Customer Reviews (3)

Humor & Suspense & Music & Harvard
This is the first Homer and Mary Kelly book that I've read. When I come across a mystery that I really enjoy, I try to read all the other books by the author. So I look forward to enjoying the other 16 mysteries that Jane Langton has written in this series.

If you like mysteries with lots of local color and humorous Tom Wolfe-like situations and observations, you won't be disappointed.

Enter Homer Kelly
This is the book that launched Jane Langton's fame as a mystery writer.She has written much since that time, but I suspect this may be her best work.It has a light touch, a really interesting mystery, and a nice background of Harvardiana and classical music.The university setting is well done, which is unusual among "murder on the campus" books. Current Harvard students may be a bit puzzled (Memorial Hall was completely redone in the mid-'90's, years after this book was published). The plot is expertly constructed, and there is a strong sense of place and time, which allows the reader to care about the action and the characters.I give it 4 stars rather than 5 because I reserve 5 stars for something like The Hound of the Baskervilles.... This book is disappearing from library shelves, but there are still a lot of used copies about. Buy one now, before they are gone, too!

hilarious
This book is one of my favourites.It combines my liking for mysteries and love of classical music.Homer and Mary Kelly assist some students at Harvard to find their lost and loved professor.We follow the rehearsing of Handel's Messiah, and I laughed out loud by the description of a characters tries to learn the music, playing the violin.(probably not as funny for non musicians though)Good book. ... Read more

Book Description
A very unusual house...

Eddy and Eleanor Hall have always known that their family was a bit out of the ordinary. After all, they live in one of the most remarkable houses in all of Concord. But they never guessed just how extraordinary their house really is, or what tremendous secrets about their family's past it holds. That is, until they discover the magical attic room with its beautiful stained-glass window, abandoned toys, and two perfectly made-up, empty beds that seem to be waitingperhaps for two children just like themselves....

Customer Reviews (44)

A Truly Remarkable Book
Fourteen years ago, my mother read this book to me, and it is something I have never quite forgotten.Sure, many of the chapters' images were lost to the background of my mind.But I remembered the book's sense of adventure and the magic behind its words.Hearing my mother read it, its story was completely enthralling and its characters were real to me.Also, many of its images did stick with me and, when I have tried, I could always call them fondly to mind.Now, fourteen years have passed and, having re-read it, I am just as impressed as I was, before.But now, having also read selections from Emerson and Thoreau, I was also amazed by how much transcendental philosophy is packed into this book.Reading it can be a real learning experience, even though it doesn't feel like that at all.It feels like a great, fast read, with wonderful characters and an incredible tale.Why did I choose to re-read it?Two weeks ago, I was considering my life, trying to figure out what path to choose, and I realized that I was picturing this book's character, Eddy, staring into a mirror. (You'll probably know what I'm talking about after you've read this book.)Anyway, this one of the best children's books EVER!You should read this!

Mystery, adventure, and fantasy fulfillment to please anyone
The Diamond in the Window is the story of Eddy and Eleanor Hall, who live in a fantastic house in historic Concord, Massachusetts. I particularly enjoyed these books as a kid because I grew up in Lexington, right next door to Concord, and it was easy for me to picture the Hall's house and neighborhood. Langton's children's books also have just the right touch of magic, mixed in with real-life, to make a real-life kid feel like anything is possible.

Things are tough for Eddy and Eleanor. Their Uncle Freddy is perpetually confused, and their Aunt Lily is overworked, struggling to pay back taxes on their house so that they don't lose it. And then a wonderful thing happens. Eleanor and Eddy discover a hidden staircase that leads to a secret room at the top of their house. The room has toys and books, an elaborate castle built of block, and two small beds. They learn from Aunt Lily that the room belonged to their aunt and uncle, Ned and Nora, who disappeared when they were children. Aunt Lily's fiance, and Uncle Fred's friend, Prince Krishna, also disappeared.

Eddy and Eleanor promptly decide to search for the missing Ned, Nora, and Prince Krishna. They uncover a clue-filled poem, and start having fantastic shared dreams (or are they dreams?), in which they uncover secrets from the poem. These dreams are wonderful experiences, overlaid with menacing fright. But slowly, the determined children work through the clues, and the dreams, trying to find their missing aunt and uncle, and uncover a treasure that will save the family home.

