Murder with Puffins

Donna Andrews

Meg met Michael over the summer when she visited her family to help with two weddings. They ended up solving a murder and reshaping the weddings. Now they are having trouble finding time alone. Both are temporarily without their own homes. Meg suggests they slip up to Maine to her aunt's summer cottage on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. It isn't summer, so they should have the place to themselves.

They arrive as a hurricane cuts off the island. They arrive at the cottage to find her aunt and her friend (who Meg thought she left behind at the family's house), her brother with a mean dog, and her parents, who came back from their second honeymoon in Paris earlier than they expected. The cottage is overflowing. They can't find a room at the hotel or few bed and breakfasts, either. It is autumn birdwatching season. The island is full. The weather is wet and windy. The hurricane has turned back and will hit the island again. Everyone on the island is cut off from the mainland due to the weather.

The couple decide to hike around the island in the rain just to get away from everyone. But rounding one point on a public path, they are shot at. A famous artist has built a new home on his family property and has closed off the public right-of-way. He is an unfriendly sort who has made enemies of almost everyone on the island. The next day after the hurricane has blown through again, Michael and Meg try once again to get away from everyone. Instead they discover the artist's body face down in a tide pool. So much for their romantic get-away weekend.

This cozy mystery is amusing. It it dark, wet, muddy, and windy up in the Atlantic. The island is a "locked room" with a finite number of suspects. But the island has more people than normal and the artist was the most hated man on the island. Many people had motives to want him dead. Since the police can't get over from the mainland, Meg decides to investigate. She drags Michael around the island, breaks into homes, and generally makes a nuisance of herself. This is a book that would be a fun read on a dark, wet, windy afternoon curled up in a warm chair.

Murder with Peacocks
Murder with Puffins
Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingos
Crouching Buzzard, Leaping Loon
We'll Always Have Parrots
Owls Well That Ends Well
No Nest for the Wicket
The Penquin Who Knew Too Much
Cockatiels at Seven
Six Geese A-Slaying
Swan for the Money

Design for Murder by Carolyn Hart