From
the archive….
Charlotte
MacLeod (1922-2004) was the queen of the amusing cozy mystery. Between 1978 and 1996, during the time the
cozy began to be recognized as a subgenre, she turned out more than 30 books in
four series. In classic sitcom fashion her main characters were always
reasonable people doing their best to cope with the eccentrics and screwballs that
surrounded them.
The Peter Shandy series of 10 books is set at a fictional small
college in western Massachusetts. These books take one light-hearted potshot
after another at academia while subtly expressing MacLeod’s concerns about the
future of family-owned farms and the natural environment. Rest You Merry is the first
title, introducing Peter Shandy as a tenured botany professor at Balaclava
Agricultural College during the Christmas season. The college is realistic
about the financial status of its students, most of whom are from small towns
and farms, and encourages them in entrepreneurial ventures. The main fundraiser
of the year is in December, when the campus hosts a winter fair called the
Grand Illumination. The students pull children in sleds, sell baked goods and
hot chocolate, host games, and generally do anything they can to generate a
buck.
The
college supports their efforts by decking every building on campus in Christmas
lights, ornaments, and greenery. Shandy is the resident Scrooge who is happy
the students are making money but doesn’t want to participate in the annual
extravaganza of over-the-top embellishment. Every year his house is the only
one without seasonal regalia. Every year the obnoxious chair of the decorating
committee badgers him about his failure to measure up. This year Shandy reaches
his breaking point. He hires a firm to hang lights, set to flash around the
clock, and sets up a tape deck with a loudspeaker to blare Christmas songs in a
never-ending loop. Satisfied with the lavish display of singular tastelessness,
he leaves to celebrate Christmas elsewhere.
After
a couple of days he is conscience-stricken and returns home to turn off the
lights and music only to find the body of the committee chair behind his sofa.
The college is quick to term the death an accident but Shandy is not so sure.
His subsequent investigation revealed the victim had antagonized a number of
people, and he suspects at least one of them had been goaded beyond endurance.
I
first read these books for their wit but I return to them because I enjoy the droll
but not cruel depiction of oddball characters. I also like to dissect the plots
that appear to be effortlessly constructed but surely were not. This is a fine
book to read at any time but especially now, with a couple of sugar cookies and
a mug of something warm to drink.
·
Hardcover: 222 pages
·
Publisher: Otto Penzler Books (December 1, 1993)
(Reprint)
·
ISBN-10: 1562870521
·
ISBN-13: 978-1562870522
Amazon Associate Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/4dxCDbF
Aubrey Hamilton © 2017, 2025
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal IT projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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