September 10, 2018
Andrews’s entertaining 24th Meg Langslow mystery (after Toucan Keep a Secret) finds Meg regretting her decision to direct the annual Christmas pageant at Trinity Episcopal Church in the picturesque town of Caerphilly, Va., especially after a baby called Lark is left in the manger with a note suggesting that her father is Meg’s brother, Rob. Rob hopes he isn’t the father, and Meg sets out to find someone else who might be. Meanwhile, Lark’s missing mother, Janet Caverly, turns up outside Meg’s house, and tells Meg that Janet’s husband, Mark, assistant accountant in neighboring Clay County, is being framed for the murder of a coworker after the two of them discovered that county officials were laundering money for their illegal moonshine and marijuana business. When word comes down that Mark has been captured and is languishing in the Clay County jail, half of the men in Caerphilly plan a commando raid to break him out. But the vigilantes end up captured themselves, and it falls to Meg to organize an all-female rescue mission with sheep, drones, and a mob of carolers on Christmas Eve. Full of odd yet charming characters, this Christmas tale will charm cozy mystery fans. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary.