In this 36th book in the 'Meg Langslow' series, Meg - who's a blacksmith, wife, mother, assistant to the mayor, and amateur sleuth - helps investigate the murder of a despised provocateur. The book can be read as a standalone, but knowledge of the characters is a plus.
A nice feature of the Meg Langslow cozy mysteries is the evolution of the characters, who mature and change as the years go by. The main protagonists in the books are members of Meg's large extended family, all of whom live near each other in Caerphilly, Virginia.
As the story opens, it's Christmas season, and Meg's brother Rob and his wife Delaney, who's very pregnant and on bed rest, are staying with Meg while they look for a house. Meg's cousin Rose Noire - a Wiccan hippy-dippy free spirit - is happily looking after Delaney, encouraging the expectant mother's hobby of watching chickadees in the backyard. As it turns out, the yard's 'bird camera' proves very helpful later on, when a murder occurs.
To back up a little, Meg's nephew Kevin (an up-and-coming true crime podcaster), and Meg's grandmother Cordelia (a social justice activist), have organized a symposium - called the Presumed Innocence Conference - to help people who are trying to exonerate someone they believe has been wrongly convicted.
Meg observes, "We have something like two million people in jail or prison across the country, and experts estimate between one and ten percent of them are innocent. That's between twenty thousand and two hundred thousand people serving time for something they didn't do."
Meg's lawyer cousin Festus Hollingsworth is already deeply involved in the cause, having helped free Ezekiel Blaine, an innocent man imprisoned for fifty years. Ezekiel is scheduled to help at the conference, accompanied by his cute little dog Ruth.
The innocence symposium, which is being held at a local luxury hotel called the Inn, has a large number of registrants who'll be staying at the hostelry. The attendees will have the opportunity to hear speakers like Chief of Police Burke and attorney Festus Hollingsworth, and get advice from advocates who are knowledgeable about innocence projects.
Unfortunately, one of the conference registrants is a VERY unwelcome guest. The man, who's known as the Gadfly, is Godfrey Norton, who believes anyone convicted of a crime is guilty. Thus Norton harasses people involved in innocence projects, spewing his invective on social media and at conferences.
Norton even goes a step further, stalking and harassing former convicts who've been declared innocent. Norton makes it his business to spread lies about exonerees, trying to get them fired from their jobs and evicted from their homes.
Once the Presumed Innocence Conference gets going, Norton is right there, shouting at people and calling them names. Most of Norton's tirades are directed at people who believe someone in their life was wrongly convicted, and are fighting to get them freed. However, Norton is an equal opportunity annoyer, irritating EVERYONE in his path. Norton even harasses the little pooch Ruth, which is truly unforgivable.
Needless to say, Norton is murdered, and his body is found in Meg's backyard. The police investigate, and amateur sleuth (and self-proclaimed nosybody) Meg tags along to help. Meg gets the idea to use tapes from from the 'bird camera', which helps tie down Norton's time of death, so people's alibis can be tested.
It's presumed the perpetrator crept out of the Inn to kill Norton, somehow getting past the hotel's security cameras. So Meg's young teenage twins, Jamie and Josh, help with the murder inquiries by trying to sneak past the Inn's CCTV cameras. (This is pretty entertaining. 🙂)
I have to say it wasn't too hard to guess the identity of the murderer, but the mystery is only part of the fun of the book. It's a pleasure to visit with Meg, her husband Michael, and their family and friends. It's also great to observe the Christmas festivities; see Rob and Delaney consider names for their baby (like the chickadee genus name Poecile); hobnob with Rose Noire, whose Wiccan New Age rituals are always fascinating; and more.
The Meg Langslow books make great light reading, and this Christmas-themed book is an enjoyable addition to the series.
I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Bernadette Dunne, who does a fine job.
Thanks to Netgalley, Donna Andrews, and Macmillan Audio for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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