Murder With Peacocks

Meg Langslow is a decorative blacksmith with a workable life in the city and a family that will not leave her alone. Summoned home to Yorktown, Virginia, she finds herself maid of honour — and de facto wedding planner — for three weddings in a single summer: her mother's, her brother's, and her best friend's. Between the dress fittings, the peacocks someone has insisted on renting, and a cast of relatives who each want something different, Meg barely has time to sleep.

Then one of the least-loved people in town is murdered, and the sheriff's investigation starts pointing in directions Meg does not like at all. Someone she cares about is going to be blamed unless she works out what actually happened.

Donna Andrews's debut won the Agatha, Anthony, Barry and Romantic Times awards for best first novel and launched a long-running series. It is a cozy in the truest sense: the violence stays offstage, the jokes land, and the puzzle is fair.