1985, cosy American detective fiction; second of MacLeod's novels
(as "Alisa Craig") of Dittany Henbit and the Lobelia Falls
Grub-and-Stakers Gardening & Roving Club. In a small town in Ontario,
the new museum (of early-settlement-era tat) needs a curator.
Unfortunately, the first one seems to have fallen to his death.
There's not a great deal to it, though I do admire MacLeod for
using the phrase "his precipitous demise" correctly (Katherine Kurtz's
infamous use of "his rather precipitous marriage" wouldn't be
published until the next year). The clues are extremely thin on the
ground, and the whole thing only holds together because it's a
detective story and therefore the villain must be one of the
characters we've been introduced to.
"I refuse to accept any suggestion that might lead to our having
Evangeline Fairfield dangling albatrossly around our necks for the
rest of her life. Damme, I'll pension her off myself, if I have to.
I'm sure you realize that last remark was uttered in the heat of the
moment and not to be taken literally," Arethusa added hastily.
"Surely there's a comfortable rest home somewhere for relicts of
deceased curators."
There's less conscious kookiness than last time, and a smaller cast,
which does no harm except to leave the book feeling rather slight.
Yes, newly-married Dittany wants to snuggle with her husband, and said
husband's aunt objects; but what might with a lighter hand have been
amusing wears a bit then after multiple repetitions.
There's a MacGuffin and a hidden map and so on, and it's all quite fun
and unobjectionable, but I continue to see these books as
palate-cleansers more than serious mystery novels. Followed by The
Grub-and-Stakers Pinch a Poke.
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