Stork Raving Mad

Meg Langslow #12

by Donna Andrews

Meg's expecting twins---any minute!---in this next hilarious entry in the award-winning, New York Times bestselling series!Meg is eight and a half months pregnant with twins when Michael asks if she wouldn't mind another houseguest. One of his doctoral students is directing his new translation of a play by a minor Spanish playwright, and the playwright has agreed to come to town for the production.Senor Mendoza turns out to be a drinker, a smoker, and an inveterate partygoer. Before long, Meg's kitchen is filled with the smells of Spanish food and the voices of all the wilder souls in both the drama and Spanish departments. Into this chaos arrive two prune-faced administrators, the dean of the English department and a man from the college president's office, who say that the play must be canceled. When the dean is found murdered, Meg's house becomes a crime scene, and the only way to restore peace is to help Chief Burke solve the murders---while rescuing the student's dissertation and Michael's tenure---all before dashing off to the hospital to give birth to her twins!The one and only Donna Andrews continues to surprise and delight in this next knee-slapping adventure featuring Meg Langslow and all the eccentric characters that make up her world.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Humor, Fiction, Cozy, Audiobook, Contemporary

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 2010

About the author

Donna Andrews was born in Yorktown, Virginia, the setting of Murder with Peacocks and Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos, and now lives and works in Reston, Virginia. When not writing fiction, Andrews is a self-confessed nerd, rarely found away from her computer, unless she's messing in the garden

http://us.macmillan.com/author/donnaa...

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews is a 2010 Minotaur publication.

This is a long running cozy mystery series I have been gradually reading through. Meg Langslow is the first-person narrator, and she is outrageously funny. The last chapter I read in this series was flat- but I was positive it was just a one-off- and I was right.

This twelfth installment sees Meg back to her usual self- except now she is very, very pregnant- with TWINS! If that weren’t enough to try someone’s patience, her home has been turned into a makeshift hotel for Michael’s drama students due to do a heating problem on campus. Meg, though, is as cool as a cucumber…

Until...

A member of the University faculty is murdered in their home- and it might not bode well for Michael's long- awaited tenure!

Meg was exceptionally sharp in this installment. The various names she gives the twins were hysterically funny.

I don’t know how Andrews manages to create such solid mysteries amid Meg’s always chaotic life, but it works.

While the recurring characters all make an appearance, some more prominent than others, this episode mostly featured Meg and her grandfather. The cast of characters was maybe a little too large, but I managed to keep everything straight. Lots of great revelations, zany dialogue, and comedy-

Overall, another wildly entertaining effort from Donna Andrews. Looking forward to reading lucky thirteen in the series, soon!!

4 stars

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

In STORK RAVING MAD, Meg is eight and a half months pregnant with twins, there is a problem with the boiler at Caerphilly College and so her house is temporarily holding dozens of undergrads. One of Michael’s doctoral students is also directing a play and writing his thesis on the work of a visiting Spanish playwright, but the English department, who oversees the Theatre department, is determined to cancel the whole thing, saying there’s controversy. Real problems or inter-faculty fighting over budgets? In any case, Meg has too many people underfoot and her stomach is queasy. Someone turns up dead in her house and there are so many people in the house, how to come up with a list of suspects? Also it turns out that the murder victim may have been “murdered” more than once, which was a new twist! This one didn’t have so many animals as some of the other books, but the comedy of all the college students underfoot was fun to read. 5/5 stars.

[Kav · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mystery was brilliantly done. Meg is in the very last days of pregnancy. She never leaves home. Ever. And still manages to do her sleuthing. The way the author brought everyone to her...including the murder victim!...was so clever. Great pacing and totally engaging despite the lack of location changes. I don't know how Donna Andrews managed it. Must have been a challenge, but she certainly delivered!

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

At any given time you can find me working on two to three lengthy cozy-mystery series while trying out books in other (smaller) series or trying out books in new genres. The Meg Langslow series is one of the longer series I am currently working my way through, and boy is it a good series!

Donna Andrews has a talent for weaving humor into her mysteries. I don't think there's been a book in this series yet that hasn't made me laugh out loud, or at least chuckle to myself. Meg has an enormous family that is both eccentric, quirky, and loud. Though that may be annoying to some people, Donna Andrews makes it work wonderfully.

The mysteries are always superbly plotted, though some mysteries tend to take a backseat to the family/secondary problems going on in the story. The characters are realistic and fun to read about.

I can honestly say this is a series that I love and will be reading for a long time yet. This is one of those series that every reader, not just cozy-mystery lovers, should pick up and give a try. There's a 10 to 1 chance that you'll love it!

