Audiobook Review: Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews

Duck the Halls
Author: Donna Andrews
Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
Series: Meg Langslow Mystery (Book 16)
Publication: Dreamscape Media (October 24, 2013)
Length: 8 hours and 17 minutes

Description: A few nights before Christmas, Meg is awakened when Michael is summoned to the New Life Baptist Church, where someone has rigged a cage full of skunks in the choir loft. The lengthy process of de-skunking the church requires its annual pre-Christmas concert to relocate to Trinity Episcopal, despite the protests of Mr. Vess, an elderly vestryman.

Meanwhile, when Meg helps her grandfather take the skunks to the zoo, they discover that his boa has been stolen - only to turn up later during the concert slithering out from the ribbon-bedecked evergreens. It's clear that some serious holiday pranksters are on the loose, and Meg is determined to find them. But before she can, a fire breaks out at Trinity, and Mr. Vess is discovered dead.

My Thoughts: Meg's organizational skills are really put to the test in the days leading up to Christmas. When skunks - thirteen of them - are found in the choir loft of the New Life Baptist Church just before their highly anticipated Christmas Choir Concert demand a new location be found for the concert, Meg is busy helping sort out spaces in other churches and public places to hold the concert, rehearsals and all the other events scheduled for New Life Baptist. 

Some of the events spill over at Meg's Episcopalian Church which really irritates Mr. Vess who is a member of the church council and famous for watching every penny the church spends. Also, the church storage areas are already packed with the belongings of a recent parishioner who left everything to the church. 

But skunks are only the first prank, next comes the theft of a boa from Meg's grandfather's zoo which makes its next appearance in the branches of an evergreen at the concert. And then there are ducks, hundreds of ducks, let loose in the local Catholic Church. 

As the Chief tries to find the pranksters and Meg tries to rearrange all the holiday events, a murderer is lurking. Mr. Vess's body is found in the church basement which throws the schedules in disorder again and adds even more stress to the holiday season. Everyone, including Meg and the new rector, has had recent arguments with Mr. Vess. 

I enjoyed this holiday entry into the Meg Langslow series. I liked all the different events from concerts to live nativity scenes. I liked seeing some of them through eyes of Meg and Michael's now-three-year-old twins. I liked the dueling mothers-in-law each trying to plan the more spectacular Christmas dinners and Meg and Michael's determination to do something quieter. 

I bought this one from Chirp March 22, 2023. You can buy your copy here.