The newest installment in Donna Andrews' Meg Lanslow mystery series, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much, wraps suspense, humor, and a screwball cast of characters into a mystery novel with stand-up quality. A Dracula-fearing medical examiner, a flock of homeless penguins, and a young couple hoping to elope all add momentum to the story-besides the fresh body unearthed in the basement of Lanslow's new home.
The book opens as amateur sleuth Meg Lanslow is moving into a newly renovated Victorian house with her fiancé Michael. The couple has formulated what they call "The Plan," a strategy for outwitting their wacky relatives by secretly marrying on the weekend of their housewarming party. The Plan becomes threatened rather quickly, as Meg's dad digs up a day-old corpse in the basement while excavating a site for a penguin pool. In turn, Meg finds out that her dad has agreed to help out the local zookeeper by sheltering the penguins in her basement during the zoo's recent bout of bankruptcy.
When the local zookeeper can't be found, Lanslow apprehends her first clue about the body's identity, and as rumors of the murder circulate in the community, the other volunteers who had agreed to house animals begin to get nervous about their holdings. Meg's dad publicly announces that he'll take them in-at Meg's house, of course.
The book opens as amateur sleuth Meg Lanslow is moving into a newly renovated Victorian house with her fiancé Michael. The couple has formulated what they call "The Plan," a strategy for outwitting their wacky relatives by secretly marrying on the weekend of their housewarming party. The Plan becomes threatened rather quickly, as Meg's dad digs up a day-old corpse in the basement while excavating a site for a penguin pool. In turn, Meg finds out that her dad has agreed to help out the local zookeeper by sheltering the penguins in her basement during the zoo's recent bout of bankruptcy.
When the local zookeeper can't be found, Lanslow apprehends her first clue about the body's identity, and as rumors of the murder circulate in the community, the other volunteers who had agreed to house animals begin to get nervous about their holdings. Meg's dad publicly announces that he'll take them in-at Meg's house, of course.
As the mystery unfolds over the weekend, Lanslow's new home turns into a zoo of relatives and exotic animals: laughing hyenas in the barn, spitting llamas out front, lemurs dangling from the chandeliers, and a colorful snake in the bathtub upstairs. In the middle of it all, Lanslow manages to keep her cool and stick to The Plan. By Monday morning, she has cracked the crime and uncovered a canned hunting scheme threatening the lives of both people and animals in her beloved town of Caerphilly, Virginia.
Donna Andrews' ability to create colorful characters is this book's greatest success. Meg Lanslow, a blacksmith by trade, doles out death-grip handshakes and Googles her suspects for background information. Lanslow is smart and likable and super-funny; she catches details like a spiderweb snagging flies. This heroine is quick to jump on the trail of her suspects, and just as quick to drive her beat-up blue Toyota out to the investigation site.
Donna Andrews' ability to create colorful characters is this book's greatest success. Meg Lanslow, a blacksmith by trade, doles out death-grip handshakes and Googles her suspects for background information. Lanslow is smart and likable and super-funny; she catches details like a spiderweb snagging flies. This heroine is quick to jump on the trail of her suspects, and just as quick to drive her beat-up blue Toyota out to the investigation site.
The murder suspects are just as fascinating as Lanslow is. One of them collects animal droppings for a high-end fertilizer called ZooperPoop! and another of them is an elderly animal activist who likes fine wine and cigars. A young football star skilled in crossbow hunting and a nearby zoo owner also make Lanslow's list. Rightfully so, Lanslow is also a suspect because the body was found in her basement, but she is determined to acquit herself of any suspicion by uncovering the real murderer as soon as possible so that she and her fiancé can get on with The Plan.
With zany family members, such as her father who has a penchant for mystery novels and her cousin who is trained in the art of aromatherapy, Lanslow is never alone in her investigation. The local Chief Burke and his sidekick Sammy, a lanky young deputy, come to her aid, but Dr. Smoot, Caerphilly's new medical examiner, just gets in the way as he confronts his claustrophobia by dressing up as a vampire to revisit a childhood fear.
With zany family members, such as her father who has a penchant for mystery novels and her cousin who is trained in the art of aromatherapy, Lanslow is never alone in her investigation. The local Chief Burke and his sidekick Sammy, a lanky young deputy, come to her aid, but Dr. Smoot, Caerphilly's new medical examiner, just gets in the way as he confronts his claustrophobia by dressing up as a vampire to revisit a childhood fear.
The Penguin Who Knew Too Much is the eighth novel in Donna Andrews' comedic mystery series. Sometimes called "cozy mysteries," the books in this series are all apt to involve dead bodies and suspenseful plots, but they'll keep the attention of an audience who likes to laugh out loud. Being on the lighter side, The Penguin Who Knew Too Much is a comedy as much as it is a classic whodunit tale, and it won't have you cowering beneath your covers at night.
