It's hard to describe how happy it makes me when I have a new Donna Andrews to read. I feel like I'm spending time with friends that I haven't seen in a long time, but they are the sort of friends that you can pick right up with as if you had just seen them yesterday. This book was no different. Donna Andrews hasn't dropped the ball yet, and I'm now looking forward to the next book eagerly.

Donna Andrews has done it Again!!! Her latest Meg Langslow novel, Between a Flock and a Hard Place is equal measures of cute, hilarious, mystery, and thrilling, but cozy-style thrilling.

In this latest installment of Meg Langslow’s life in Caerphilly, she finds herself having to devote almost all of her time as the Mayor’s minion, as the most bizarre events are taking place in Caerphilly. Instead of her normal blacksmith work, she finds herself babysitting the production crew for a home improvement show, who are supposed to be renovating the Smetkamp’s historic house.

On top of this tedious job, she finds herself in the middle of Turkeygate: a wild turkey infestation that was rehomed to disrupt the film crew, but instead, the turkeys disrupt the entire neighborhood and threaten the lives and wellbeing of the local residents and their property. Meg’s grandfather is willing to offer them sanctuary in his zoo/wildlife refuge, but they have to get them there first.

Meg, Randall, Chief Burke, and Sheriff all have to work together to find who and how the turkeys were moved to the Smetkamp’s house, and also what the shady producer of the show is up to. Just when they think that they’ve solved one mystery, another thrilling incident or two pop up.

Will Meg, Randall, and Chief Burke get buried under the pressure of it all?

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur books for this wonderful ARC that I loved!!!

Between A Flock and A Hard Place by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #35) 5 stars

The first Meg Langslow mystery for 2024 – Awesome

Wearing her Special Assistant to the Mayor hat, Meg Langslow has to navigate a contentious neighborhood dispute. The Smetkamp’s have been chosen to be in a home makeover reality show – Marvelous Mansions. Unfortunately, the makeover show appears to be run by somebody with no construction experience and the noise and inconvenience have been angering the neighborhood. The tensions increase when wild turkeys are moved into the Smetkamp’s front yard. So other than construction woes, the neighborhood must now deal with feral wild turkeys – the poop, the noise and the damage.

In the midst of checking the excavations, the Mayor (who also runs Shiffley Construction) looks at the interior and discovers that the building could collapse due to poor safeguards. The Mayor shuts the show down and two dead bodies are later found on the property, one really old body and Mrs. Smetkamp. First, identify the older female corpse and two who killed Mrs. Smetkamp. For the later, there are numerous suspects and Meg, the Chief will have their hands full trying to find out the real culprit.

I thought this one was hysterically funny (the turkeys!!); the mystery was excellent and the few red herrings really had me going in another direction. I got to see my favorite Pomeranians and all I can say is more please. My favorite supporting characters also make appearances here. Every book is a treasure and I can’t wait for the Christmas themed mystery “Rockin Around the Chickadee” (October 2024). Rob and Delaney are getting ready to have their baby and everyone is hoping for a peaceful holiday. (LOL)

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press/Minotaur Books for this ARC.

This is Book 35 in the series and this is no surprise because the series is that good! each, and every single entry leaves me, hoping for the next one to come out soon. Meg is a strong female protagonist that is so genuine and relatable that you can’t help but think of reading each entry as visiting with a friend. A friend you have fun solving a mystery with.

Between a Flock and a Hard Place is the thirty-fifth in Donna Andew's Meg Langslow Mystery Series, if you have missed them till now you are in for a treat. These are cozies with fun family and friends, reoccurring characters that you will enjoy catching up with as much as the story. The books progress forward so you may want to enjoy them in chronological order, however, the mysteries are all self contained.

