Donna Andrews Books In Order

Publication Order of Meg Langslow Books

Publication Order of Turing Hopper Books

Publication Order of Chesapeake Crimes Books

Publication Order of Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler Books

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Donna Andrews is a famous novelist, having penned numerous detective books, possessing quirky and zany characters that seem to come to life and inventive layered crime fiction plots. Author of the celebrated mystery-sleuth novels, the Meg Langslow series and the Turing Hopper series, Donna Andrews was born in Yorktown, VA, a delightful historic neighborhood on the coast of the Chesapeake Bay. She was educated in Charlottesville, VA at the University of Virginia, studying English and drama. She continues to thrive in Reston, VA, part of the large metropolitan area surrounding the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. This award-winning writer has derived much inspiration from her hometown roots, with both the Megan Langslow and Turing Hopper series occurring in her native Virginian settings. As a certified, but not quite practiced, Private Investigator (PI), Andrews rivals her own characters in her adventurous pursuits like rock climbing, spelunking, and gardening.

A Preview of the Meg Langslow Series

Meg Langslow is first introduced in Murder With Peacocks (1999) as a young single blacksmith, pending the summer nuptials of three of her closest friends and relatives. Given the dubious privilege of becoming the maid of honor in all three of the imminent happy events, Meg is almost over her head in planning wedding details. Her best friend and business partner, Eileen, is convinced that she must have a traditional Native American herbal ceremony at her wedding, while her soon-to-be sister-in-law Samantha has decided that nothing but peacocks will do at her own wedding. Her mother, the other bride-to-be, in a drunken moment of inspiration, has insisted that her entire living room must be redone in blue for her ceremony. As the dutiful maid of honor, Meg must balance placating all her brides and their outrageous demands. Feeling single, alone, and overwhelmed with a lecherous suitor trying to press his advantage, Meg sees Michael Waterston, the gorgeous but purportedly gay hottie as a godsend. As the summer passes with several foreboding incidents, and the cold dead body of an obnoxious guest is found, Meg finds that the murderous cloud poses a very real threat to the future bliss of her friends and family. Meg and Michael must change the direction of their efforts from floral arrangements and seating layouts to serious investigations to catch the perp before it is too late. Murder With Peacock (1999) was Andrews’ first published full-length book, and was distinguished with several awards including the St. Martin’s Press/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Award, Lefty Award (2000), Agatha Award for Best First Novel (1999), Anthony Award for Best First Novel (2000), and Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award for Best First Novel (1999). This book also was nominated for the Dilys Award and the Macavity Award for Best First Novel.
In Murder With Puffins (2001), after finally getting together, Meg and Michael decide to try to put behind the memory of the heinous murders by going on a romantic vacation trip for two to a small idyllic island on the coast of Maine. Getting away from her nosy relatives and enjoying the beach seems to be the perfect way to kindle the newly discovered flame between Meg and her boyfriend. However, a hurricane hits, destroying their carefully thought-out plans, but that is only the beginning of their troubles. As soon as they arrive, they discover that all of Meg’s extended family has decided to join them on their romantic getaway. Things only spiral down from there as the house guests discover that another murder has been perpetrated, and Meg’s father seems to be the guilty party. Soon what they thought would be a wonderful lover’s paradise turns into a nightmare, and Meg must once again put her detective skills to use to clear her dear father from suspicion.

After the conclusion of the events in Murder With Puffins (2001), the books series about Meg Langslow continues to show Meg’s brilliant deductive reasoning and logical problem-solving capabilities to solve other mysteries she becomes embroiled in.

A Preview of the Turing Hopper Series

Another character that fans of Donna Andrews might recognize is Turing Hopper. In You’ve Got Murder (2002), a genius techie named Zack creates an Artificial Intelligence Personality with an innate investigative intellect reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s spinster detective, Miss Marple. He names this AIP Turing Hopper, after two of the world’s most renowned computer scientists, Alan Turing and Grace Hopper. Turing Hopper’s detective tendencies prove to be really quite fortunate because soon subsequently, Zach goes missing, and Turing must use her vast analytical and computing power to solve the mystery. Taking place in Crystal City, Arlington, VA, You’ve Got Murder (2002) is a unique blend of mystery, contemporary, and science fiction writing. This first novel in the Turing Hopper series was also distinguished with the honor of earning the Agatha award for Best Novel (2002), and a nomination for the Dilys award. In the next book in the series, Click Here for Murder (2004), Turing herself is in danger when the motive of the murder of avid video gamer and systems engineer, Ray Santiago, seems to be the password to Turing’s mainframe. If the password has indeed passed onto criminal hands, everything that Turing has known could change. To get ahold of this complex and dastardly situation, she must rely on her two closest human colleagues and friends, Tim and Hannah, to help solve the mystery on the reality front. All the while, her interactions with these humans is increasing her cold electrical heart’s ability for feeling empathy and human-like emotions. The Turing Hopper series continues on this vein in other sleuth plots with Turing as the main protagonist and brilliant detective that comes to develop more warmth like that of a machine possessing a human heart.

Other Writings by Donna Andrews

Mystery author Donna Andrews also enjoys penning the odd short story whenever she has the chance to between publishing her lengthier works. One of her most renowned short works include “A Rat’s Tale” (2007) which won the Agatha Award for Best Short Story (2007) and a Macavity nomination for Best Short Story.

2 Responses to “Donna Andrews”

1. Charles CC Johnson: 1 year ago

   I have really enjoyed and appreciated your series, but I could not find these books in flyover countries.

   Reply
   • S turner: 6 months ago

     I have been reading the Meg Lanslow books for years, having discovered the series at my local bookstore here in Tennessee! I do not always read them in order. They can be read as stand alone mysteries. The family members are all still there, and realizing the age of children and progression of various characters along the way can be taken into account, as I enjoy the mystery and the
     personalities of all involved. This is a great series, and It is usually family friendly if listening to the audio version.

     Reply