It's a 2fer Tuesday!!!

I am trying to clean up my huge To-BE-Read Pile and each week you will notice some books that have been out awhile or maybe pretty old being reviewed here on my blog.  These are books that are usually part of series I am trying to catch up on because the latest book is due to come out or is out and on my wish list.  The two books today definitely fall into this category.

Cockatiels at Seven by Donna Andrews
Book 9 of the Meg Langslow Mystery Series
Meg and Michael are recently back from their secret honeymoon and settling in to married life, when an old friend of Meg's drops by to recruit Meg to babysit her toddler son Timmy for a few hours.  But when a few hours turns into a couple of days, Meg gets worried and starts to investigate her friends disappearance. The investigation leads Meg to become confused, is her friend one of the "bad guys" or is she running from the "bad guys"?

Of course Meg's family add to her already complicated life and add quite a bit of comedy to the whole situation.  Are her Dad and newly discovered Grandfather going to end up in jail again?  Why is her basement full of snakes? Is Timmy in any danger and who in her family is brave enough to help watch this toddler while Meg is off investigating?

Six Geese A-Slaying by Donna Andrews
Book 10 of the Meg Langslow Mystery Series

This is a Holiday story which centers around a Holiday Parade Meg is in charge of and the is lining up all around her property.  The parade's main theme is The Twelve Days of Christmas.  There are also a variety of Christmas themed floats, including a float carrying a live nativity followed by the Three Wise Men on camels, (one of which becomes a Wise Woman before the parade starts). There is even a float with a sleigh carrying Santa.  While Meg is trying to keep everything together so the parade starts on time, one of her nephews whispers to her "something is wrong with Santa".  Now Meg doesn't only have to get the parade started on time, she has to find a murderer and save Christmas.

Donna Andrews in such a fine writer, she can combine comedy and mystery with a great balance.  She may find yourself laughing out loud as you try to follow the clues right along with Meg.  The relationship she has with the Police Chief is incredibly funny, after all these years he knows she going to get in the middle of the action so he has given up trying to keep her out of it.  The rest of the family keep adding to the comedy throughout every book.  We laugh because except for all the murders we all of crazy relatives just like Meg.

I really like this entire series and as I told you at the start of this post there are already 2 more books to this series.  Swan For The Money came out in hardcover in July 2009 and will soon be available in paperback. Stork Raving Mad will be released on July 6, 2010.  You can Pre-Order it below, or purchase any in the entire series.

To find out more about Donna Andrews and this series please check out her website at http://donnaandrews.com/