The Real Macaw (Donna Andrews)

Title: The Real Macaw (Meg Langslow Series #13)
Author: Donna Andrews
Available at: Barnes & Noble

I got this Advanced Read Copy (ARC) in a Goodreads giveaway and I’m glad I entered this contest. I’ve never read this series or this author but I’ll certainly be adding myself as a fan.

This book hit the right spot in every respect. From the very first, it grabbed my interest and kept me interested right up to the finish. What this book (and probably the entire series) has going for it is not only a well-written mystery with plenty of red herrings, but a small town populated with interesting people, county v. city feuds, feuds between prominent families, and a lot of history. Even if the murder mystery wasn’t interesting (and it was), I’d probably read these books just to see what kind of shenanigans are getting pulled by all the characters. Even though this was my first Meg Langslow book, I quickly felt like I knew all the characters.

I also like the somewhat droll sense of humor. The title is what really caught my eye; it’s very clever and very appropriate to the story.

This isn’t a thriller and I didn’t feel like I was running a race from the minute I started until the minute I put it down. It wasn’t even a slow start – I would actually have finished it sooner if I hadn’t had other things to do. I had some time to read last night and couldn’t put it down until I was nodding off over it, then I got up and finished it this morning while I had my morning coffee. The pacing runs along at a good clip – not too slow, not too fast – so that I didn’t want to put it down until I was done reading. And because I have a lot more to do, I was glad it was a quick read.

I absolutely recommend this book if you like light mysteries populated with a bunch of quirky and interesting characters. As soon as I’ve whittled down more of my to-read list, I’ll be adding this series to it.