Between a Flock and a Hard Place by Donna Andrews ~ a Review

by Donna Huber

Meg's neighbors, the Smetkamps', have won a makeover for their old home from Marvelous Mansions, a flashy, yet dubious company, focused on making historic homes more "modern." The company already several days into its makeover of the Smetkamps' house, and tensions are running high--not only between the officious, demanding Mrs. Smetkamp and her neighbors, but also between her and the renovation crew. Meg, who is trying to keep the peace and prevent the makeover crew from trampling on every clause of the county's building code, arrives at the Smetkamps to find that Caerphilly's resident flock of feral turkeys has moved into their yard--or been relocated there by someone who wanted to cause them trouble.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

August 2024; Macmillan Audio; 9781250347770
audio (9h 15m), ebook, print; cozy mystery

I discovered Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow series two years ago when I picked up Dashing Through the Snowbirds because of the fun cover. I've read a few more books in the series since then and have discovered that I really like the audiobooks in this series. Now this isn't a new series. Between a Flock and a Hard Place is book 35. I haven't had the time to go back and read the older titles but I haven't had any trouble starting so late in the series.

If you like quirky in your cozy mysteries then this is a great book to read. As the titles imply, birds feature in each novel. In the other books I've read they are kind of like side characters or just features in the book, but in this book, the birds are front and center in the plot. Though they are turkeys and not seagulls there were a few scenes that might have been worthy of the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. 

The turkeys aren't usually in the neighborhood so many think they were purposely brought in to cause mayhem. So much time at the beginning of the novel is spent on the birds and rounding them up, I thought perhaps this was the mystery to be solved (which would be refreshing in a cozy mystery), but eventually, Meg stumbles upon a dead body.

I love home makeover shows so I usually enjoy it when a home makeover is featured in a book. But there is actually very little of the show in the book. I guess Andrews didn't want to do another reality show since that was part of the plot in Let It Crow! Let It Crow! Let It Crow! (Meg was on a blacksmithing reality show similar to Forged in Fire). 

I'll be honest - this wasn't my favorite in the series. I love the characters but at times they came off judgemental with their criticism of people having non-native plants. I've always liked that the series is pro-environment but it just felt a little too heavy-handed in this story. I also found the plot to be slow. I think I was more than a third of the way through the book when there was finally a dead body.  While the turkeys added some fun to the novel it just didn't hold my attention.

I still enjoyed the novel. It was a fun distraction while doing housework. Bernadette Dunne does a wonderful job as the narrator. I don't have any trouble telling characters apart and there are a lot of characters in the book. Meg has a large family and many townspeople are present as they round up the turkeys, plus there is the construction crew and production crew.

Buy Between a Flock and a Hard Place at Amazon

Donna Huber is an avid reader and natural encourager. She is the founder of Girl Who Reads and the author of how-to marketing book Secrets to a Successful Blog Tour.

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