The Good, the Bad, and the Emus

May 26, 2014
A family riddle preoccupies Meg Langslow in Andrews’s sprightly 17th mystery featuring the Caerphilly, Va., amateur sleuth (after 2013 Duck the Halls). Meg, whose father was adopted, never met her biological grandmother. Now she has learned that grandma lived in the nearby town of Riverton, but recently died in a suspicious accident that could have been murder. Meanwhile, countless feral emus are also on the loose in Riverton, having been abandoned by the hippie who unsuccessfully tried to farm them. Meg and her extended family decide to tackle both problems at once, but another local death and a surprising twist in the family tree complicate their efforts. Hints of nonagenarian romance taking root add a little spice to the comical avian setup. Andrews’s readers, who have come to expect a little silliness, fun-loving characters, and endings that are tough to predict won’t be disappointed. Agent: Ellen Geiger, Frances Goldin Literary Agency.