An all-too-competitive game of "eXtreme croquet" set in an obstacle-ridden cow and sheep pasture in Caerphilly, Va., leads to murder in Agatha-winner Andrews's goofy seventh Meg Langslow mystery (after 2005's Owls Well That Ends Well). When Meg chases an errant shot into a gully, she discovers the fresh corpse of a woman with her head bashed in. The victim appears to have been done in with a croquet mallet-or was it a sledgehammer? Meg starts with a long list of suspects involved in a local campaign against developers who hope to transform the bucolic pasture area into an outlet mall. When the body is identified as Lindsay Tyler, a beautiful, manipulative former history professor with a checkered career and erstwhile romantic ties to Meg's fianc?, Michael, the connections and motives multiply, bogging down the action. Still, the author's sense of fun and a lively, charming cast will please most cozy fans. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A small-town croquet tournament turns into a blood sport with mallets for all. Blacksmith Meg Langslow (Owl's Well That Ends Well, 2005, etc.) thought that hosting a weekend of eXtreme croquet would provide a pleasant diversion while workmen--all nephews of a local dairy farmer named Shiffley--demolished the damaged parts of the farmhouse she and fianc Michael Waterston hope to restore. But after dislodging a cow from a wicket set conveniently in the middle of a bog, Meg stumbles across a chic blonde corpse. So Caerphilly's Chief of Police Burke, accompanied by his wife and driver Minerva, brings the tourney to a screeching halt by crime-scene-taping the whole playing area. As shift after shift of Shiffleys pound on the roof, Meg's team captain, Mrs. Fenniman, cousin Rose Noire and their opponents Henrietta Pruitt, Claire Wentworth and Lacie Butler, along with May Briggs--whose developer husband is threatening to build an outlet mall on Shiffley's adjacent farm--two realtors named Suzie and three Morris dancers, all repair to Meg's house to consume scandalous amounts of breakfast meats and ponder how Lindsay Tyler, whose career as history professor at Caerphilly College was almost as short as her stint at the Caerphilly Historical Society, managed to get herself brained with a croquet mallet. As usual, Andrews is a reliable source for those who like their murder with plenty of mayhem. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.