History Literature / MegLangslowMysteries

** The most obscure, however, involves [[spoiler: Wesley]] a distant cousin of Meg's who turns out to be the killer in ''Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos''. More than a dozen books later, Meg mentions getting their annual letter begging her to speak for them at their parole hearing!

* CompanionCube: Played with. While she's never given it an actual name, Meg will consult her "notebook-that-tells-me-when-to-breathe" (which starts out as a notebook, but is upgraded to a small three-ring binder around the time the twins are born) at least twice a book, even if it's just tearing out blank pages for other people to use.

* BewareOfViciousDog: Spike, aka 'The Small Evil One' - Meg Langslow's dog that her mother-in-law forces on her after she turns out to be allergic to him. He turns out to be surprisingly gentle toward and protective of Meg's children once they're born, though. But ''only'' to them! Totally subverted with Rob's Irish setter, Tinkerbell, who once tried so desperately to make friends with a burglar that he dropped his gear and ran away!

* BewareOfViciousDog: Spike - Meg Langslow's dog that her mother-in-law forces on her after she turns out to be allergic to him. He turns out to be surprisingly gentle toward and protective of Meg's children once they're born, though.

** The most obscure, however, involves [[spoiler: Wesley]] a distant cousin of Meg's who turns out the be the killer in ''Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos''. More than a dozen books later, Meg mentions getting their annual letter begging her to speak for them at their parole hearing!
** in the first book, ''Murder with Peacocks'', Meg is serving as unofficial (and unpaid) wedding planner to three different weddings: one bride is a neurotic, bitchy socialite, one is her CuckooCloudLander best friend who seems to have very little comprehension of things like 'order deadlines' and 'it's a bad idea to wear velvet in ninety-percent humidity in summer', and her perfectionist, honestly-believes-the-world-revolves-around-her-wishes mother. Half a dozen books later, Meg insists on eloping (it's actually a condition of her accepting his proposal) because even the thought of having her mother, Michael's mother, and any amount of relatives insisting on 'contributing' to the wedding planning is enough to send the normally-unflappable Meg into a panic.

* FamedInStory: Although Meg herself is only locally famous, her brother (a video game designer) husband (a TV actor-turned-academic who played an EnsembleDarkhorse character in a ShowWithinAShow) and Dr. Blake ([[spoiler:her long-lost grandfather]] and a host of wildlife documentaries) are famous enough to have their own in-universe fandoms.

* MysteryMagnet: Meg Langslow

* ''The Falcon Always Wings Twice'' (August 2020)

* ContinuityNod: quite a few, including the family game Xtreme Croquet that features in ''No Nest for the Wicket'' being mentioned at several family functions afterward. The most obscure, however, involves [[spoiler: Wesley]] a distant cousin of Meg's who turns out the be the killer in ''Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos''. More than a dozen books later, Meg mentions getting their annual letter begging her to speak for them at their parole hearing!

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: inverted with Rob and Rose Noire; early on, Caerphilly's notorious housing shortage sees them move into rooms in Meg and Michael's three-story farmhouse. Rob moves out somewhere in the mid-teens books (mostly because he gains a steady girlfriend and eventual fiancee with her own place), but as of ''Owl be home'' Rose Noire is still around. However, Meg really appreciates their help with their ever-expanding animal population (often dropped off without permission) and eventually the twins.
** Played straight, however, with the visiting Spanish playwright in ''Stork Raving Mad''. He turns out to be a PartyAnimal who insists on hosting parties involving half the drama students ''and'' half the Spanish students of the college, or rehearsing loudly at all hours of the day and night. Which is not really a restful atmosphere for a woman eight and a half months pregnant with twins. [[ItGotWorse That's not even counting her house subsequently becoming a murder scene]]. Notably, [[RealityEnsues Meg never mentions having a houseguest who isn't related to her ever again]].

* TheThingThatWouldntLeave: inverted with Rob and Rose Noire; early on, Caerphilly's notorious housing shortage sees them move into rooms in Meg and Michael's three-story farmhouse. Rob moves out somewhere in the mid-teens books (mostly because he gains a steady girlfriend and eventual fiancee with her own place), but as of ''Owl be home'' Rose Noire is still around. However, Meg really appreciates their help with their ever-expanding animal population (often dropped off without permission) and eventually the twins.
** Played straight, however, with the visiting spanish playwright in ''Stork Raving Mad''. He turns out to be a PartyAnimal who insists on hosting parties involving half the drama students ''and'' half the Spanish students of the college, or rehearsing loudly at all hours of the day and night. Which is not really a restful atmosphere for a woman eight and a half months pregnant with twins. [[ItGotWorse That's not even counting her house subsequently becoming a murder scene]]. Notably, [[RealityEnsues Meg never mentions having a houseguest who isn't related to her ever again]].

** One only long-time readers will pick up on: ''Lord of the Rings'' introduces a new Caerphilly resident, Ragnar Ragnarssen, a veteran of a half-dozen heavy metal bands. In ''Toucan Keep a Secret'' Meg visits him at his mansion, and reminisces about the changes from when she visited the previous resident. She's actually referring to the events of ''Swan for the money'', where the same property was the scene for both the rose show and the murders [[spoiler: not to mention the owner of the property being the murderer, which is how Ragnar got the place!]].

* GranolaGirl: Rosenoire. And she's one of the more level-headed Meg's relatives...

** As the general Caerphilly opinion of Meg changes from "outsider" to "one of ours", Chief Burke becomes less upset about (or at least more accepting of) Meg's snooping.

* TitleDrop: With the name of the book in "Some Like It Hawk," as the name of a service that provides a hawk to chase away nuisance pigeons

* ''Owl Be Home for Christmas'' (October 2019)

* TheBadGuysAreCops: This happens in ''Lark! The Herald Angels Sing''.

** As the general Caerphilly opinion of Meg changes from "outsider" to "one of ours", Chief Burke becomes less upset about Meg's snooping.

* CoincidenceMagnet: Meg and her relatives have an uncanny ability to turn just about anything into an over the top chaotic mess by their mere presence. Then take it in stride and sort it out (more or less.)

* AnAssKickingChristmas: There are ChristmasEpisode books, with festive preparations seamlessly mixed with murder investigations.

* AnAssKickingChristmas: Four ChristmasEpisode books so far, with festive preparations seamlessly mixed with murder investigations.

* ''No Nest for the Wicket''

* ''Die Like an Eagle'' (August 2016)

** Although most of the wildlife descriptions and factoids throughout the book are reasonably accurate, the gull species Dr. Blake is trying to find in ''Gone Gull'' appear to be entirely fictional, and would have been a major discovery in RealLife.