfather, and the local animal doctor appear, to tell her a convoluted tale of rescuing the animals from a no-kill shelter about to be closed for lack of funds. Apparently the local furniture store owner, Parker Blair, was the only one with a truck large enough to hold all the animals, and he'd missed the "rendezvous". As a result, the men had loaded the animals into various smaller vehicles and brought them to Meg's place temporarily. They'd tried to put them in the barn, they explained, but it was locked.Just then, police chief Burke arrives on the doorstep, holding Parker's cell phone, which Meg's grandfather has been calling repeatedly. Recognizing Meg's number, Burke comes to see why they've been calling a man who was found murdered behind his store.Of course, being Meg's life, things only get more confusing after that. Dealing with all the animals, all the people who arrive to help care for them, trying not to wake the babies forces the already-sleep-deprived Meg lose more rest.Super-organized Meg takes this all in stride, and still manages to retain her sanity. And there's more chaos to come as Burke tries to investigate the murder, and Meg tries subtly to help him while taking care of everything else on her plate.This is the way most of the Meg Lanslow mysteries proceed, and though the bare bones of all the plots are similar, the books still manage to not feel repetitive.As always, there's lots of humor, and the reader can only admire Meg's patience and fortitude as she tries to deal with it all.
    • 4/5
      Another fine installment in the Meg Langslow murder series. This time, we find our heroine resigned to her sleepless and selfless existence in caring for her 4 month old twin boys. Just when she thinks that she can get a moment's rest, her serenity is shattered by the noises of the menagerie her father, brother and grandfather have assembled in her living room. It's all part of a plot to rescue the animals from the county shelter destined for certain demise owing to cost-cutting measures. But one of the rescuers failed to show up for duty and winds up dead. So much for his taking care of the animals and getting them into new or foster homes. The usual family dynamics ensue and mayhem takes over. Meg tries not to engage but gets sucked into the mystery unravelling vortex and eventually saves the day. But what a ride it is getting her there!
    • 5/5
      I enjoy every book in this series. Andrews writes great characters and has a funny streak that keeps me laughing.With the twins home and still getting into a schedule Meg and Michael are both slightly sleep deprived all the time. When the Mayor decides he is going to get the animal shelter closed by killing all the animals, Meg's father and grandfather work with a local rescue group to steal all the animals. The man who was going to move the animals is found dead so the rescue people need a place to put them and Meg's farm/barn is the logical place. With multiple cats, dogs, rabbits and birds the place feels like a zoo. Meg is working with the Police Chief to figure out who murdered Parker and why.I still have several books to read in this series and I'm looking forward to reading them.
    • 4/5
      Meg Langslow is now the mother of twins and is caring for a friend's child while her friend is serving overseas in the Army. The mayor decides to abandon the town-owned shelter's no-kill policy so the citizens steal all the animals, and Meg finds them in her living room. One of these animals is a foul-mouthed macaw. They were supposed to have been transported by the local furniture store owner in his truck, but he didn't show up at the appointed time and place. Instead, he is found dead with his earring ripped from his ear. There are a lot of other themes in this book such as town finances, corrupt officials, and real estate development that play important roles. As with most of the Meg Langslow mysteries, there are some pretty funny scenes. I was quite pleased that Meg turned evidence over to the police chief rather trying to investigate it herself.. She did a fair amount of snooping, but she generally did so with permission. A great installment in an excellent cozy series.
