In this 9th book in the 'Meg Langslow' series, Meg - who's a blacksmith, wife and amateur sleuth in Caerphilly, Virginia - searches for a missing friend.
The mystery can be read as as a standalone, but the series has an arc for the personal lives of the characters.
*****
Blacksmith Meg Langslow is making a decorative towel rod in her forge, when her old friend Karen Walker - whom Meg hasn't seen in a couple of years - shows up with her toddler son Timmy.
Karen says her babysitter had an emergency and prevails on Meg to take care of Timmy for a little while. Meg agrees, thinking the childcare gig will last a few hours at most.
Meg probably should have known better because Karen leaves a thick sheaf of papers detailing Timmy's meals, snacks, nap schedules, and pediatrician's name and number along with a dozen changes of clothes, a carton of over 100 diapers, two sets of pajamas, a folding crib, a car seat, and a whole bag full of books.
Needless to say Karen doesn't return that day, and by the next morning Meg starts searching for her friend.
In the meantime, Meg and her extended family are taking care of Timmy. This involves playing horsie, chasing him around, providing meals, diapering him, reading to him, taking him for ice cream, keeping track of his stuffed cat Kiki, and so on.
Once Timmy discovers that Meg keeps band-aids in her handbag, his stuffed cat Kiki (who's clearly a hypochondriac) gets one boo-boo after another.
Taking care of toddler Timmy is time-consuming and tiring, but Timmy is a cute little boy that endears himself to everyone, and Meg's family are an eccentric bunch that can take almost anything in stride. Moreover, Meg and her husband Michael have been talking about having children, and a toddler around would be good practice for everyone.
Part of the charm of the Meg Langslow books is visiting with Meg's friends, relatives, and neighbors, who are always entertaining. For instance, Meg's aunt Rose Noire is a hippy-dippy free spirit with a gaggle of would-be admirers; Meg's grandfather, zoologist Dr. Montgomery Blake, has been sneaking snakes into Meg's basement;
Meg's brother Rob is being unusually attentive to the mean bitey family dog Spike, and Meg wonders why; and Meg's neighbor Mr. Early is on the alert, as usual, looking for (imaginary) intruders in the neighborhood.
Meg's search for Karen involves going to Karen's office at Caerphilly College, where Karen is an accountant; stopping at Karen's apartment, where the police are investigating a break-in; searching for Karen's ex-husband Jaspar, who seems to be involved in several kinds of wrongdoing; a visit to a bird-breeder associated with Jaspar; and more.
Meg soon starts to fear for Karen's life, and it takes the combined efforts of Meg, the police, and various government agencies to unravel what's going on in Caerphilly.
I enjoyed this fun cozy mystery and recommend it to fans of the genre.
Rating: 3 stars
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