Bonnie A. (ladycholla) -
As always with Andrews I laughed a lot and enjoyed the antics of the family. This is a fun book, good mystery, new addition to the Langslow family and is a wonderful followup to the rest of the books. The adventures are always fun and the way it is written is priceless. Andrews has a marvelous sense of humor and a great way of putting it all together. Great, good fun and for me extremely enjoyable. Looking forward to all that follow. May many more follow.
Patti S. (Pattakins) reviewed The Good, the Bad, and the Emus (Meg Langslow, Bk 17 ) on + 365 more book reviews
The characters and situations in this series continue to develop: Meg Langslow is maturing from the hysterically funny and therefore slightly hysterical young woman of "Murder with Peacocks" who was fearful of commitment and living as far from her family as possible to being now (a number of years later) the mother of growing twin boys who better understands and appreciates the dynamics of family and parenthood.
Andrew's plots have always been well crafted. They are becoming more serious now, literally bringing Meg's family together, with the serious healing that brings to her ever-less-dysfunctional family, As a result, Andrews is settling down to more realistic, less manic plots. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed the "laugh a minute" style of the first books in the series, because that's who Meg was at the time, but all of the characters are gradually maturing, perhaps I would even say becoming more believable, and for that reason, what happens to them has also become much more important. We won't mind when Meg's hand gets better and we hear more about her iron-crafting, but this is the book that tells the story of her grandmother's joining the family, and at the same time, the ending seems to be paving the way for showcasing the entire family's creativity. Michael and the boys could not realistically have been center stage in this book: Grandmother Cordelia was a woman seriously frightened for her life, acting the part of an elderly recluse who could not have handled boisterous 4-year-old twins boys.
If you take a book like this seriously enough to read it more than once, you realize how much the author has put into it. Andrews is doing a great job juggling an enormous family and cast of characters. She doesn't focus on every person the same way in every book, and that keeps us looking for what will happen next, seeing that she eventually catches up with everyone.
I look forward to getting to know grandmother Cordelia better. Michael might well have more focus soon, too -- we're left with that bit of a cliff-hanger: Meg and her grandmother are kindred spirits, and it seems logical that Michael will be drawn to this newly-discovered relation just as he's dawn to his wife. I confess I don't see how the boys can be center stage with that yet, but Andrews is good at bridging the age gap, and I'm not just saying it -- I really am looking forward to seeing what she does with the next book! Credit Mother Raphaela.
Andrew's plots have always been well crafted. They are becoming more serious now, literally bringing Meg's family together, with the serious healing that brings to her ever-less-dysfunctional family, As a result, Andrews is settling down to more realistic, less manic plots. Don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed the "laugh a minute" style of the first books in the series, because that's who Meg was at the time, but all of the characters are gradually maturing, perhaps I would even say becoming more believable, and for that reason, what happens to them has also become much more important. We won't mind when Meg's hand gets better and we hear more about her iron-crafting, but this is the book that tells the story of her grandmother's joining the family, and at the same time, the ending seems to be paving the way for showcasing the entire family's creativity. Michael and the boys could not realistically have been center stage in this book: Grandmother Cordelia was a woman seriously frightened for her life, acting the part of an elderly recluse who could not have handled boisterous 4-year-old twins boys.
If you take a book like this seriously enough to read it more than once, you realize how much the author has put into it. Andrews is doing a great job juggling an enormous family and cast of characters. She doesn't focus on every person the same way in every book, and that keeps us looking for what will happen next, seeing that she eventually catches up with everyone.
I look forward to getting to know grandmother Cordelia better. Michael might well have more focus soon, too -- we're left with that bit of a cliff-hanger: Meg and her grandmother are kindred spirits, and it seems logical that Michael will be drawn to this newly-discovered relation just as he's dawn to his wife. I confess I don't see how the boys can be center stage with that yet, but Andrews is good at bridging the age gap, and I'm not just saying it -- I really am looking forward to seeing what she does with the next book! Credit Mother Raphaela.
Regina C. (flyinggems) reviewed The Good, the Bad, and the Emus (Meg Langslow, Bk 17 ) on + 451 more book reviews
This is the 17th book in the series. I would highly recommend starting from the beginning.
Meg is helping the PI find her paternal grandmother and stumbles upon a local problem in town. Emu's are running loose. Meg decides to help her grandfather wrangle the emus and learn about her paternal family history.
This story was set in a new town and I was hoping the we would be introduced to new colorful characters. No new colorful characters were added.
1. Murder with Peacocks (1997)
2. Murder with Puffins (2000)
3. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos (2001)
4. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon (2003)
5. We'll Always Have Parrots (2004)
6. Owls Well That Ends Well (2005)
7. No Nest for the Wicket (2006)
8. The Penguin Who Knew Too Much (2007)
9. Cockatiels At Seven (2008)
10. Six Geese A-slaying (2008)
11. Swan for the Money (2009)
12. Stork Raving Mad (2010)
13. The Real Macaw (2011)
14. Some Like It Hawk (2012)
15. The Hen of the Baskervilles (2013)
16. Duck the Halls (2013)
17. The Good, the Bad, and the Emus (2014)
18. The Nightingale Before Christmas (2014)
19. Lord of the Wings (2015)
20. Die Like an Eagle (2016)
Meg is helping the PI find her paternal grandmother and stumbles upon a local problem in town. Emu's are running loose. Meg decides to help her grandfather wrangle the emus and learn about her paternal family history.
This story was set in a new town and I was hoping the we would be introduced to new colorful characters. No new colorful characters were added.
1. Murder with Peacocks (1997)
2. Murder with Puffins (2000)
3. Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos (2001)
4. Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon (2003)
5. We'll Always Have Parrots (2004)
6. Owls Well That Ends Well (2005)
7. No Nest for the Wicket (2006)
8. The Penguin Who Knew Too Much (2007)
9. Cockatiels At Seven (2008)
10. Six Geese A-slaying (2008)
11. Swan for the Money (2009)
12. Stork Raving Mad (2010)
13. The Real Macaw (2011)
14. Some Like It Hawk (2012)
15. The Hen of the Baskervilles (2013)
16. Duck the Halls (2013)
17. The Good, the Bad, and the Emus (2014)
18. The Nightingale Before Christmas (2014)
19. Lord of the Wings (2015)
20. Die Like an Eagle (2016)