[Susan Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this series. Meg's family is totally insane. Meg's husband is a professor of drama at the local college, her father (an orphan) is always doing some activity or other and trying to get involved in mysteries (he loves mysteries). Her brother went to law school, but invented a game about lawyers to play on computer and is now the head of a software company. At the moment, Meg herself is huge with twins due any minute. The heat has gone off at the college and they are housing many of the drama students in their large house - her brother seems to be a permanent resident, having moved into an unoccupied bedroom - as well as her cousin Rose Noir, who also seems to have taken up residence and looks forward to the babies. Then her husband tells her that a student has discovered that a play by an old Spanish writer that he translated and is putting on, and the author is actually still alive. So they invite him over. Then a professor from the English department arrives with an administrator to say there's a problem with the student's degree work. She ends up dead. So Meg has a houseful of about 30 to 60 students (drama students and some Spanish students), an old Spanish author, the police, some computer researchers from the college are in her basement she discovers (they are set up there by her brother), and the twins are due any minute. Plus it's really cold, icy weather so everyone is trying to find a warm spot. The students have been using the den and the library, but are moved out of the library because that's the scene of the crime. It gets pretty crazy.

[Dawn Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series. It makes me laugh, I rarely know who the killer is and the trouble that happens to Meg and Michael is just craziness [but believable craziness]. Add her parent's and brother and "interesting" cousin to the mix of house guests, the fact that Meg is 9 months along with twins and a nasty person is murdered in their library and not one person is sad about it, you have a hilarious and fun read.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Def shouldn’t have started with the 12th in the series! But the culprit was too easy!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a crazy life Meg leads! The plot of this one is as unbelievable as the rest of hers. The entire book takes place within a twelve hour period of time, and the entire book is set at Meg and Michael's house and outbuildings. This time the heat has gone out at the college and they have literally about 30 extra people living in their house, including a group in the basement that have been there for weeks without Meg knowing about it. I would have thought she would have noticed when she did laundry!

Another great mystery from Donna Andrews. We have an ancient playwright from Spain, the students who are putting on the production, other assorted students, the dean from the English department who is trying to shut the play down, a man from the administration, and various family members all in the house. Soon the dean is found dead in the library and all the other people in the house are suspects. Meg keeps trying to get a nap for the rest of the book, but she keeps hearing or overhearing information that she takes to the police chief. Quickly, the mystery is solved, but not before Meg goes into labor. They were on the way to the hospital when the book ends. It's not fair -- she left us wondering about the twins!

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The furnace used to heat the college dorms is broken so the entire town of Caerphilly, VA has opened their homes to college students. Meg and Michael have students and professors living in every room of their home except their bedroom, the bathrooms, the closets, the nursery, and the kitchen.

A pregnant Meg, who is due at anytime, finds Dr. Jean Wright, one of the most hated professors on campus, dead in the library. Meg, already uncomfortable due to the pregnancy, finds herself unwillingly and involuntarily investigating the case.

It is always a treat to read a Donna Andres novel because of Meg’s kooky family and kooky suspects; readers are guaranteed to have a good time.

[Carinne Payne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope🫡

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meg is on the last of her pregnancy with twins. She and Michael had decided that while the twins are fraternal, they don't want to find out the last great mystery until they are born. She has a room set up for them and spends a lot of time resting, but her house is full to the brim with her brother, Rob, and cousin, Rose, that Michael calls borders since they have lived with them for so long in the 3rd-floor rooms. They are housing her grandfather, Dr. Blake because there are no rooms at the inn (the hotel that he always stays at). With this, they are also housing about 2 dozen drama students and about half a dozen of Rob's student interns. The reason they have so many in their home is that the school's boiler has broken and the Shiffley's won't fix the boiler until they are paid the half a million they are already owed for work they have already completed at the college. This is contentious and to top all of this off, two people from the college have shown up to state they are not allowing a show to happen and they are refusing to allow a student who has done all his paperwork for his doctoral thesis to continue with the work that he has completed already.



They are so foul and hated that it is no surprise that one of them has been found dead in the library of the house and there are so many suspects available for the chief to try to wade through. Poor Meg, being so big in her final months (she is 8 1/2 months along) just wants to find places to sit and rest and keeps finding out information for the chief to help him solve the mystery.



The only thing I didn't like (spoiler alert) is that at the end of the story they say she has gone into labor and is being taken to the hospital, but they don't say what she has (boys, girls or boy/girl) or their names and you have to wait for the next book (or find and read the next book).

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and quick reading addition to this series--even all the action (and there's plenty) takes place in a period of less than 12 hours at the home of our delightful heroine Meg and her dream husband Michael. Meg is in her last days of pregnancy with twins and this plays a big part in the narration. As usual their home is filled with a LARGE number of characters-family, guests, college students--and plenty of them are eccentric to say the least. The plot hinges around skulduggery and infighting at the college. If you have enjoyed others in this series, you will love this one. I do suggest you read these is order.

