ARC Review: Between a Flock and a Hard Place by Donna Andrews

Between a Flock and a Hard Place
Author: Donna Andrews
Series: Meg Langslow (Book 35)
Publication: Minotaur Books (August 6, 2024)

Description: Readers will flock to New York Times bestselling author Donna Andrews's next installment in the award-winning Meg Langslow series.

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!

My Thoughts: Meg has a new assignment from the mayor. A home renovation television program has come to town to redo the Smetkamp's home in a charming, historic neighborhood. The neighbors are outraged, Mrs. Smetkamp is making constant demands, and the company is playing fast and loose with building permits. 

Then someone herds the town's feral turkeys to the neighborhood. The turkeys are large, aggressive and resistant to being herded back to where they belong which is at Meg's grandfather's research facility. They manage to shut down the building project and cause all sorts of chaos in the neighborhood. While the sheriff is looking for the culprits, Megs father and grandfather want to find them too - because they want to know how they managed to get all the turkeys into the neighborhood. They've been having trouble moving the turkeys around. 

While Meg is trying to arrange a turkey round-up, the mayor who is also a building contractor discovers that the TV crew has demolished almost all of the load-bearing walls in their reno and made the house not only unlivable but an active danger for anyone entering it. He immediately shuts down any activities at the reno. 

On the night of the round-up, Meg discovers Mrs. Smetkamp's body is the small woodworking shed at the back of her home. It is an obvious murder since she was stabbed with one of the wood rasps from the scene. As usual, there are a lot of suspects from her disgruntled neighbors to the TV crew who had been trying to work with her. 

This was another fun and funny episode in a long-running series. I enjoy Meg's ability to keep her head and solve problems. 

Favorite Quote:

"And why is keeping them in line your job, anyway?" Gloria asked.

"Because I'm the mayor's special assistant in charge of nuts and nuisances," I said.

She chuckled at that.

Actually, the official wording was Executive Assistant for Special Projects, but my version was more accurate. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.