The Diamond in the Window is filled with excellent adventures: kids turning into toys, and mice, and wandering inside of mazes. Some of the adventures hide larger lessons about loyalty and being true to who you are, but the lessons are rarely overt. The story is also filled with historical references about the Revolutionary War, and Walden and Thoreau, and Louisa May Alcott. Again, not so overt - these things are part of the world that Eddy and Eleanor, and especially Uncle Freddy, live in.

I couldn't really say how well this story will hold up for kids who aren't from Lexington and Concord, and who don't fondly remember it from their childhood. But I suspect that that Jane Langton taps into universal themes of mystery, adventure, and fantasy fulfillment that will please anyone. I'm glad that I visited again.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on June 17th, 2006.

Unforgettable!
I read literally hundreds of books in my youth, most of them long ago forgotten, but never forgot this one! I found this book in my elementary school library around 1979/ 1980, and read it several times in the next couple of years. I looked for it later- in every bookstore/ used bookstore I went into for years- (I could remember the title, but not the authors name) and couldn't find it anywhere. Then, along came the internet, and Voila! I found it, ordered it and re-read it. As an adult, I'm surprised and pleased to find that this absolute GEM of a book has lost none of it's charm and mystery.A wonderful story, intriguing mystery, lovable characters, perfect! Highly recommeneded for any young person- entertaining and educational at once- and truly Unforgettable!

Imagination Abounds!
This was such a great book, I read it when I was a kid and recently something jogged my memory so I bought it.I read it again and it was still just as great, perhaps even better than when I was a kid.A classic.I'm going to pass it on to my kids!

A book for all ages.
While I was a voracious reader as a child, there are a very few books from my childhood that stand out in my memory like beacons.This is one of those books.I was probably eight or nine when I first read it, and I still remember to this day lessons I learned from this book -- like putting the interests of others before your own, for example.One of the author's gifts is that she was able to teach such important lessons without this reader realizing he was being taught.As far as I was concerned at the time it was a vastly entertaining and enjoyable read.It was also my first introduction to the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau (albeit at a level a child could comprehend).If this book were required reading for every child, our world would be a better place. ... Read more

Book Description

Everything depends on them....

When Georgie Hall decides to walk from Concord, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., with a letter to the President and an old flag capable of producing magical visions, no one doubts that she has the will or ability to do it. Along with her stepcousins Eleanor and Eddy, Georgie begins the Children's Crusade to stop the President from building a globally fatal nuclear bomb, known as the Peace Missile. But 450 miles is a long way to walk, and even as the Crusade picks up members along the way, its marchers can't help but wonder if their actions will make a difference, or if it is already too late....

Customer Reviews (6)

A great story that works on many levels
Twenty years after it was first published, "The Fragile Flag" is still an entertaining story for children and adults alike. Of course, Jane Langton's clever satire works best for people who remember the 1980s. But sophisticated young readers should be able to decode the allegory even today.

The author has done a fine job capturing the childish earnestness of the mid-1980s disarmament movement, portraying it here as a literal band of children marching to Washington to protest deployment of the "Peace Missile," a sort of combination of two of the movement's bêtes noire, the "Peacekeeper" ICBM and the Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars." Singing "We Shall Overcome," no less, the children march south to face down a scheming, hyper-patriotic President. Few writers for young adults, in my experience, have so clearly revealed the Left's essential view of America, not as rational adults capable of debating policy on its merits, but rather as "a mighty swarm of children" (p. 264). Having them base their beliefs on fuzzy emotionalism and (drug-induced?) visions of all the people and animals going up in a ball of fire is just one example of the precision of her satire.

Of course, this book isn't just a simple allegory. Its elements of fantasy make it especially entertaining. In the real world, could a march like the Peace Pilgrimage have made it two blocks without the harpies from Child Protective Services descending on it? Would any sensible parent allow pre-teens to undertake an epic like this, not only unsupervised, but in the company of an infant? (That infant, by the way, is one of Langton's true gems. Not only does his name, Carrington, imply that even in his infancy he is "caring [a] ton" about the future of the earth, but it is also a clear dig at the fictional family from theTV series "Dynasty," a Reagan-era exemplar of the materialistic super-rich. Even Blake and Krystle, she seems to be saying, can redeem themselves by being born again [!] with the faith of precocious babies.) In fact, the world of rational adults -- of grown-ups with telling names like Mrs. Brisket and Miss Prawn, suggestive again of man's continual cruelty to animals -- is rejected entirely, so complete is the author's allegory.

Who needs Ann Coulter's sledgehammer when we've got Jane Langton's rapier? If she'd had her Peace Pilgrimage continue all the way down to Nicaragua, the littlest Sandalistas might have might have succeeded in souring Gen X on the Left entirely. Oh, for what could have been!

Inspirational
The fragile flag shows how one person's convictions can change the world. I was impressed by the author's lesson to children about their rights as Americans; that if you do not speak up to defend your rights, they will be taken away.

an important book for parents to discuss with their children
I read this book many years ago and I still have a copy on my shelf.I think all parents who have strong feelings about nuclear disarmament should read this to their children and use it as a jumping off point to discuss nuclear weapons, war, and the impact that softspoken leaders like Mahama Ghandi and little Georgie (the book's main character) can have when our nations' leaders let fear prevail over morality.I also believe it reminds those who seek to use the flag as a symbol of blind patriotism and allegiance to American military actions that pacifists can be patriots, too.There is so much to carry away from this simple, but elegantly written book that an elementary or junior high school student can understand and appreciate...it certainly speaks to many of the issues that are being debated in the current political climate.

GREAT!
I just got this book out of the library, and it was GREAT! I thought it looked dumb, but when I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading. Georgie leads the march and they walk to washington, DC. Preisident Toby isn't real, but the author makes him sound so real! My favorite characthers are Georgie and Weezie. To bad this book is out of print.

Still sticks in my head after 15 years!
I read this book when I was a kid!And it still sticks with me after all these years.All I remember is this chick walks to washington dc.Pretty cool though.I'd buy it if I were you.Too bad it's out of print. ... Read more

Product Description
Saint Francis was born in 1182, the son of a wealthy merchant. After a swashbuckling youth in Assisi, he had a change of faith and decided to live the life that he ascribed to Jesus, one of poverty and abstinence. He gave away everything he owned. His father disowned him. But over the years he drew to himself a substantial following of men and women and died revered and beloved in 1225. Three years later he was canonized as Saint Francis of Assisi by Pope Gregory IX.

This lovely retelling of one of the lesser known of the Saint Francis lessons centers on the legend of the great wolf of Gubbio, a ferocious canine who terrorized the town and was slowly reducing it to penury and starvation. In nearby Assisi, Brother Francis heard of their plight and came to their rescue. Unbelievingly, the villagers watched from the ramparts as Brother Francis called to the wolf, tamed it with his tenderness, and made it pledge that if the people of Gubbio would care for it, he would do them no harm. He took the pledge and lived in harmony with the citizens of the city until his death.

Jane Langton has retold the legend with her usual lucidity and grace, and Ilse Plume, an Italophile and the illustrator of three previous Godine books, has supplied the rectos with illustrations that glow with the intensity of Renaissance jewelry. A perfect gift for Easter or anyone who embraces the relationship between man and the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A terrible wolf is terrorizing the fortified town of Gubbio, gradually starving its people

Saint Francis and the Wolf is a picturebook retelling of one of the less well-known legends of the beloved Saint Francis of Assisi. A terrible wolf is terrorizing the fortified town of Gubbio, gradually starving its people; Brother Francis sets out to rescue them. The villagers watch in amazement as Francis calls to the wolf, tames it, and makes it pledge never to harm the people of Gubbio so long as they care for it. The wolf accepts the pledge and lives in harmony with Gubbio for the rest of its life. Caldecott Honor illustrator Ilse Plume brings the legend to life with soft, colored-pencil style artwork, in this gentle storybook written for young readers of all religious faiths.

A "holy" book kids can actually get into
My kids are actually interested in the story, probably because the wolf is a bit threatening (not outright scary though) so the sense of danger keeps there attention. ... Read more

Book Description
In the latest Homer Kelly mystery, Homer and his wife Mary are engaged in a steeplechase, a pursuit of a mysterious lost church. Chapters alternate between present and past, and slowly the events of 1868 in the town of Nashoba unfold as a disabled Civil War vet tries to get back to normal. Central to the story is a gigantic tree, the Great Nashoba Chestnut. And crucially intermingled with its fate are a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the story of Three Billy Goats Gruff. In addition to the customary impeccable sleuthing, the author has provided numerous drawings and a number of nineteenth-century photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The past is a mystery
Jane Langton has tapped in to a great theme: that the past is itself a mystery. We can never truly know what happened during any historical event, large or small, global or personal. And the "truth" is relative and subjective.

