Rockin’ Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews (Meg Langslow #36) 5 stars

It is Christmas time and Meg Langslow is extremely busy – preparing for the holidays, helping her grandmother Cordelia with “Presumed Innocent” her conference about how to exonerate unjustly convicted individuals (with True Crime lovers along for fun) and taking care of Delaney who is ready to give birth anytime now. But it wouldn’t be a Meg Langslow mystery without a dead body and the future victim shows up early in the book. There are a plethora of suspects (some with shaky alibis) and too many clues too count. Can Meg solve the mystery before Delaney gives birth?

I absolutely loved this mystery. It had all my favorite things – a victim that you love to hate, a lot of suspects in the vicinity, Horace doing his CSI thing, appearances from beloved family members, cameos of several Pomeranians (Widget and Watson) and best of all – a description of the food served at the conference banquet. I still think the best food description passage was in “Owl Be Home for Christmas”, but this one comes close. I had a wonderful time with this book – it demanded a Hot Cocoa and a cozy blanket for company. I am looking forward to the audiobook version with Bernadette Dunne narrating I really can’t wait for the next one, “For Duck’s Sake” (Meg Langslow #37) in Fall 2025.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur for this ARC.

The holiday season doesn't give Meg much opportunity to rest in this latest in the long running series, especially after their bird watching camera catches a murder in her back yard. Fans of of the Caerphilly crew know that the real point of these cozies is, IMHO, the antics of Meg, her family, and her friends. This time out, Delaney is pregnant and meant to be keeping calm but, hah! Meg will of course solve the murder but what about the rest of the issues? No spoilers from me. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's a good read.

Who holds a conference in the week before Christmas? Meg's grandfather when it is for a worthy cause. Inviting those who have been wrongfully convicted to meet others that might be able to help them defend their case is his idea. He knows that many of them do not have family to spend the holiday with, so this might bring them joy. Until murder occurs, and they are all under suspicion again. Men's family is also anticipating the birth of her brothers first child just to add more tension. Good holiday read!

It’s the Christmas season in Caerphilly but, with Delaney, Meg Langslow’s sister-in-law, very pregnant, festivities are being held away from the house. Among these activities is a Presumed Innocent Project sponsored by Cordelia, Meg’s grandmother which has attracted many people including exonerees, others seeking help to exonerate friends or relatives, as well as true crime bloggers and their fans. When a body of one of those bloggers is found dead behind the Langslow house, Chief Burke has his hands full given the number of suspects. The blogger had believed that the vast majority of exonerees were guilty, had been rude and obnoxious to other attendees, disruptive during the conference and was finally tossed out of the host hotel when he abused an attendee’s dog. With all this facing the chief, Meg jumps in to help by doing her own sleuthing.

Rockin’ Around the Chickadees is the 36th entry in the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series by Donna Andrews and, as always, it is a whole lotta fun. Reading one of these books always feels like linking up with old friends and meeting new ones while providing an entertaining mystery to grab my attention. I also appreciated the information about the number of wrongful incarcerations that led to the actual Innocence Project and thought their work fit perfectly with the Christmas season.

I read the book from St Martin’s Press while listening to the a audiobook from Macmillan Audio narrated by Bernadette Dunne who does an excellent job of giving individual voices to very large cast of characters.

Thanks to Netgalley, St Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed are my own

I enjoy this author & series. I find the characters fun. The mystery kept me guessing.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review. .

I'm a huge fan of Donna Andrews. I've obsessively read every single book in the Meg Langslow series and always eagerly await the next. Unfortunately, this book felt cobbled together to me. Too much was happening, and not enough time was able to be spent on anything. We have the Presumed Innocent conference, Delaney's pregnancy, Delaney and Rob trying to find a house, and Meg trying to keep everything and everyone under control. From the back cover blurb, I expected Delaney and Rob to have a bigger presence in this book, but I ended up being highly disappointed because Delaney and Rob don't contribute much, if anything, to the story other than a few lame obstacles to Meg trying to solve the murder. Having Delaney's pregnancy and her and Rob trying to find a house bogged down parts of the story and felt thrown in rather than a part of the book. I also felt like we didn't truly get to know the exonerees, so I wasn't particularly surprised or didn't particularly care when the killer was revealed. A disappointing Donna Andrews book, but I am still looking forward to the next!

The mystery was both entertaining and kept me engaged from beginning to end. The fun part was trying to figure out who hated the victim that strongly to murder him among the many suspects. The visually descriptive narrative and fetching dialogue, put me in the middle of all the non-stop action as I watch every scene play out until the killer was left standing for all to see. Donna knows how to tell a story that keeps you mystified and glued to the pages until the last words have been spoken. Bonus seeing Josh and Jamie have a larger role in this book. My have the grown and I especially love their conversations about food consumption. Too funny. Boasting an eccentrically lovable, yet quirk cast of characters and a small-town atmosphere, this book will put you in a festive mood and is one of the best Christmas-themed books in the series.

Christmas time in Caerphilly and the Langslow family is preparing for the season. Delaney is pregnant and on bedrest and living in the Langslow dining room so the festivities are elsewhere. Meg’s grandmother is running a Presumed Innocent Convention which is a gathering of true crime buffs, families who have a deemed guilty party but believe them innocent, and those that have now been declared innocent. Not quite a seasonal activity but lots of seasonal activities are built-in. Early one morning Rose Noire finds a dead body by the barn. Which member of the convention could be the murderer? Another great book in this series. I love the characters and the town.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Megan and her family are hoping to have a nice quiet holiday. That changes when a man's body has been found. With a growing list of suspects, it will take some time to find the guilty party. I liked this book.