Meg Langslow is a blacksmith, but also has a part-time position assisting the Mayor with odd jobs, this time it is helping out with a reality home makeover show set that has become a disaster with not only angry neighbors but also a menacing flock of wild turkeys that have taken up residence; the source of the turkeys and how to remove them is the first mystery Meg most solve but the morning of a planned round up they find the owner of the house, Mrs. Smetkamp has been murdered and not by a turkey. I find myself solving a lot of Andrews mysteries ahead of the conclusion, but with several clever red herrings this one surprised me.

Humorous small town cozy
A small town's residents band together to correct a prank gone bad and uncover more they they expected during the filming of a house renovation show. Penned with delightful and realistic characters
and funny situations, this a a winning combo. I recommend to any reader especially if one need a lift in mood. Very well plotted with intrigue and humor.
I requested and received a NetGalley arc gratis and give my opinion in the same.

4.5 / 5.0 stars

Oh, Ms. Andrews, you truly, never disappoint your readers. This thirty-fifth cozy mystery book in series was absolutely hilarious.

Meg Langslow, our plucky protagonist, blacksmith, mother of twin boys and Executive Assistant for Special Projects to Caerphilly's Mayor Shiffley, has been called to historic Bland Street for an "intervention". It turns out that the much abhorred Smetkamps have won a home makeover from the TV show, Marvelous Mansions, and the neighbors are none too pleased with all the noise and inconvenience the construction crew has caused. To top that off, during the stealth of night, someone dropped off over a hundred feral turkeys on the Smetkamps lawn. The belligerent birds are wreaking havoc on everyone's gardens and lawns and attacking anyone who may try to defend their own property. During the Great Roundup, a body is discovered and a mystery needs solving. Who better than Meg to assist in that process?

Just reading about the feral turkey attacks and the defensive attire of the brave ones going in to save the day would be worth the price of this book. But the mystery itself, is equally entertaining. There are lots of red herrings, plausible perpetrators and likely felons.

Ms. Andrews is brilliant in her character creation: featuring a strong yet compassionate female lead with a highly eccentric family and great secondary characters makes for amusing reading. Her world building of the college town of Caerphilly (pronounced "carefully" ? ) is wonderful. The writing is solid and quite amusing times. When readers ask me for recommendations for a cozy mystery series, hands-down, it is this one. If you enjoy cozies, then this book could well be one for you.

I am grateful to Ms. Andrews and her publisher, Minotaur Books, for having provided a complimentary uncorrected digital copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.


Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Number of pages:‎ 304
ISBN:‎ 978-1250894083

I love her books usually. There have been some ups and downs, but overall she's a great author. In this entry the Smetkamps win a makeover from Marvelous Mansions, a tv remodeling show. Unfortunately some pranksters deliver a truck load of feral turkeys to the job site and Meg is called in (as the assistant to the Mayor) to deal with the situation. Before the turkeys can be contained Mrs. Smetkamp is found murdered and Meg has to find out who killed the woman.
My two complaints are: she uses a cliche which kind of gives away the killer and she seems to rush through the climax of the story.
If you're a fan of Ms. Andrews it will be a fun read, but not her best effort.

As always, Donna Andrews' books make me so happy. She provides the perfect cozy mystery with equal measures of interesting quirky characters and current trends in society that make each story fresh. In this book, the current trends of reality makeover shows and cyber crime were handled by Meg's wonderful community of family and friends who always have the time and will to help each other and their community. I also really appreciate Donna Andrews' environmental themes - this time invasive species of plants. I highly recommend this series to readers of cozy mysteries.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I love this series! It’s fast paced, the bird incidents are hilarious, & the characters are life like. I have noticed that Michael, the boys, Meg’s grandmother don’t show up much any more. Also how old is Meg’s grandfather.? It seems like he should be in his 90’s or 100’s. #BetweenaFlockandaHardPlace #NetGalley

This is the 35th installment of the Meg Langslow series. It can also be read as a stand alone, but you'll want to go back & read them all! A reality show comes to town to "fix up" a house. When someone releases a flock of wild turkeys on the property the progress stops. Who brought the turkeys there? How did they bring them? When there is a murder, Meg has much more than turkeys on her mind. People tangling with turkeys had me laughing out loud. The plot is twisty with several red herrings. Meg is fearless and determined. She's a very relatable & lovable heroine. Meg's goofy family continues to provide amusement and laughs. You won't want to miss this one!
Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Donna Andrews for an advanced copy to review. I will post a review to Amazon on release day.

Meg's neighbors, the Smetkamps', have won a makeover for their old home from Marvelous Mansions, a flashy, yet dubious company, focused on making historic homes more "modern." The company already several days into its makeover of the Smetkamps' house, and tensions are running high--not only between the officious, demanding Mrs. Smetkamp and her neighbors, but also between her and the renovation crew. Meg, who is trying to keep the peace and prevent the makeover crew from trampling on every clause of the county's building code, arrives at the Smetkamps to find that Caerphilly's resident flock of feral turkeys has moved into their yard--or been relocated there by someone who wanted to cause them trouble. The turkeys are huge, territorial, cranky and aggressive - and impossible to move! Meg does what she can to calm down the irate neighbors and help the makeover crew make progress in spite of the turkeys. She comes up with a plan to gather a group of turkey wranglers to snatch them early in the morning. But when they arrive, they find the body of Mrs. Smetkamp in her backyard. Someone stabbed her, and then tried to make it look as if she was attacked by one of the turkeys, but Meg, the Chief, and the Sheriff are not fooled. Together, they must figure out what really happened to Mrs. Smetkamp...and what to do with all these turkeys! You can't go wrong with any book in this series. After reading them for so long I feel that Meg and her family are friends. If you haven't read this series you need to. Highly recommend.

It’s spring in Caerphilly, Virginia, and despite it being a school holiday (and thus, in theory, a quiet day for her), the day starts with a bang for Meg. Gloria Willingham, a drama department colleague of Meg’s husband Michael, is at the door, requesting permission to use their home library (side note: I’m convinced that Meg’s house is part TARDIS with a full sized library nee ballroom, dozen of bedrooms, many with attached bathrooms, etc - there's always room for at least a dozen guests!). Despite the town council’s attempts to prevent it, Gloria’s neighbors, the Smetkamps, are having their house being renovated by a home makeover reality show, causing headaches for Meg in her role as assistant to the Mayor. As Gloria complains about early morning noise (including a suspicious reference to gobbling), Meg decides she probably should head over there, see what she can do to expedite the resolution of the chaos.

Of course once she turns onto Bland Street where Gloria lives, she realizes the gobbling is coming from the town’s flock of feral turkeys. Overnight, someone had managed to lure them over to the renovation site where they are causing as much havoc as turkeys can. So instead of dealing with the renovation turmoil, she’s dealing with helping figure out how to remove the turkeys, who lured them there, and why. However, once the plan to remove the turkeys is in place, Meg’s faced with an additional dilemma: finding out who murdered Mrs. Smetkamp.

First a disclaimer: I’m a HUGE fan of Ms. Andrews and her Meg Langslow series - she’d have to try really hard to write a book I hated. I love the characters and how everyone cares for everyone else and how there’s always a happy ending. The murder plot is frequently a bit meh, but as I enjoy all the other elements, it’s easy to forgive that. For example, in this book, the subplot about the feral turkeys was almost as dominate as the murder investigation as Mrs. Smethamp isn’t killed until about 40% through the book. I think it’s fine, though, as there is so much action concerning the mystery of turkeys and the sly introduction of all the suspects. I also like how there’s a bit of history thrown in - Bland Street (where most of the action takes place) is named after James A. Bland - and how subtle some of the characterization is - while her skin color is never mentioned, Gloria has braids and is doing research on Black women playwrights of the Harlem Renaissance - which allows the reader to come up with their own image of a character. And of course, I love how it never fails for a picnic or pot luck supper to suddenly appear, with descriptions of all the wonderful homemade dishes of the residents of Caerphilly.