    • 5/5
      I get such a kick out of the Meg Langslow mysteries. It's a great combination of cozy mystery, humor (lots), and quirky characters - her family is a hoot. As usual, Meg juggles her family (now with twins) and a murder investigation - and a bird, is of course, center stage. Highly recommended
    • 4/5
      Rating: 3.75* of five The Book Report: The book description says:“Meg juggles twins, murder, and a back-talking bird in the next side-splittingly funny installment in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling series.During a 2am feeding for her four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow hears an odd noise and goes downstairs to find her living room filled with dozens of animals—cats, dogs, hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, and a stunningly foul-mouthed macaw. She soon learns that financial woes have caused the local animal shelter to repeal its no-kill policy.Her kindhearted father, her zoologist grandfather, and other like-minded citizens have stolen all the shelter’s animals, both as a gesture of protest and to protect them until the hated policy can be repealed. But the volunteer who was to transport the animals to new homes has been murdered. Was it the victim’s tangled love life that drove someone to murder? Or the dark secrets behind local politics? And will Meg ever succeed in finding homes for all the animals that have landed in her life?Full of the hilarious shenanigans – avian as well as human – that have come to surround Meg and her eccentric band of friends and family, the latest from the one and only Donna Andrews will have you laughing until the very last page: it’s The Real Macaw!”My Review: Oh dearie me. Such a description! So overripe.I really don't think a review is called for when a series reaches the bajillionth volume. I'm not really reviewing the book, but the experience.Fun. Uncomplicated, familiar fun with familiar friends. Sex with the ex. But how many times can ya come to the well, drop the bucket, and fill 'er up with the same ol' same ol'? I'm a little bit past the sell-by on this series. Kinda done. Not that this wasn't fun! It was! But oh lawsy me...the little nods to the early parts of the series, some specific details that were important once are now used as window dressing and I found that a little annoying. It's increasingly obvious that the past entries of the series are tying the author's hands, and she gives the nods and winks to keep the people happy.Letting it go comes as a relief. I think, in the end, for all of us
    • 4/5
      The twins have arrived, and would be settling in nicely, if it weren't for Meg's assumptive family. During one of those glorious 2am feedings Meg is roused by what she thinks - what she hopes - is an inconsiderate family member watching animal planet, but what turns out to be an animal shelter heist instead. Things are far from peaceful in Caerphilly, and the tension and conflict has come straight to Meg and Michael's door. After the trademark dastardly deceased makes an appearance things start to get even uglier, and (between pumpings) Meg finds herself caught in the middle of weaselly political manipulations. The Real Macaw is more day-to-day than thrilling mystery, as both Meg and her readers try to figure out how to balance four-month-old twins, a fostered five-year-old, and the work of an accidentally-crime-solving blacksmith. Some of the most endearing of Andrews' characters are still in residence, and the story itself feels like curling up with a favorite battered quilt.
    • 4/5
      The town of Caerphilly, Virginia, is in financial trouble, and the denizens of its animal shelter wind up at Meg and Michael's farm. As if they didn't have enough trouble taking care of four-month-old twins, Meg finds herself helping to investigate a murder while trying to keep Caerphilly's crooked mayor from ruining everything.
    • 4/5
      A really nice written book, that got you interested in Meg's life as she went about her life that just so happened to involve a murder and a theft. The premise that she would always just be in the spot where the clues were happening did wear a little thin by the end. But all in all a fun book to read.
    • 5/5
      cozy-mystery, lawyers, law-enforcement, situational-humor, verbal-humor, amateur-sleuth Meg and Michael only think that they are overbusy what with her looney family, infant twin boys, and the 5 year old son of the formerly underemployed coordinator of the drama dept who chose to join the military to finance her PhD. Then they are inundated by all of the animals of the county shelter when the volunteers try to rescue them but one of their number is murdered. Besides the animals and the murder, there is the uproar that begins when a pair of surveyors come in preparation for the building of a golf course and condos on their property! More madness ensues when it turns out that the mayor has taken out loans on the administration buildings but never made the payments, and now the bank is demanding evacuation and the whole town comes out in force to move everything out. Through it all, there is plenty of laughter to be had!
    • 4/5
      Home with four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow's home suddenly becomes an emergency animal shelter. Amongst the animals saved is a foul-mouthed macaw, not a good example for the twins! Of course her zoologist grandfather is behind it all, and when the volunteer who was to transport the animals out of town is found murdered, Meg has another mystery on her hands. Another very funny story!
    • 4/5
      I'm a huge Donna Andrews/Meg Langslow fan, but I have to say I was a bit worried when Meg started having children - I'm not a fan of cozy mysteries that involve families, for some reason. But Donna Andrews wrote with her usual hilarious wit, and refused to take any of it too seriously. The mystery was a good one and it kept me guessing until the end. I hope for many more Meg Langslow mysteries to come.