The Twelve Jays of Christmas by Donna Andrews

Meg Langslow has an injured ankle which means she had to miss the ski trip with husband Michael and the boys. Instead, Meg is home with visiting relatives, grandfather’s temperamental wildlife artist occupying the library, wombats in the basement, mockingbirds loose in the house, and her mother secretly plotting a big wedding for Meg’s brother Rob and fiance Delaney despite their wishes for a small intimate New Year’s wedding. This is the rush that starts off Donna Andrew’s latest Langslow Christmas adventure, The Twelve Jays of Christmas.

The artist Meg’s grandfather has hired to paint birds as illustrations for his new book, Roderick Castlemayne, is demanding and disagreeable. His beleaguered assistant, Harris, does his best to run interference but he can’t entirely contain the cantankerous artist. Worse, when word gets out that Castlemayne is working at Meg’s house, a long list of people with grudges against him start showing up at Meg’s door, including some unhappy ex-wives. When a noise in the night awakens Meg and she discovers Castlemayne’s dead body, the list of suspects is a long one.

Meg’s curiosity and the fact that she lives at the scene of the crime, have her helping round up suspects for the chief to interview. A snowstorm and subsequent power outage also have her scrambling to feed a horde of hungry relatives. As usual, Meg’s ingenious family and a bunch of helpful Caerphilly locals make the task easier. Meg still manages to find herself in the killer’s crosshairs before justice is served just in time for everyone to have a merry Christmas.

The Twelve Jays of Christmas is another fun entry in this series that will delight existing fans and newcomers alike. If I were in a Twilight Zone episode and could step off a train into any world, I would get off in Caerphilly, Virginia, and live in the wonderful world Donna Andrews has created there. I love spending time with these characters and always look forward to my next visit.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.