Highly recommended! Even though this is part of a long running series, I feel there’s enough background information that a newcomer to the series could read it without being lost.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

It is hard to believe that an author can keep getting better after so many books, but Between a Flock and a Hard Place, the 35th novel in Donna Andrews Meg Langslow series is the best yet and it isn't even one of my beloved Christmas ones. A strong sense of community and wonderful, and often unexpected, characters enhance by the humor make each investigation stand out and hold my attention beyond the typical cozy mystery. Death and a turkey invasion challenge the first responders of the small town of Caerphilly (I pronounce it Carefully) and our favorite blacksmith and amateur sleuth, Meg Langslow, but nothing stops them from helping their neighbors or stops her from finding out who killed a man who destroyed a neighborhood home in the name of reality television.
My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me to read an ARC of the delightful Between a Flock and a Hard Place. The Pomeranians alone make the books worth reading and they are small part of what makes this book and others in the series a must read.

#NetGAlley #StMartinsPress #MinotaurBooks #MegLangslow #DonnaAndrews

This is really a 3.5 star book. Thanks to
#St. Martin's Press | #Minotaur Books for letting me read the egalley of this book in return for my honest review. #NetGalley It will be out Aug 06 2024 so is now available for preorder or library holds -- still in time for a beach read.

This is a good, quick visit with Meg Langslow and her assorted family and friends. There's less focus on some of the stock characters and humor, and more focus on the story -- which does involve over 200 feral turkeys who are interfering with a home makeover show in one of the usually quiet blocks of the town. This keeps Meg and Mayor Shiffley more than occupied -- even before there is a murder.

I read it in a day, and it kept my attention. I enjoy the quick and breezy pace and the characters and the town. I think it could also work for people who are not series fans, as it doesn't require or provide a lot of backstory, so it might be a good place to begin for people who don't want to go back to [book:Murder with Peacocks|545766]


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I'm gratified that Ms. Andrews, while not completely able to back off this type of ending, at least didn't have Meg walk alone into danger only to be rescued by a man. Finally. Perhaps she can work out a completely original ending for the next trip into birdland.

Donna Andrews and her Meg Langslow mysteries are reliably well-done cozy mysteries with strong clues and sneaky red herrings. Add a large crazy family and an interesting selection of animals and you are bound to have a fun few hours of reading.

In this installment, (35th in the series, but can definitely stand alone, too) there is a collision between a shady reality show, a very cranky neighbor and a large herd of feral turkeys. As the mayor’s go-to person for handling random problems, Meg must keep everyone’s temper from flaring as she confronts noisy construction, spying neighbors, and turkey poo while trying to figure out a murder.

As always, I love the care that Meg has for her friends, family, neighbors and town. She is smart and willing to get her hands dirty, but she doesn’t run into danger without thinking or letting someone know where she is going. She is generous, but not a perfect person as is most of the other supporting cast. The complex characters and their relationships are what keep me returning to this series. On top of that, these books are very funny—I never realized a turkey could seem both menacing and goofy at the same time.

The one thing I noticed in this particular novel, and it may be because I had an early reader’s copy that has not perhaps been fully edited, but on several occasions, there would be two people having a conversation, and a third would chime in that I had no idea was in the vicinity. It was strange and took me out of the story.

All in all, this was great fun and highly enjoyable.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the free digital copy.

Donna Andres is my go to author for a "feel good" read. Her Meg Langslow series has never failed me. Even now, in the 35th book of the series, the characters -- and there are many -- remain individuals with well-defined quirks and tendencies, albeit they do manage to surprise us from time to time. There seems to always be something going on in Caerphilly and Meg perpetually remains busy, busy, busy, but always seems to find time for a friend or to help out the Chief with problem solving or, oops, helping nab a killer. And, as always, I marvel that she seems to remain the calm in the middle of chaos, whether facing down attack turkeys or a murderer. More amazingly, Andrews fills her books with humor and laugh-out--loud scenes that you're usually just glad aren't happening to you.

