For Duck's Sake by Donna Andrews

Available: August 5, 2025

Rated: 5 Ducks

Meg's brother and neighbor Rob and his wife Delaney have decided to add a duck pond to their backyard. The project takes a dark turn when the Shiffley-driven excavator exposes human bones. Who do the bones belong to? How did they end up in the backyard of sweet-but-sassy Iris Rafferty? What is she trying to hide when shortly after the discovery of the bones she does a runner and is nowhere to be found?

This series is so great. I usually don't care for series that have a lot of characters but there are so many characters in this series and I love each and every one of them far too much to imagine ever parting with any of them. Not even the small evil one, Spike. Meg is, as always, so freaking busy. This time it's the Mutt March, where hundreds of rescue dogs are being tidied up and costumed up to participate in a parade where they'll hopefully each find their fur-ever home. Of course in Caerphilly nothing can be completely without danger and the Mutt March is infiltrated by bad guys associated with a dog fighting ring. No worries, between Meg and Clarence and Mother and all the many volunteers there are plenty of eyes on the pooches, and whoever they can't keep their eyes on will be under the constant surveillance of the intrepid Kevin.

There's no easy way to summarize this book, or even this series. There's always so much going on and so many people involved. But for a series of murder mysteries, these books are more heartwarming than most romance novels. Everyone plays a part in the happy endings, each person getting to live their own dream as they pursue their passions and use their gifts to heap blessings upon each other and the entire community of Caerphilly which, though full of rascals, is the most open and accepting bunch of people who ever lived in a single geographical location.

I've got a notoriously short attention span and almost never binge-read a series, but this is a series I can sit and read, read, read, one book after another. I would recommend this series not just to people who enjoy cozy mysteries but to anyone who enjoys a sweet story and a happy ending (and what a happy ending this was, I'm not embarrassed to admit that my eyes leaked a bit). For this series possibly more than any other it's very important to read the books in order to really appreciate the growth of the characters and the development of the community.

Thank you to Donna Andrews, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.