[Donna in Southern Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE Donna Andrews and her sense of humor! This one is a little different in that it only covers one day, from morning until night. The murder and mystery were good; I usually figure out whodunit much sooner.

It was funny how the babies were referred to by every duo's name you could think of - except I think she left out Frick and Frack! The usual characters are around, and added to by many more students and some faculty from the college.

Read in 2 days, and can't wait for the next installment!

[Anne Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the narrator is always perfect. I’ve fallen in love with all the characters.

[Amber Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute mystery to listen too. Can’t wait to fine out what babies r

[Bookjazzer2010 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed something light to read during the holidays. This series has been good for relaxation.

[Sandie Herron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meg Langslow is 8 ½ months pregnant with twins as this hilarious tale begins. It’s winter and the heating system at Caerphilly College is out leaving the students to scramble for warm accommodations. At least a dozen are camped out in Meg and Michael’s living room. The rest of the Victorian mansion houses Meg’s brother Rob, her cousin Rose, and her grandfather Dr. Blake. A group of programmers from Rob’s computer gaming business are testing a new game in the basement.

The front doorbell keeps ringing. Meg waddles to open it and discovers two professors from the college. They are looking for a particular student in order to tell him that his dissertation must change from the drama featuring a new translation of a Spanish playwright’s work. One says this is the “English” department, and one says the play is obscene. Meg’s husband Michael is the head of the drama department and says this is outrageous. All the approvals were received years ago; approval for which no one has any record. An emergency meeting of the dissertation committee is called to be held then and there. While the two disagreeable professors on site await the arrival of additional professors, they scatter to areas they can work and request tea. Rose makes the tea amid a flurry of activity in the kitchen as the now elderly playwright who has come to town is making Spanish food. Chaos ensues when he drops his bottle of prescription heart pills. Dozens of students crawl on the floor to find them.

After the additional professors arrive, Meg goes to fetch the two on site, and finds the English professor dead in the library. Chief Burke is called and quickly arrives at the scene. When he asks Meg how many people were home, she counts up over 50! As the Chief begins questioning them, Meg finally finds a quiet spot for a nap. It doesn’t last long before activity swarms around her once again.

Donna Andrews has given us a glimpse into pregnancy while bringing us a bevy of disparate characters with more than one crisis on their hands. It was nice to see Michael have a larger role as husband, father-to-be, and professor. It was fun to see Meg and Michael changing roles into parents. They added comedy at every turn calling the twins names of famous duos. This slice of life intertwines with the mystery seamlessly while the myriad characters bring it all to life. Kudos to Donna Andrews yet again for the twelfth Meg Langslow mystery!

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meg and Michael are homebound on a dreary winter's afternoon, marooned in their huge Victorian home. Alas, alack, poor things, right? Ha! They have dozens of houseguests. Students from Caerphilly College, where Michael teaches drama, slung out into the cold by the College's heating system going kerflooie in the coldest winter anyone can remember.

Add to the madness Meg's mom on a kamikaze decorating binge for the arrival of Meg's twins (genders unknown and referred to by cute names throughout like Castor and Pollux and Heckel and Jeckel), her brother Rob's computer interns, and oh yeah a murder, and the fun never stops.

But many things do, sad to note. A major plot thread involving an elderly Catalan Franco resistor and the US premiere of his sixty-year-old play goes absolutely nowhere and would have been unnoticeable had it been absent. Meg's ancient and irascible grandfather is deployed a couple times to very little immediate effect, but rather to set up and explain future plots (he donates a state-of-the-art theater and TV production facility to Caerphilly). A student love triangle resolves itself remarkably swiftly and tidily, but not hugely believably, and with little fanfare.

Still, the book was fun, and it's number 12 or some ridiculous thing, so one isn't expecting new literary forms to emerge or the Pulitzer committee to scrutinize Andrews's CV for accusations of plagiarism before awarding her an investigative journalism award or some damn thing. She's telling a fun story, taken on its own merits, and delivers on the promise implicit in the series: Sane center Meg is instrumental in weaving the correct picture from the chaos of tangled threads that surround her. Expect more, it won't deliver; expect this, you're in for a very nice afternoon's entertainment.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Stork Raving Mad" by Donna Andrews, book #12 in the Meg Langslow series. It's been awhile since I've caught up on this series, but I am oh-so glad I have. A fun, quick, entertaining mystery (or "cozy mystery" as I recently learned), and it was just as funny & quirky as I remember the previous novels being, and it was so easy to slip back into the town of Caerphilly, VA. This particular novel follows 8 1/2 months pregnant Meg, a blacksmith and amateur sleuth in a small Virginia college town. When a professor on her husband's tenure committee is murdered with a house full of suspects, Meg helps the Chief of police solve the crime.

