1982 cosy American detective fiction; third of MacLeod's novels of
Professor Peter Shandy, set at an agricultural college in
Massachussetts. Hilda Horsefall is 105 years old and still keeping the
family farm going, until her farmhand is horribly murdered. But is it
just part of a land-grab, and if so who's trying to do it? And how is
the Viking runestone on her land connected to everything?
This third book strays from the college setting, spending most of
its time on the Horsefall farm and in the surrounding area, with a
cast of locals who say things like "Excuse me, ladies, I don't
gen'rally cuss in front o' females I ain't related to". There are
nasty antiques dealers, property speculators, and other lowlives, as
someone conducts a campaign of harrassment to get Hilda to sell her
land. But, of course, some people's motivations are a bit more murky
than that.
There's also an awful lot of whimsy, not only from the rude
mechanicals but from the various college types who get dragged out
when the stories of the murder and runestone blow up into a major
local sensation. And then there's the question of an Ancient Norse
Curse, which all too many people seem willing to take seriously.
There are perhaps just a few too many people here, Swopes and Lumpkins
and Fescues, particularly since most of them are kept in play as
suspects until the very last moments. Some of the best material is
given to College President Svenson, a Viking born out of time, and his
wife Sieglinde.
"He lived in happy monogamy with your Great-aunt Ylva until her
untimely passing at the age of eighty-nine. Naturally he is lonely
without her and seeks other feminine companionship. You would do the
same."
"Hell, you'll outlive me by forty years," cried Thorkjeld in panic.
His wife shook her noble blond head. "I shall not. Life without you
would be unendurably serene."
While the mystery itself isn't trivial like some of those in MacLeod's
earlier books, one feels it was still mostly the frame on which the
characters could be hung. Enough of them are good that one doesn't
really mind, but this is lightweight even by her own standards.
Followed by Something the Cat Dragged In.
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