Bouncing back and forth between 1868 and the present heightened the suspense, and raised a philosophical question: does it matter how a past event actually happened? If it is lost in the mists of time due to misplaced evidence, burned records, faded photos, then hasn't the event itself changed in some way? History only exists in our collective recorded memory. And that is a fluid existence indeed, subject to new findings, new biases, and the inevitable decay and loss of all evidence.

Homer and Mary can only uncover what is there to be found. The rest they attempt to fill in with their considerable insight into human nature. I appreciate their practicality. Mysteries of dirty deeds in church cloisters may be fascinating, but these two never ignore lunch, or love, or their fellow humans in the here and now. Great role models, since the here and now is all we have, after all.

Homer is a mystery
I enjoy discovering a new series and had never read the "Homer Kelly" books. However,I had a hard time getting a handle on"Steeplechase."It went back and forth between Homer and Mary in the present day, to the 19th century. With short chapters, it was especially difficult to hold my interest in either the present or the past, especially since I was having a hard time getting a handle on who Homer and Mary were.
I understand there were many previous books in the series. However, an author should realize a reader may be new to the series and give background information on the main characters. This was not the case.
I follow a series when I am interested in the main character. However, character development was nil.Who are Homer and Mary??? After I read this book, I knew Homer was a professor at Harvard, over 6 feet tall, and his previous published book, which achieved little success, has had current interest and is now at the top of the best seller list. There was absolutely no further informationon him and nothing about Mary, except that she was his wife and related to the 19th century characters. I don't even know what Homer taught or what his book was about.Hector is introduced in the first few pages. I never did find out who he was. Overuse of the word "whoopsie" made it sound like a children's book. Rather than "comedy" as a review described, it seemed silly. While the plot and symbolism in the 19th century part of the book could have beeninteresting, it was too late in the book to keep my interest.
I thought of reading earlier books in the series to see what it was about, but why bother. There are too many other books out there.

Maybe the books in this series should be called Historical Mysteries ...
... because Homer and Mary Kelly are always delving into interesting stories from the past.This time, Homer is working on a book about church steeples found in and around Concord, Massachusetts.His editor wants him to uncover titillating scandals in the process, but Homer isn't finding many.In alternate chapters, we drop back to 1868, where a dispute between two ministers and their families is brewing in Nashoba, not far from Concord.It begins with a chestnut tree and ends in the division of one congregation into two.Readers are encouraged to stick with the unfolding of the historical text; it takes a commitment of time to figure out which characters to focus on.Gradually we see that what happened back then is exactly what Homer Kelly was looking for all along.Perhaps the savviest of readers will even understand the symbolism of wounded soldier James Shaw's interest in Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities."We're given a lot to digest in these pages.

Langton is good at several things here:showing single events from the perspective of multiple characters' views, and making fiction seem like nonfiction.By the end of the book, I was so curious about the historical revelation that I was ready to drive along Route 2A in search of a church-turned-pizza parlor in Nashoba.Alas, my search would have been fruitless, for not only did the author fabricate the historical episode unveiled in "Steeplechase," she also placed it in a fictional town.I wanted it all to be true!

Please give us back Homer & Mary....no more history!
I can understand that J. Langton wants to branch out, probably bored with Homer and Mary.

But I read her for Homer and Mary, not history.

If she wants to write history, she should start a new series, not disappoint Homer and Mary fans.

I picked up this book at the bookstore, flipped it open to see more "history," and said outloud, "Oh, no." I did buy it, but was very disappointed and will wait for this kind of book to come to the library next time.

What I do is skim the history and read the parts with Homer and Mary.

entertaining intelligent mystery
Harvard Professor Homer Kelly has the New York Times number one nonfiction seller, Hen & Chicks.His editor demands he write a follow-up immediately so he can stay on top while the iron is hot.Homer works on his next tome Steeplechase, a look at the historical churches of New England.His wife Mary persuades him to begin the treks starting in Concord and eventually nearby Nashoba.They will find post Civil War aerial photos by the Pratt brothers that showcase a church steeple and a great chestnut tree in Nashoba; while the steeple seems to have vanished without any references besides the pictures, the tree remains standing today.

In 1868 Nashoba, disfigured veteran James Jackson Shaw comes home wanting to simply die.He refuses to see any of his friends and barely tolerates the care of his wife Isabelle and his in-laws including Reverend and Mrs. Gideon.At the same time, Eben Fleet wants Isabelle as his while Ella Viles desires Eben.These disjointed relationships will collide near the Nashoba Chestnut tree that magnificently stands by the First Parrish Church.

