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For many of us, baseball is a summer tradition. We love spending afternoons enjoying the game—whether we’re in our living rooms, in the stands, or even in the dugout. But in Die Like an Eagle, the 19th Meg Langslow mystery by author Donna Andrews, one town’s fun-filled weekend at the ballpark is interrupted by murder.
The story follows Meg and her fun-loving family to Caerphilly’s baseball field, where Meg’s husband, Michael is coaching their twin sons’ baseball team, the Eagles. It doesn’t take long before Meg discovers that the league president, Biff Brown, is a bully—creating his own rules and making life difficult for anyone who questions his decisions. So when Biff’s brother is found murdered on the morning of opening day, people aren’t sure whether Biff was the killer or the intended victim. And, once again, Meg finds herself juggling a mystery with everything else: her busy family, her job with the city, and now a troubled summer baseball league, too.
When you’re a parent—especially a parent with kids in sports—you meet some interesting people along the way. Biff Brown is that sports dad who takes everything way too seriously—who works the kids on his teams too hard and takes the competition too far. And the death of his brother—a brother who looked like him and worked with him as an umpire—creates an interesting story. No one in town would be surprised if Biff had killed his brother for making a few too many calls in favor of the competition—and they definitely wouldn’t be surprised if the killer had accidentally killed the wrong brother. And while the chief investigates the murder, most people are more concerned about the problems in the summer baseball league.
But, of course, Meg cares about both. And, like the superwoman she is, she calls in her team of loyal friends and family members to help her get the job done. She gathers the parents together, investigates a murder, tracks down her wayward contractor, orders porta-potties, oversees late-night renovations at the field, and still manages to get her sons’ baseball gear together before they race out to the first game of the day. It’s so overwhelming that you might need a little extra coffee just to follow her on her race through town. But there’s never a dull moment here—and there are more than enough suspects and surprises to hold your interest and keep you guessing until the end.
Still, while Meg’s latest adventure has the quirky small-town charm of earlier installments, this one isn’t nearly as wacky as others have been. Some of the town’s most eccentric characters still play a small part in the action, while others disappear completely. And, as a result, even though Meg’s part in the story is fast-paced, the story lacks the outrageous personality of some of the earlier books in the series.
Of course, if you’re a long-time fan of Meg Langslow and her Caerphilly capers, you’ll enjoy catching up with Meg and her regular cast of characters in Die Like an Eagle. But, with less of the laugh-out-loud wackiness that Andrews is known for, it’s not exactly a grand slam.
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