I won't really detail the plot. It's a twisty one that, quite frankly, starts with the invasion of a hoard of feral turkeys. Yes, Meg encounters them. Seriously, was there any doubt she'd wind up in the midst of some homicidal turkeys? The real question, of course, well, after "How do we get rid of them?" is how and why they've invaded a neighborhood to begin with. Is there a connection to the, uh, remodel being down at the Smetkamp home? Never mind it's more like the destruction of rather than remodel. Who killed the not at all likable Mrs. Smetkamp? Murder aside, we become immersed in turkey control/removal efforts and all I can say is that Benny, the Amazon delivery guy, deserves a medal. I bet he'll especially relish his next turkey feast.

And, there's more, much, much more. Let's see, I haven't mentioned the cyber crime, FBI involvement, unlikely cadaver/scent dogs, flatulence studies (Grandfather is always up to something scientific), sketchy reality show, out-of-work crews, stolen trucks, garden club, invasive plants, a quick history on state songs, Virginia's in particular, and, oh, so much, much more. There is rarely a dull moment in Caerphilly and Meg is usually right in the middle of it.

Read this one if you need a laugh or simply enjoy a fun mystery with more twists and turns and distractions than you can count. You're going to love the characters, from Benny the Amazon delivery guy to Kevin the cyber genius who often helps Meg make sense of what she's seeing on her screen, even if she doesn't quite understand it all. Thanks #NetGally and #MinotaurBooks - #StMartin'sPress for the virtual invite to drop in on Meg again in the always charming but eccentric Caerphilly. Having had a domesticated turkey, thus far smaller than these, launch itself at my car tire once, I could relate all too well to the awe of being the target of homicidal attack turkeys. Needless to say, I didn't get out of my car. Grin. And, oh, yeah, a virtual "Yes!" for Vern's decision at the end.

Thank you for the EArc St Martins Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley. If you’ve never read a Donna Andrew’s book, what are you waiting for? The stories are fun who done it mysteries that incorporate a small town, family and creatures great and small. I love seeing what adventures Meg is going to get into next. Always a great read.

Caerphilly residents, Mr. and Mrs. Smetkamp, have won the opportunity to have their home remodeled on the reality show Marvelous Mansions. It’s a few days into the remodel project and tensions are running high between Mrs. Smetkamp, her neighbors, the production crew, and various remodelers. The house has also been “renovated” to the point that it is no longer habitable and possibly unfixable. Meg Langslow, in her official capacity as assistant to the mayor, is on site to help keep the peace. Things are made even more complicated when a team of pranksters lure Caerphilly’s flock of feral turkeys to the Smetkamp’s yard. Production is shut down so that the turkeys can be rounded out and relocated to the local zoo. While helping with the turkey round-up, Meg finds Mrs. Smetkamp’s body in the backyard. There are plenty of suspects with valid motive to have stabbed Mrs. Smetkamp to death. Once again, Meg gets caught up in the investigation. In her pursuit to find Mrs. Smetkamp’s murderer, she uncovers several other crimes.

BETWEEN A FLOCK AND A HARD PLACE is a hilarious addition to the Meg Langslow series. The book did get off to a bit of a slow start. The focus was on the feral turkeys and their invasion of the neighborhood. While hilarious, it did take a while to get around to the murder. Mrs. Smetkamp is extremely unlikable, and it’s understandable why someone would want to kill her. The addition of the other crimes was intriguing, and it kept the second half of the book moving.

The latest in the Meg Langslow bird books. That's how I think of them the bird books. This time the bird is feral turkeys. I never knew there was such a thing. They added a comic undertone to this story. But back to the story. Meg's neighbors have been selected to be on one of those home remodeling shows for a local company. They end up making the house worse than it was. Not to mention a dead body ended up at the remodel site. Leave it to Meg and her family to flesh out the culprit and troubleshoot for the town. Not to mention figure out a way to take all those turkeys to her grandfather's zoo. Who knew turkeys were so funny. This is one of my favorites in this series of books. I wish I lived in Meg's neighborhood too, seems like there is never a dull moment.