In the shadows of Longfellow, STEEPLECHASE alternates chapters so that the audience sees the real events of 1868 vs. the Kelly interpretation of those same activities.This makes for an intriguing historiographic look at how each generation re-interprets the past.Though the 1868 saga is more gripping than the current times fans of a thought provoking, yet very entertaining intelligent mystery will appreciate the latest Homer Kelly thriller.

Harriet Klausner
... Read more

Book Description
From the winner of Bouchercon's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Nero Wolfe Award, and a Newbery Honor Award, a baffling, lavishly illustrated new Homer Kelly extravaganza Most of the Harvard men who were killed at Gettysburg died as valiant heroes. But according to Mary Kelly's family lore, one of her ancestors was a deserter. In setting out to clear his name, Mary and her husband, the brilliant and lovable Pro-fessor Homer, uncover what may have been a very dastardly deed indeed. An intriguing blend of superbly researched fact and fiction, Jane Langton's seventeenth Homer Kelly mystery will be hailed as one of the stellar achievements of a distinguished career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Very little Homer and Mary in this one
This book is indeed a 'Homer Kelly' mystery (the seventeenth in the series), but Langton's serial detective has very little to do in "The Deserter."In another of her mysteries, Langton has a character refer to the 'deep well of the past.'In "The Deserter," we are IN that well, glancing occasionally upward at dimly gesticulating characters from the present.The author could very well have left Homer and Mary out of this book, and still have told an interesting story about the Battle of Gettysburg and its aftermath.

Normally I avoid books about the American Civil War like the plague.Even Langton's patented touches of light humor, e.g. the dance hall babe in beribboned knickers, failed to brighten up this book with its piles of sawed-off limbs, frightened young soldiers, and putrid corpses.

The plot overlay involves Mary's effort to clear the name of her great-great-grandfather, who was accused of deserting his regiment during the Battle of Gettysburg.We slip backward a hundred and fifty years and learn that Lieutenant Seth Morgan was actually killed by one of his own soldiers, who then swapped uniforms and identities with him and hightailed it for Baltimore.Seth's pregnant wife Ida searches the temporary hospitals and morgues for her husband's body and is finally told that Seth deserted.

Ida is the real heroine of this book, although she never learns the actual fate of her husband (that has to wait for Homer and Mary).She is one of Langton's typical heroines:slightly shabby and made bulky by her growing baby, but upright, determined, and very likeable.Her sixteen-year-old brother is sent to bring her back home to Massachusetts and enlists in the Union Army, instead.

Ida stumbles across her brother dying of typhoid fever in Washington D.C.'s Patent Office, which has been converted into a temporary hospital (the author admits that she knew the Patent Office was no longer used as a hospital by the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, but she was so charmed by the location that she fudged just a bit in her otherwise historically accurate account).Ida herself is about to give birth, and the man she thinks is her husband, Seth has pranced off to music hall stages unknown with his bubbly mistress.

Actually, this is one of the more cheerful passages in "The Deserter."

This will never be my favorite Langton, but it is still worth reading if you are a fan of this mystery/history author."The Deserter" is illustrated with drawings and nineteenth-century photographs of the real places where her fictional characters played out their very serious lives.The portrait-photographs that Langton 'borrowed' for her protagonists are especially haunting--all of those young lives despoiled by a dark, desperate civil war.

A sequel to "The Deserter," called "Steeplechase" will be published by St. Martin's Press in November, 2005.

A very good historical, but not a mystery
This is a good book. But it's not really a mystery in the Homer Kelly series. Homer Kelly is an incidental character here. His wife Mary is somewhat more important. But the most part of the book takes place during the Civil War, and there's no mystery - we are told fairly quickly who murdered whom and why. The only mystery involved is Homer and Mary's finding out about it, and even that is not much of a mystery - everything is in the archives somewhere.

That said, I enjoyed the book a lot. Much of it is epistolary in style - letters written between the characters. I like that style. There are terrific photographs of the characters in the book who happen to be real people. There are some very funny moments featuring Mary's cousin-somewhat-removed (and somewhat loony), Howard Ebenezer. And at the end there is a bit of the humor aimed at the foibles of academia that often characterizes the series - but only a little bit, not enough to be annoying, as has happened in some of the other books.

In fact, much of what has gotten a little trite or grating in the series is missing from this book, *because* Homer is only incidental to it. So many people might in fact find this book better than the last few they've read in the series.

