The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews is a 2011 Minotaur Books publication.

Meg and Michael are proud, but tired parents of twin boys! But, of course, things are about to get even crazier when Meg awakens to a house full of dogs, cats, and… and one foul mouthed Macaw.

As it turns out an animal activist group, which surprise, surprise, Meg’s grandfather is a member of, has stolen the animals from a shelter, which has reversed its ‘no kill’ policy’ due to a lack of funds.

For some reason, Parker, the volunteer who has promised to transport the animals to another shelter, hasn’t shown up and all efforts to contact him have been for naught. When the sheriff shows up, he comes bearing bad news- Parker has been murdered, and he would like to know why someone from Meg’s house has been trying to call Parker repeatedly over the past few hours…

The mystery in this installment is quite good. The plot was absorbing and well executed. The humor was toned down, just a bit, though there were still some laugh out loud moments. I loved all those animals, and the funny things they did, and how some of them found good homes.

Because the book was published in 2013 some of the technologies mentioned are a little nostalgic, but other than that, I usually find that these stories are timeless. Though the characters are very quirky, and occasionally silly, Andrews dots all the I’s and crosses the T’s, so that Meg’s amateur sleuthing makes sense, and mysteries are challenging, but also loads of fun!

4 stars ( )

3 stars. Because, as amusing as it was, when my first thought was "she's done this before." Which she had...kinda. Again, she is at her best when she doing quirky relatives. Some have become rather normal, which is sad. Lots of missed opportunities. ( )

This book was crammed packed with action. Infant twins, construction, an entire animal rescue moved to her barn..all needing new homes, a crooked mayor, a philanderer who died for his lust, a rare blue macaw which holds the clue to solve his murder, a town mortgaged and emptied, Timmy has returned...his mom Karen joined the army and left him (5 years old) with Meg. Not much Spike. I was glued.

Read again 2023-adore it. ( )

cozy-mystery, lawyers, law-enforcement, situational-humor, verbal-humor, amateur-sleuth

Meg and Michael only think that they are overbusy what with her looney family, infant twin boys, and the 5 year old son of the formerly underemployed coordinator of the drama dept who chose to join the military to finance her PhD. Then they are inundated by all of the animals of the county shelter when the volunteers try to rescue them but one of their number is murdered. Besides the animals and the murder, there is the uproar that begins when a pair of surveyors come in preparation for the building of a golf course and condos on their property! More madness ensues when it turns out that the mayor has taken out loans on the administration buildings but never made the payments, and now the bank is demanding evacuation and the whole town comes out in force to move everything out. Through it all, there is plenty of laughter to be had! ( )

Home with four-month-old twins, Meg Langslow's home suddenly becomes an emergency animal shelter. Amongst the animals saved is a foul-mouthed macaw, not a good example for the twins! Of course her zoologist grandfather is behind it all, and when the volunteer who was to transport the animals out of town is found murdered, Meg has another mystery on her hands. Another very funny story! ( )