MARSUPIALS ARE MURDER by Leslie Langtry

Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Australia, Series

5*****

Merry Wrath’s troop is going Down Under! When young Mayor Ava of Who’s There, Iowa gets a call for help from Mayor Sheila of their sister city in Doover, Australia, the girls in the troop waste no time in packing their bags for a trip halfway around the world—of course, with their fearless ex-CIA agent turned Girl Scout leader, Merry Wrath, in tow. Merry thinks this is a great opportunity to see another part of the world with the girls and her more-than-slightly-koala-obsessed co-leader, Kelly. Met by Sheila, her Girl Guide troop, and a few kangaroo bodyguards, Ava and the girls get to work to help the mayor fight her obnoxious City Council. While the girls assist Sheila, Merry and Kelly plan to spend the time looking for koalas and taking in the sites of the Blue Mountain town in New South Wales. Being in another hemisphere, what could possibly go wrong? Unfortunately, even halfway around the world, Murder Magnet Merry lives up to her reputation, when one of the council members’ bodies is found in the bush. To make things worse, the police think Mayor Sheila is the murderer! Merry and the gang race to find a dangerous killer before they have to go home and Sheila goes to jail!

THOUGHTS: I actually enjoyed this one more than I did some of the others. In this one, Merry and the girls travel to Australia to a sister city to meet with the teen mayor there and help her with her recalcitrant council. Merry and her best friend Kelly plan to spend their time doing the sights – and maybe finding a koala or two (which they do at the zoo–and on the way to the airport). The girls are all teamed up with their matching Girl Guides in town and go about sightseeing and helping Sheila, the mayor, out – which they do to great success. I loved the TimTam craziness and the zoo, especially with Merry and talking to the bird. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the area, and the wildlife (especially the poisonous ones that the girls were loving). When they find a dead body, Sheila is the obvious suspect and it’s up to Merry and the girls to prove that she didn’t. Unfortunately, everything they find points to her. And they’re under a tight deadline. Everyone gets to work, on the council, on the murder, and on helping the town out before they have to go home.

Definitely fun. Recommended. But note: you really have to take these books with a definite tongue-in-cheek attitude. They are fun and funny, but so far from the realm of realism. Enjoy!