For some of the books in this series, it matters whether you've read the previous books; for this one, it doesn't. You can read this one even if you've not read any of the others, and then if you like this, you might want to try others in the series. If you particularly like the Civil War aspects of it, you might also wish to follow up with Sharyn McCrumb's "Ghost Riders" (ISBN: 0451211847).

In sum: worth reading, a good story, but don't expect as much about Cambridge and Harvard as is usual in this series.

Ida's Story
The Deserter is the best plotted Jane Langton mystery in the whole Homer Kelly series.People who normally avoid her novels because there isn't enough mystery should give Ms. Langton another chance.You'll be following the developments with interest up to the last pages of the book.

A typical Homer Kelly novel pretty much gives the mystery away in the first few pages, and the focus is on how Homer or his wife Mary will find out what really happened.They usually bumble around quite a bit, and their efforts are more amusing than brilliant.What makes most of the novels appealing is their rich intellectual development of an interesting thinker and period in time.

In The Deserter, the excellent aspects of that approach are retained while interesting new aspects are added.I was very much impressed with these changes.

In the Deserter, the reader is presented with the same mystery that Mary Kelly has:What shameful thing happened to her great great grandfather, Seth Morgan that no one in the family wants to talk about?In the course of pursuing that mystery, Ms. Langton adds a second one for Ida Morgan, Seth's pregnant wife, during the Civil War.Where and how is he?Ida reads that he's listed as missing in action at Gettysburg, and wants to find out what happened.

The story has several narrators including Homer, Mary and Ida.In addition, you'll meet and listen to the story of Private Otis Pike, a member of the Harvard Class of 1860 and fellow Hasty Pudding Club member along with Seth and several of the other officers in the Second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry at Gettysburg.

The book is filled with fascinating details of how the fallen Harvard men were remembered and honored by their school, the conduct at Gettysburg for this infantry unit, how the dead and wounded were handled, and the records involving the unit.Much of the details involving Gettysburg will evoke The Red Badge of Courage for you.The details are enriched by period photographs, reproductions of period documents and quotes from famous people involved in the Civil War.In a final note, Ms. Langton tells you where all of these people and details were derived.

As a story telling device, Ida's search for Seth is marvelous and provides many interesting insights into war's aftermath.

The book will have special appeal to those whose relatives died in the Civil War as well as to Harvard people who have stared up at those stone tablets in Memorial Hall.

After you finish this outstanding book, I suggest that you take the time to find out more about one of your relatives who is no longer with us.Naturally, if you have one about whom the family tries to avoid talking, you may bump into a fascinating story.But feel free to pick someone whom the family is proud of.Undoubtedly, you'll learn something important.Good luck in the archives and scrapbooks!

fun contemporary investigation into that past
Many Harvard men died at the Battle of Gettysburg as part of the valiant 2nd Massachusetts Volunteers and in fact the university honors these heroes with a memorial hall listing them.However, not everyone behaved courageously as Mary Kelly tells her husband, Homer, a professor at the school.Her great-great grandfather Seth Morgan apparently deserted, but though her family refuses to talk about his cowardly behavior, Mary needs to know the truth about Seth.

Mary and Homer begin their investigation into her roots by visiting her sister Gwen, who lives in the ancestral home where family items have been stored for years in the attic.They learn that third cousin removed Ebenezer Flint took everything while Gwen and her husband was away.Deciding to continue their quest, Mary and Homer visit the college archives and follow that up with a trip to Gettysburg.From there they go to DC to visit Ebenezer as a story unfolds of cowardice, treachery, and murder on the eve of the pivotal Civil War battle.

Though the prime plot is the modern day inquiries into the Morgan family roots, intermingling throughout the tale is a superb subplot focusing on the key characters involving what happened to Seth.Thus, readers, once adjusted to the flashbacks, receive two delightful tales, of which either could have stand-alone.The prime protagonists, past and present, come through as genuine so that the audience receives a wonderful historical tale inside a fun contemporary investigation into that past.

