Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon

By: Donna Andrews

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

The unflappable ornamental blacksmith-turned-detective Meg Langslow returns in this latest bird mystery by award-winning author Donna Andrews. Aficionados of Murder with Peacocks and Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos will revel in Andrews's trademark dry humor, offbeat characters, and disastrous events unfolding at another classic American setting. And we get to peek in on fresh developments in Meg’s romance with her college professor beau Michael, her intrepid partner in detection. Despite the fact that detectives always seem to attract as many murders as they solve, Andrews’s buzzards and loons make for delightful and cozy reading—and a new take on the meaning of bird watcher. Put on your deerstalker cap, get out your magnifying glass, and pull up an overstuffed chair.

“Half Jane Austen, half battery acid.”—Kirkus Reviews©2003 Donna Andrews; (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Too much fun for a mystery!

This installment of the Meg Lanslow mysteries has the higher than usual number of quirky characters because Meg is working at her brother’s very loosely run start-up company. The initial description of Frankie had me laughing out loud. In fact, I am smiling as I write, thinking of it.
A main reason for the humor amidst the mystery is the innumerable similes and metaphors applied to the people, animals, and situations encountered by the narrator (Meg) throughout the books. The author can describe an image in a few words, yet give the reader a clear picture not only the character, but also of the sense of the scene.
Her quirky family members and the temperamental Spike are included and are as endearing as ever. Her boyfriend Michael is almost too good to be true. Keeping those relationships relatively consistent allows the focus to remain on the discovery of “who-done-it?” rather than on emotional angst, which is how cozy mysteries should be. Donna Andrews is one of the best, in my humble opinion, after reading 5 in series so far.
The narrator, Bernadette Dunne, is excellent. She portrays the main character consistently with how she is described, and her range of voices for men and women is believable. She “gets” the main character and the mood of the book overall, which not all narrators do.
Enjoy this fun and funny mystery. I highly recommend it, as well as the whole series.

LOL

I have listened to at least 10 other audiobooks in this series and this is by far the funniest one. None of the other books had me laughing out loud as much as this one did. I think that is the best thing you can say about a book!

Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon

It is very entertaining with a delightfully developed plot. I recommend adding it to any cozy mystery collection.

Wonderful story line.

The reader did a great job with the various voices. I laughed so hard…just what I needed to take my mind off the world’s problems for just a little while.

Fun, light-hearted mystery

With each book, Donna Andrews gets better. Her quirky cast always create far more problems than the murder of some unpleasant character does, making for a nice light-hearted listen.

I was not delighted with the narrator, who made too many of the men sound like surfer types, but she did a great job on Meg's voice and the general narration. Overall, the narration was okay, just not as good as some I have heard.