For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
Series: Meg Langslow #37
Published by Macmillan Audio on August 5, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Length: 10 hrs 15 mins
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Donna Andrews returns with her latest charming addition to the bestselling Meg Langslow mystery series.
Meg is in the backyard of the house her brother Rob, Delaney, and their new baby have moved into, supervising some workmen who are using a bulldozer to start digging out a duck pond. She wants to get away from her own house, which has become the staging site for Caerphilly's first Mutt March, which will be held the next day. Meg thinks it will be more peaceful at Rob's house--and it is until the bulldozers uncover a skeleton whose skull has a hole and a bullet rattling around inside.
Meanwhile, Chief Burke begins searching the police records to see if he can identify any missing persons who would fit the bill. He doesn't turn down Meg's offer to help with his identification efforts, and she begins looking in the library and talking to old-timers. She's all the more eager to help because Iris Rafferty, who sold the house to Rob and Delaney and still lives in the mother-in-law suite, disappears the morning after the finding of the body... does her disappearance have anything to do with finding the body? Was it voluntary? Or was she kidnapped--possibly by the prowlers who are spotted lurking around the half-finished duck pond at night? Or do the prowlers have sinister designs on one or more of the dogs who will be marching in the parade?
Written with her classic cozy and investigative style, Donna Andrews is sure to delight in the latest in her Meg Langslow mystery series.
The Meg Langslow series is one I dip in and out of. I’ve read several, but no where near 37. Meg wears many hats – mom, wife, daughter, blacksmith, mayor’s assistant. This time around she’s helping prep for the Mutt March. a parade/festival to promote pet adoptions from the local shelters. She’s taking a break from the chaos at her house by going over the her brother’s – just in time for the backhoe digging out the duck pond to uncover a human arm bone.
This is a long-running series with lots of returning characters. Andrews does a good job at giving us enough information to know who is who and their relationships to each other, but not so much that it bogs the book down. I think this would work as a stand alone, but as with most series, the more you’ve read the more you know about, and hopefully enjoy, the characters and town.
As far as the case goes, most of the work is in finding out who the victim was, and then we move onto who the killer was. We have a lot going here, though, besides the main plotline, and it all gets a little complicated. We have the mystery skeleton, a missing elderly female neighbor, a dog adoption parade that has attracted the eyes of a nearby dog fighting ring, a newly discovered underground bunker filled with old drugs. It does eventually all get wrapped up, but I found myself just going along for the ride. Happily, all the dogs remain safe.
I listed to the audio and Dunne does a fabulous job as narrator. She gives Meg the perfect tone and attitude. She also keep the story light and the many characters distinct. I’ll be looking forward to listening to the next in the series.
About Donna Andrews
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
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