Harriet Klausner

A Jane Langton mystery -- must more be said?
I don't read a great many mystery novels, although there are a few authors for whom I keep an eye open.Jane Langton is one of that small group.Her mysteries are far from any stereotype of hard-bitten private eye or police detective tales.Langton's books are quirky and literate, peopled by eccentric characters and, more often than not, deeply linked to some aspect of history. All involve Homer and Mary Kelly (both are Harvard professors, although Homer is also a former policeman) but usually the Kellys are less the center of the story than the means through which it is told.Mary Kelly, it turns out, has an ancestor who evidently did something terribly shameful during the Civil War, the details lost in family silence.Sparked by contemplation of Harvard's grand Memorial Hall, dedicated to the memory of those Harvard men who died fighting for the Union in the Civil War, the Kellys begin researching why great-great-grandfather Seth Morgan's name became shrouded in such disgrace.And it soon becomes apparent that the heart of the mystery lies at Gettysburg where Morgan's regiment, the 2nd Massachusetts Infantry, made a futile, bloody attack on Confederate works near Culp's Hill on the morning of the third day of battle.The novel's narrative switches back and forth from the present, with Homer and Mary delving into libraries and records depositories and family attics, to 1863 where we see the battle through the eyes of a scapegrace soldier and then the battle's dreadful aftermath of pain and suffering as Morgan's pregnant wife searches through hospitals for her vanished husband.For those of us who are students of that Civil War battle, the fictional detectives' excursion to Gettysburg will bring nods of recognition when they make the long walk from Lee's statue across the wide fields to that low stone wall on the other side of the Emmitsburg Road, marveling at the odd beauty of lines of cannons, and later when they encounter the less than scrupulous proprietor of Bart's Battle Flag Books where not all artifacts may be quite what Bart claims they are (and where Mary is astonished that so many books could be written about the Civil War).

Jane Langton is a gifted, somewhat unconventional writer who here has created strong images of the terror of the battlefield and the horror of the hospitals.And late in the book she crafts an extraordinary interlude when Homer Kelly returns to Harvard's Memorial Hall, today doing service as the freshmen dining hall, and envisions a magical dissolution of the gulf in time separating the current generation of heedless students eating sloppy joes there from the men commemorated about them in stone and stained glass, like Strong Vincent at Little Round Top and Robert Gould Shaw of Fort Wagner and Charles Russell Lowell at Cedar Creek, torn and bleeding bodies suddenly hoisted on to the tables amidst chicken fingers and Diet Coke.It is a powerful, eloquent moment, calling upon all of us to remember and understand. ... Read more

Book Description
Five mysterious cards ...

When Eddy Hall receives five cards for his stereoscope, he and his sister, Eleanor, can't wait to see what exotic places they reveal-maybe Stonehenge, or a centuries-old European cathedral. But instead, when they look through the stereoscope, Eddy and Eleanor see some very strange things. An odd-looking rope hangs from the sky down into every picture. A marmalade-colored cat that looks suspiciously like Herm, the family cat, also appears. And one picture looks like the front hall of their very own house! The images seem to be almost real, not just three-dimensional illusions. All it will take is one little tug on that rope to find out for sure....

Customer Reviews (2)

One of my most favorite books
Stereoscope was given to me as a gift when I was 10 years old (back in 1971). I thought "oh great, a book. :(" It sat unread for a few months, but one bored day I picked it up and couldn't put it down. Over the past 30 years I have read it again and again and come to realize how profoundly this book influenced my thinking about the natural world, religion, and our role as human beings. I kid you not.

This is a delightful book that you really should buy for your favorite 10 year old.

3rd in the series, but can be read on its own.
I know that because I read it before I read THE DIAMOND IN THE WINDOW or THE SWING IN THE SUMMERHOUSE. I enjoyed reading my library's copy so much that I bought the book the first chance I got.

The stereoscope seems to have been an early version of the Viewmaster.This one is astonishing because it's another magical gift from Prince Krishna.Eddy and his older sister, Eleanor, don't just get to see 3-D views -- they can enter them to have adventures, such as meeting some of their ancestors from Puritan days.Herman the Crazy Cat shows the way.

Eddy and Eleanor need the distraction because they both feel very guilty about the accident to their Uncle Fred's student, John Green.John is in a coma and Uncle Fred has to take out a loan to pay the hospital bills.Mr. Preek the banker and his secretary, Miss Prawn, are so happy.They're sure that they will be able to foreclose on the loan.Then they can finally destroy the Halls' fancy old house that they hate so much.Besides, Miss Prawn wants some of the Halls' antiques to sell.

Will Eleanor and Eddy rescue their cat from being trapped in the stereoscope?Will they be able to prevent a human sacrifice in one of their adventures?Will Prince Krishna's potted palm wander the universe forever?Will John ever come out of his coma?Will the Hall family lose their home?

