1981, cosy American detective fiction; second of MacLeod's novels
of Professor Peter Shandy, set at an agricultural college in
Massachussetts. A few days before the Annual Competition of the
Balaclava County Draft Horse Association, the college's farrier has
been murdered. And the prize pig has gone missing. Is it a school
prank gone horribly wrong, or something more sinister?
Another very light book from MacLeod, who refuses to let a small
matter like murder get in the way of the comic novels that she seems
to want to write. Before the business gets started we have exchanges
such as:
"Shouldn't you be training for the oat-shucking contest or
something?"
"There won't be one. It is not possible to shuck an oat. Oats don't
have shucks."
"Then what do they have? Oh, I know, it's always in crossword
puzzles. Awns. No, I suppose one couldn't very well hold an awning,
could one?"
"Not over an oat, at any rate. At least I daresay one could and it's
entirely possible somebody has, but it would seem a footling sort of
activity. Why don't you look it up? If there are any statistics
available, I suppose I ought to know about them."
and even the death of a well-liked (if not well-known) person doesn't
slow things down much. Oh, and there's a gold and silver robbery, and
the daughter of the president of the college going to her room and
refusing to talk to anyone.
Most of the players from the previous book have only minor roles here;
Peter is the principal, and both Thorkjeld Svenson the president of
the college and his wife Sieglinde get larger parts to play than
before. Indeed, both of them betray unexpected depths.
"Go, then, I will keep a herring in the window for you."
"Mama," said Gudrun, the second youngest, "it's a candle you're
supposed to keep in the window."
"Nonsense, my child. A candle would smoke up the glass and drip on
the sill. A herring lies looking mournful and bereft. The symbolism
is much more meaningful. Also it comes in handy for smorgasbord
later. Get ready now at once or you will miss the school bus."
Where a lesser writer might be happy with stock characters, MacLeod
insists on putting in people. Yes, they're funny people with quirks
and so on, but even the Ungodly come across as actual individuals
rather than cardboard cut-outs from Central Casting.
The plot itself is reasonably well-organised, though most of the clues
get demolished around the half-way mark and the shape of what's left
is pretty unambiguous. Still, everything is wrapped up neatly with
explanations for all the strangeness that has been going on, and
there's a triple wedding celebration to finish things off.
This book defines "cosy" in a way that Agatha Christie, often cited as
an exemplar of the style, doesn't: one knows going in that, while
there will indeed be a horrible murder, the small world of the college
is never seriously under threat and it'll all come out right in the
end.
Followed by Wrack and Rune.
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