The town is putting on a performance of A Christmas Carol and they have hired a slightly over-the-hill actor, Malcolm Haver to play the lead. The problem is that Haver drinks too much is belligerent, and isn't always there for rehearsals. No one in town will sell him booze, but he is getting it somewhere. One night Meg Lagslow follows him out into the county and finds his "bootlegger" and plenty more besides that. It turns out the guy is running a puppy mill, is selling some of the illegal Gouldian Finches that her grandfather's friend from Fish and Wildlife is working on a sting to shut down, a Tiger, and an assortment of other wild animals. She takes pictures and looks in the window of the house and sees a little old lady in a wheelchair with a million cats too.
Meg takes this information to Chief Burke as well as to her grandfather. They plan a dawn raid. Meanwhile, Ekaterina, who came from Russia and runs the Caerphilly Inn, is keeping a close eye on Haver and what is in his room such as alcohol, and his movements within his room. That night Haver doesn't come home and his agent doesn't come back til late. Haver shows up passed out at another Inn so he sort of has an alibi for the murder of his bootlegger whom they find the next morning when they do the raid on his house. His neighbor, though, who hated him for harming his sheep with his dogs is missing. And it's possible the people he was selling the animals to might have killed him.
Meanwhile, the play must go on and it's not looking good for Haver because Meg found a gun in his dressing room that matches the type of bullets that killed the bootlegger. Michael may have to go on in Haver's place and quite frankly with all the absences Haver's has Michael's been filling in any way so he's prepared. But this is Jamie and Josh's, Meg and Michael's kids first play. Will it be ruined? This delightful mystery is perfect for the holidays. There's not much of a murder to solve, but you don't really care because the book is so much fun. Meg and the gang really deliver. I give this book four out of five stars.
Quotes
Link to Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/How-Finch-Stole-Christmas-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B06Y17ZKGS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543843947&sr=8-1&keywords=how+the+finch+stole+christmasI am becoming somewhat anxious. He comes from Los Angeles, you know, California. They do not have snow in California. I suspect he knows even less about driving in the snow than Virginians do.-Donna Andrews (The Finch That Stole Christmas! p 89)
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