This book is awesome! I loved it. It’s amazing that this far into the series, they don’t feel repetitive or stale. I do wonder though, how old is Cordelia & Dr. Blake? #RockinAroundtheChickadee #NetGalley

Rockin' Around the Chickadee was another fun romp with Meg Langslow and her large and quirky family. I loved the characters, the plot, and humor sprinkled throughout. Murder and mayhem during the Christmas season and of course Meg is involved in trying to help solve it. The victim had enemies galore so there are lots of suspects, red herrings, and plot twists that kept me guessing until the end. A perfect cozy!

Every year I look forward to a new addition to this series and Donna Andrews never disappoints. A creative whodunnit sprinkled with plenty of Christmas touches make this a great holiday mystery.

Another great story about Meg Langslow and her family who solve small town murders together. Surrounded by family, Meg and her family try to keep everything calm as they await the birth by her sister-in-law Delaney. However, a body is found behind the barn at Meg and Michael's place, that of a man, detested by many, who was thrown out of the Presumed Innocence conference that Meg's grandmother was hosting during the holiday season. Together they try to distract Delaney all the while trying to solve this murder. Some people are not whom they seem to be and it is up to Meg and her cousins to help the Chief find the killer before they strike again. I love the family connections, how they all compliment each other, and being able to walk through the case with Meg. It's just a delightful mystery and set at the holidays is a boost. Some surprises, some things predictable, again more birds, but all the while a delightful read. Many thanks to #netgalley, #donnaandrews #rockin'aroundthechickadee for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another winner from Donna Andrews! While other cozy mystery series can be hit or miss with each installment, Andrews is consistent - telling a well written and engaging story each time. Highly recommend!!

This was simply fun, fun, fun. I adore Donna Andrews "bird mysteries." They're cozies--you can't call them anything else--and yes, they are absurd but they're smart, not pedantic in their smartness, and just plain enjoyable, laughable, chortly fun. Meg is lovely, her family is crazy but lovable. As long as Ms. Andrews keeps writing them (for a long time, I hope) I will keep reading them and chuckling over them.
Thank you to Ms. Andrews, her publisher and Netgalley for making this book available to me to read and just enjoy. .

I found the book to be ok. The murder didn’t happen until later in the book. I prefer it to happen within the first couple of chapters. Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

In the latest Meg Langslow book, Rockin' Around the Chickadee by Donna Andrews, Meg is trying to juggle keeping a very pregnant Delaney on bedrest while helping at a Conference her Grandmother is running for people interested in helping exonerate unjustly convicted family members. When one of the worst detractors is found dead at the Langslow farm, Meg has to add solving the mystery, of course with the help of her wacky extended family. This is another fun addition to the many Donna Andrews stories.

It’s Christmas in Caerphilly. Again. But, for once, Meg and Michael are not hosting the festivities. Meg’s sister-in-law, Delaney, is pregnant and on doctor-ordered bedrest. To help keep Delaney’s holiday as stress free as possible, the out-of-town extended family members have been foisted off onto other local relatives. The tranquil pre-Christmas season is destroyed when a dead body is found in Meg’s backyard. The victim is Godfrey Norton, and the day before he was murdered, he was causing issues (and making) enemies at the true crime conference that’s being hosted by Meg’s grandmother, Cordelia. The conference focuses on how to help people who have been wrongly convicted of crimes. Godfrey was adamantly against freeing convicted felons, and he made his opinions known to everyone at the conference before Cordelia banned him from the event. Because the victim was found in her backyard—and because she doesn’t want the killer to be someone she cares about—Meg gets involved with helping the local police solve the case.

ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHICKADEE is another Christmas-themed book in the Meg Langslow series—which is getting to be tedious. Having read all the other Christmas-themed books in the series, all the descriptions of the decorations around the house and throughout Caerphilly are just repetition of what I’ve read before. I also feel that the further along the series goes, the less character development there is for any of the main characters. That being said, the crime convention was intriguing. I wish there had been more focus on that. The victim, Godfrey Norton, is truly despicable. He has no redeeming qualities and the only reason to really care about who killed him is because you don’t want it to be a likable character. I thought the killer was obvious. Overall, ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHICKADEE is a decent mystery.

It's almost Christmas and Meg has the added responsibility of helping her grandmother run a conference spotlighting the need to free wrongly convicted people. Of course, a few trouble makers appear too and soon Meg is helping to solve a murder. Always great fun but,in this case, a backdrop of the need to be more accepting and kind. Loved it!

It is Christmas time in Caerphilly but Meg is not as busy as usual. Her sister-in-law Delaney is pregnant, almost due and on bed rest so the usual hordes of relatives that stay with Meg at Christmas are farmed out to other nearby relative’s homes. With less chaos on the home front Meg is helping her grandmother, Cordelia, who is hosting a conference for those with an interest in innocent people accused or convicted of crimes. But this is Meg we are talking about so soon we have a murder and dozens of suspects.
This is one of my favorites mystery series and the Christmas entries are always ones I look forward to. Even though we don’t have the usual fun and chaos in Meg’s farmhouse this time around we do have a great mystery and a victim who will not be mourned. The action moves along quickly, as usual the murder, investigation and solution, take only a few days. I will confess I was not sure of the identity of the murderer until the same time as Meg was. All in all, another wonderful entry in a great series. Highly recommended.