How the Finch Stole Christmas! by Donna Andrews

There is no place I’d rather spend Christmas than in Caerphilly with Meg Langslow. Donna Andrews’ latest Meg Langslow mystery has the town in the throes of another Christmas season with Meg this time acting as assistant director to her husband’s production of A Christmas Carol.

Of course nothing goes smoothly as the college has hired a has-been actor who proves to be both difficult and a rather determined alcoholic. Add in Meg’s grandfather trying to house a bunch of illegally imported finches related to a big federal fish and wildlife animal smugglers ring, a determined stalker of the actor, and assorted problems big and small that only Meg can solve and you’ve got another wonderful Caerphilly Christmas.

A murder and an animal hoarding situation add to the chaos making Meg determined to get to the bottom of things so that production of A Christmas Carol can go on. Her multi-talented extended family and a large cast of helpful locals will draw you into a hilarious and deeply satisfying mystery.

Andrews writes books that allow new readers to jump in at any point in the series, and she manages to delight long-time readers with revisiting familiar characters. One character who gets a lot of page-time in this outing is Ekaterina who runs the Caerphilly Inn. She steals scene after scene and is a significant part of solving the mystery. I look forward to seeing even more of her in the future.

Find your most comfortable reading spot, crack open this book, and prepare to spend a few hours with a smile on your face. Donna Andrews has done it again. Highly recommended.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher.

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