Murder with Peacocks

What makes it funny?

A six-in-the-morning phone call informs Meg that the wedding needs live peacocks. She responds like a practical contractor: will they be bought or rented? Before she can settle into her forge, her mother phones with an unexplained question about the color blue, and another bride adds a ceremony dispute.

The comedy at work

Meg’s competence makes her the obvious person to ask, so every new whim becomes her assignment. Her outwardly businesslike responses keep the conversation moving while her private observations register the absurdity. Lists grow; the people making the demands remain delighted with themselves.

Try this if…

This suits readers who want an amateur mystery wrapped in elaborate wedding preparations, family interference and unwanted matchmaking. Kirkus found the wedding farce so prominent that the killer was overshadowed; the social comedy is a large part of the attraction.

Good to know

The first Meg Langslow mystery spends substantial time on the weddings and romantic complications. Meg’s sensible viewpoint holds together an eccentric family and a case that includes deaths amid the celebrations.