Die Like an Eagle: A Meg Langslow Mystery

Reader Dunne uses what may be a perfect mom voice for Meg, the amateur sleuth at the center of the Meg Langslow cozy mystery series. It’s a voice that’s comforting, good-natured, and sensible, attributes Andrews has written into her seemingly tireless overachiever who effortlessly balances family life with unmasking wily villains. Her 20th investigation involves the death of an umpire of her twin sons’ junior baseball league. Bill Brown’s body is discovered in a mobile toilet at the ballfield. Bill may not have been Mr. Popularity, but his look-alike half-brother, Biff, is loathed and despised by most of the little town of Caerphilly, Virginia. Was the wrong brother bumped off, or might the unloved Biff be the murderer? For the audio edition, reader Dunne focuses her vocal stylings on other characters in addition to the story’s protagonist. There’s the ill-tempered, gravel-throated Biff, and the likable members of Meg’s multigenerational clan, including the energetic twins (whose voices resemble Bart Simpson’s minus the attitude), and her cheery, soft-spoken mother, who can whip up a picnic for 100 in the blink of an eye. A Minotaur hardcover. (Aug.)