THE TWELVE JAYS OF CHRISTMAS is the thirtieth book in the “Meg Langslow” cozy mystery series by Donna Andrews. I always look forward to the next book in this series because they are always amusing as well as an entertaining mystery. THE TWELVE JAYS OF CHRISTMAS does not disappoint. As expected, Meg Langslow has a few plates spinning in the air at the opening of this book. The major source of annoyance in this story is wildlife artist, and all-around jerk, Roderick Castlemayne who has taken up residence in Meg’s library. That somebody eventually murders Castlemayne is almost inevitable given his nastiness to everyone he encounters. Unfortunately for Meg and her family, he gets murdered at her house during the holidays, with relatives all over the place, along with errant jays doing random divebombs to unsuspecting visitors. Oh, and there’s briefly wombats in the basement. What fun!
Because Castlemayne is so universally despised, the suspect pool is enormous. Having so many suspects is great for mystery readers like me, because it presents a greater challenge to try and figure out who the murderer is. A big part of the feeling of unease that seeps into this tale, comes from all the different types of odd and occasionally dangerous, people who try and sneak into Meg’s home trying to get to Castlemayne. As many friends and family members floating around, somebody always manages to find a way in who shouldn’t be in. Even though this book is a cozy mystery in the best possible ways, there are moments Meg - and the reader - wonder if she’s ever totally alone, and whether the stray sounds throughout the night are innocuous or something more sinister. Fabulous stuff. As usual with a “Meg Langslow” mystery, Donna Andrews balances the danger and mystery with the delightfully absurd. With this book, the disappearing and reappearing jays with tons of attitude, the wombats, and Meg’s brother and his fiancé playing hide-and-seek with their parents provide a few chuckles for readers. Meg’s brother Rob is back in town with his fiancé. They desperately want to bypass their moms and just have a simple marriage ceremony with maybe a somewhat grander celebration in the future. The moms find this unacceptable and begin plotting. The lengths they go toward avoiding being discovered by the other side is farcical at times but fun. Although even that aspect of the story goes to a dark place at one point.
THE TWELVE JAYS OF CHRISTMAS has fabulous flights of fancy mixed in with an engrossing and chilling mystery – along with a few psychos and some holiday cheer. Although this story is set around Christmas, the holiday doesn’t overwhelm or obscure the rest of the story. The focus is mostly on the murder mystery.
The cast of Donna Andrews’ New York Times bestselling Meg Langslow mystery series is back for an unforgettable holiday story in The Twelve Jays of Christmas.
Meg and Michael’s annual holiday celebration is well underway, with a throng of out-of-town relatives staying at their house. Hosting these festivities is a little harder than usual—they have to relocate all the events normally held in their library, currently occupied by Roderick Castlemayne, the irascible wildlife artist who’s creating twelve paintings of birds to illustrate Meg’s grandfather’s latest nature book.
Still, the celebrations continue—and the entire family rejoices to learn that Meg’s brother Rob and his longtime fiancée Delaney have finally decided to tie the knot. Unfortunately, they decide to do this in the middle of Meg and Michael’s annual New Year’s bash, dashing their mothers’ hopes of planning the wedding to end all weddings.
Delaney’s mother sneaks into town so she and Meg’s mother can secretly plot a way to talk the happy couple into having a big bash. Hiding her only adds to Meg’s holiday stress—it’s almost a full-time job fending all the visitors who want to confront Castlemayne—reporters, bill collectors, process servers, and several ex-wives in search of unpaid alimony.
Then someone murders Castlemayne in the middle of a blizzard and sets loose the birds he was painting. Can Meg help the police crack the case before the killer strikes again? Can she keep Christmas merry in spite of the body in the library? Can she negotiate a compromise between Rob and Delaney and their disappointed mothers? And can she recapture the twelve escaped jays before they begin nesting in the Christmas tree?
This intrigue-filled Christmas mystery takes readers home to Caerphilly to join in Meg's family's holiday celebration—including, of course, another baffling mystery.
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