As an aside, I had no idea what "cozy mystery" meant when I first started seeing the term pop up as a genre descriptor in the last few months. But I soon realized that one of my favorite series in junior high and high school, "The Cat Who..." mysteries is a perfect example of the genre and I adore them! Recommendations for others? Sometimes a light read is exactly what you need, right?

[FangirlNation · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Stork Raving Mad by Donna Andrews, Meg Langslow is weighed down by twins due any day and a house completely full with at least two dozen drama students and a bunch of computer student interns crowded into sleeping bags in every spare room. The furnace in Caerphilly College has been broken for over a month, creating frigid conditions unsafe for the student living facilities, so Meg and Michael are doing their part to help with the crisis by letting many of Michael’s drama students hunker down in their home. Then, Dr. Wright, an English department dean, and Dr. Blanco, an employee of the administrative services department, arrive unannounced to see doctoral candidate Ramon Soto. The student has translated and will be directing a play by Señor Mendoza, a Spanish playwright heretofore believed killed by Franco but who has arrived to see the play, adding another visitor to Meg and Michael’s house.

Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pity poor Meg who is expecting twins at any moment while her house and outbuildings have been taken over by a mob of drama students because the heating system at the college is on the fritz. I'll admit I didn't really care who killed the nasty English professor, but that's OK. These books are much more about the settings and crazy people running around driving Meg to distraction. This time the crazies aren't so much family members as students and faculty. A fun addition was the way Meg referred to the unnamed twins by names like "Tom and Jerry", "Hansel and Gretel" and "Castor and Pollux". I had fun thinking up other possibilities, too.

NB - The first time I read this I thought the baddie's motive was clever, but pretty unlikely. Upon rereading I realize that it's not as unlikely as I thought, but instead is pretty topical.

[Chaitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get around to reading this book, even though I owned a copy, perhaps because I owned it. But I knew I'd like it. The series started abysmally for me (I think I rated Murder with Peacocks 1 star), but after that it has never failed to make me laugh. This one was no exception. There's an obvious connection in the plot that the characters do not make which the mystery hinges on, which bugged me a little bit. Excusable in Meg's case because she's carrying twins, but what about the others? However, the book is funny enough for me to ignore that. I also need to add how happy I am that Meg is married to Michael and there's no one else crawling out of the woodwork - nothing annoys me more than a forced love triangle. Onto #13.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pregnant hostess with a house full of students!

The college heating system is down leaving it too cold so students are staying in homes, many of them at Meg and Michael's house. There is a murder with dozens of suspects. Meg is just about ready to have twins.

As usual, Donna Andrews has put together a fabulously fun and entertaining assortment of characters and events! I have grown so fond of Meg and Michael, having watched their relationship grow through the earlier books in this series.

I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend the entire series. Thank you, Ms Andrews!

[Andrea Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meg Langslow super amateur sleuth is pregnant with twins! Donna Andrews once again introduces us to an eccentric and funny cast of characters. When a faculty member of her husband Michael's college is found murdered at their house, it is going to be a time full of mayhem and mystery leading up to the delivery date. Find out how Meg, along with her madcap family and law enforcement solve this crime in time for another chapter in Meg and Michael's marriage to begin.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was funny, I always enjoy Andrews' books more for their humor than for the mystery. The mystery angle felt lacking this time though. The essential plot twists were obvious and described so early that only having the main character have pregnancy brain was she able to miss them.
I will keep reading this series because I find it hysterical, but this wasn't one of the better ones.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this madcap and crazy series that I read just for the fun of it. It's nice to have light, escapist reads with wacky characters for a change of pace. Meg is expecting twins, feeling large and unwieldy, hosting lots of drama students in their home while the dorms are out of commission, and solving a murder that's taken place in her library.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happiness is a new Donna Andrews book. I especially enjoyed seeing a beloved character, Meg Lanslow, experience the end of a pregnancy. The compressed timeline was also interesting, it normally takes her more than 12 hours to solve a murder.

[Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's with these Meg Langslow books? I enjoy reading them but why? There's not much suspense, the humor is light, most characters are rather interchangeable. The plot is almost non-existent. The villain at the end is usually an arbitrary pick. Still I like them and will read another soon.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have become quite attached to the quirky characters in this series. Andrews pokes fun at family dynamics, college and town politics, local clubs, antics of neighbors and other life curiosities in a light cozy mystery series. Nothing too deep here, just fun.

[cheryl]

This book is on my TBR list have not started this book yet.