LINE YOUR DUCKS UP IN A ROW… The hilly terrain next to the old Sprocket house that Meg Langslow and her fiancé, Michael, are refurbishing is the perfect location for an "extreme" croquet field--even the legs of cows and sheep are convenient extra wickets. A sport traditionally reserved for genteel society, croquet has become all the rage in Caerphilly…until it appears someone in town has taken the "rage" a bit too literally.
AND KNOCK 'EM DEAD. While stumbling down a steep bank after her ball, Meg encounters the body of a fresh female corpse with a mallet-sized dent in her head. If that isn't reason enough to call a time-out, it turns out that Michael knew the woman from years before. Ever curious, Meg decides that playing arm-chair sleuth is far more important than working on her game…and soon she finds herself in the perfect position to solve the murder mystery--or become the next victim.
"If you long for more `fun' mysteries, a la Janet Evanovich, you'll love Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow series." --The Charlotte Observer
"Andrews strikes just the right balance between comedy and suspense to keep the reader laughing and on the edge of one's seat....Fans of this series will no doubt enjoy this installment, while new readers...will be headed to the bookstore for the earlier books."
--Romantic Times BOOKreviews (4 stars) "Any day when I start reading about Meg is cause for delight. Ending the book makes me yearn for more than one per year. Hint."
--Deadly Pleasures "As usual, Andrews is a reliable source for those who like their murder with plenty of mayhem." --Kirkus Reviews
Description:
LINE YOUR DUCKS UP IN A ROW…
The hilly terrain next to the old Sprocket house that Meg Langslow and her fiancé, Michael, are refurbishing is the perfect location for an "extreme" croquet field--even the legs of cows and sheep are convenient extra wickets. A sport traditionally reserved for genteel society, croquet has become all the rage in Caerphilly…until it appears someone in town has taken the "rage" a bit too literally.
AND KNOCK 'EM DEAD.
While stumbling down a steep bank after her ball, Meg encounters the body of a fresh female corpse with a mallet-sized dent in her head. If that isn't reason enough to call a time-out, it turns out that Michael knew the woman from years before. Ever curious, Meg decides that playing arm-chair sleuth is far more important than working on her game…and soon she finds herself in the perfect position to solve the murder mystery--or become the next victim.
From Publishers Weekly
An all-too-competitive game of "eXtreme croquet" set in an obstacle-ridden cow and sheep pasture in Caerphilly, Va., leads to murder in Agatha-winner Andrews's goofy seventh Meg Langslow mystery (after 2005's Owls Well That Ends Well). When Meg chases an errant shot into a gully, she discovers the fresh corpse of a woman with her head bashed in. The victim appears to have been done in with a croquet mallet—or was it a sledgehammer? Meg starts with a long list of suspects involved in a local campaign against developers who hope to transform the bucolic pasture area into an outlet mall. When the body is identified as Lindsay Tyler, a beautiful, manipulative former history professor with a checkered career and erstwhile romantic ties to Meg's fiancé, Michael, the connections and motives multiply, bogging down the action. Still, the author's sense of fun and a lively, charming cast will please most cozy fans. (Aug.)
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Review
"Fun, lively, charming."
--*Publishers Weekly*
"If you long for more `fun' mysteries, a la Janet Evanovich, you'll love Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow series."
--The Charlotte Observer
"Andrews strikes just the right balance between comedy and suspense to keep the reader laughing and on the edge of one's seat....Fans of this series will no doubt enjoy this installment, while new readers...will be headed to the bookstore for the earlier books."
--Romantic Times BOOKreviews (4 stars)
"Any day when I start reading about Meg is cause for delight. Ending the book makes me yearn for more than one per year. Hint."
--Deadly Pleasures
"As usual, Andrews is a reliable source for those who like their murder with plenty of mayhem."
--Kirkus Reviews