Toucan Keep a Secret
Registered by 
GoryDetails
of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/16/2020
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
GoryDetails of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 10/16/2020 This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I got this paperback at Barnes and Noble today.
I first discovered Andrews' "Meg Langslow" books via the hilarious We'll Always Have Parrots, which is actually the fifth in the series. I've been following the series since then, and have been enjoying the books very much. [Most of them can stand alone, but as the events of each book seem to feed into the next one it adds some fun (and prevents some spoilers) if you read them in order.]
This is the 23rd (!) book in the series, and follows the holiday-themed How the Finch Stole Christmas.
Later: More wacky fun with Meg and company - this time including most of the town in one way or another, from connections in the religious community to the justice system to the college drama department. Some apparent vandalism in a columbarium leads to a murder, which leads to an old crime in which an orchestrated-from-the-inside jewel theft when catastrophically wrong - and the investigation turns up more crimes along the way.
I enjoy the breezy tone, the way the suspenseful scenes are short-lived and (usually) without long-term side effects on the good guys, and the quippage among the main characters. (And there is a LOT of quippage in these books.) One of my favorite bits involved the way Meg's father, the local coroner, decided to reconstruct the long-ago jewel theft in hopes of solving the bit question - what happened to the jewelry? His attempts include getting a buy-in from the current owner of the mansion/crime scene, a rock musician with lots of artsy hangers-on and a delighted interest in the project; more help from Meg's husband Michael and his drama department, providing enough of a cast to reconstruct the entire guest-list from the party; and even some special effects standing in for the actual mayhem. It's the kind of over-the-top thing that some friends of mine would have been happy to participate in...
The book plays around with amateur-sleuth tropes, including lots of instances where Meg muses on whether to investigate something suspicious or do the sensible thing and notify someone first (she's nearly always logical in these situations, having learned her lesson, but once in a while she misses a clue or gets caught unawares). There are lots of nods to her relationship with the local police, too; she acknowledges that she's not entitled to join investigations, and they acknowledge that she's right - but if she should turn up anything, they'd love to hear about it.
And of course there are references to the many creatures who inhabit Meg's house, her grandfather's zoo, and many other scenes, whether it's the titular toucan (the "can keep a secret" bit is actually key to the plot; toucans, unlike many parrots, cannot talk, but apparently the criminal(s) didn't know that) or the delightful moment when Meg's grandfather announces the arrival of two healthy baby Screaming Hairy Armadillos. [Caution: I looked up a video clip of the armadillo to hear what it sounded like - not a scream exactly, but a loud squall, repeated at length. My cats... were not amused!]
The various mysteries do eventually get unraveled, not without some collateral damage, and Meg and co. can relax - until the next time!
[There's a short TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
I first discovered Andrews' "Meg Langslow" books via the hilarious We'll Always Have Parrots, which is actually the fifth in the series. I've been following the series since then, and have been enjoying the books very much. [Most of them can stand alone, but as the events of each book seem to feed into the next one it adds some fun (and prevents some spoilers) if you read them in order.]
This is the 23rd (!) book in the series, and follows the holiday-themed How the Finch Stole Christmas.
Later: More wacky fun with Meg and company - this time including most of the town in one way or another, from connections in the religious community to the justice system to the college drama department. Some apparent vandalism in a columbarium leads to a murder, which leads to an old crime in which an orchestrated-from-the-inside jewel theft when catastrophically wrong - and the investigation turns up more crimes along the way.
I enjoy the breezy tone, the way the suspenseful scenes are short-lived and (usually) without long-term side effects on the good guys, and the quippage among the main characters. (And there is a LOT of quippage in these books.) One of my favorite bits involved the way Meg's father, the local coroner, decided to reconstruct the long-ago jewel theft in hopes of solving the bit question - what happened to the jewelry? His attempts include getting a buy-in from the current owner of the mansion/crime scene, a rock musician with lots of artsy hangers-on and a delighted interest in the project; more help from Meg's husband Michael and his drama department, providing enough of a cast to reconstruct the entire guest-list from the party; and even some special effects standing in for the actual mayhem. It's the kind of over-the-top thing that some friends of mine would have been happy to participate in...
The book plays around with amateur-sleuth tropes, including lots of instances where Meg muses on whether to investigate something suspicious or do the sensible thing and notify someone first (she's nearly always logical in these situations, having learned her lesson, but once in a while she misses a clue or gets caught unawares). There are lots of nods to her relationship with the local police, too; she acknowledges that she's not entitled to join investigations, and they acknowledge that she's right - but if she should turn up anything, they'd love to hear about it.
And of course there are references to the many creatures who inhabit Meg's house, her grandfather's zoo, and many other scenes, whether it's the titular toucan (the "can keep a secret" bit is actually key to the plot; toucans, unlike many parrots, cannot talk, but apparently the criminal(s) didn't know that) or the delightful moment when Meg's grandfather announces the arrival of two healthy baby Screaming Hairy Armadillos. [Caution: I looked up a video clip of the armadillo to hear what it sounded like - not a scream exactly, but a loud squall, repeated at length. My cats... were not amused!]
The various mysteries do eventually get unraveled, not without some collateral damage, and Meg and co. can relax - until the next time!
[There's a short TV Tropes page on the series, with some entertaining tidbits.]
Journal Entry 2 by GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Burgess Farm Rd in Dracut, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, February 20, 2021
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Burgess Farm Rd in Dracut, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, February 20, 2021
Released 3 yrs ago (2/21/2021 UTC) at Little Free Library, Burgess Farm Rd in Dracut, Massachusetts USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it!
[See other recent releases in MA here.]
*** Released for the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count challenge (see www.birdcount.org to join the count). ***
*** Released for the 2021 Heads Shoulders Knees Toes challenge, for the embedded "can" in the title. ***
*** Released for the 2021 52 Towns in 52 Weeks challenge. ***