By the way, the hot air balloon on the cover really is in the book.It's part of a guided tour that's the most astonishing view the stereoscope has. ... Read more

Book Description
Leaving Concord, Massachusetts, for a six-week sabbatical in Venice, Professor Homer Kelly finds bliss at a rare-books conference while his wife, Mary, sets out to photograph the magnificent churches, palaces, squares, and waterways of the city. Elsewhere, golden treasures, hidden for half a century, lead to a vicious killing. During one of her tourist excursions, Mary snaps a picture of the extremely handsome murderer who befriends and then seduces her. Soon, holy artifacts begin to disappear as the acqua alta rises with the body count. When the streets are flooded and the moon is full, temptation overwhelms, bullets fly, and Homer and Mary learn that even their closest friends are hiding secrets that could end in death. In a city of legendary wonders, the Kellys will need nothing less than a miracle to survive.

"A book that offers love, murder, and miracles"--Chicago Tribune ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

different . . .
I've always liked the civility and intelligence of the Homer Kelly series.I'm not happy with Ms. Langton's use of "f-bombs".Also, Mary's infidelity is not in keeping with the tone of this series.

These simply do not fit in with the rest of the series.

Quite A Bit Different
Having read almost all of the Homer Kelly mysteries by Jane Langton, I was surprised by this one. Not only does it take place outside the normal venue, but as well, Homer plays a very small part in the book, with Mary doing most of the detecting. As usual, Ms. Langton does an excellent job of wrapping up several seemingly disparate plotlines into one tidy ending. The descriptions of Venice are interesting, although at times are rather more like a list of attractions rather than true descriptions. All in all, not the best of the series; but even when not the best, a Jane Langton book is better than most in the genre.

Not the best to Start with, but....
This might not be the best Homer Kelly mystery to start with, but it is definitely worth reading if you like the series.Most of the Homer Kelly books take place in Boston; occassionally on another site, such as Florence(the Dante Game) and Oxford (the Longest Day).Unlike the previousreviewer, I did not find ANY of the Boston books boring.This one, thattakes place in Venice, is a great introduction to the city.And Mary Kellyis more of the main character than Homer. But for those of us who have READEVERY ONE, it was interesting to see Mary in a foreign city and the dangershe finds herself in. Perhaps not the best, but a very good look at Veniceand to an extent, Medieval art.

Forget Homer - it's a Mary Kelly Mystery
I began to think that Langton sat with a map of Venice to write her story and name-drop places.I really think this book was not well written, badly proofread and why was it necessary to use all that profanity?If itweren't for the Venice setting it would be as dull as her Boston books.

O
This book is quite interesting. The descriptions of the city are Even better than any guide book i have every read. Although the descriptions are marvellousthe book does not score as many points.

The romance betweenLucia and Samule makes you tingly inside. bottom line:ON A WHOLEDISAPPOINTING AND dRAGGING.THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CITY MAKE IT A LOTEAISER TO SWALLOW. ... Read more

Book Description
"Dying is a wild night and a new road" wrote Emily Dickinson. The sharpness of this poetic vision takes on a new meaning when, during the annual pageant commemorating Paul Revere's ride, a prominent citizen's gruesomely ventilated body (still in Minuteman costume) signals a murderer is on the loose.

Homer Kelly, celebrated Emersonian scholar and legendary ex-homicide detective, happens to be in Concord completing his academic opus. When the local constabulary asks him for help, he willingly agrees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Henry David and Emily ?
Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickenson together ... well perhaps?Detective Homer Kelly and beautiful librarian Mary Morgan together ... you'll just have to read it! The 60 short chapters keep the story and the mystery moving along shapely, like a bite out of a McIntosh apple or a cool swig of apple cider.Perhaps there is nothing transcendental about murder, but each chapter is introduced by a quote from Thoreau, Emerson, Dickenson, or the Alcotts, and the quotes help you feel the presence of these in Concord. A good mystery and a fun read! As a bird watcher, I would have to question the realism of the Bald Eagle being Teddy's last bird on Thoreau's list, particularly since the now extinct, Passenger Pigeon was seen by Thoreau.

It stays in the mind
I first read this book in 1966 in high school and remember becoming instantly attracted to the characters and the New England setting.Even after all these years I remember worrying that Mary and Homer would neverget together.They were both so different and eccentric they belongedtogether! Langton also manages to keep a respectable mystery going thatkeeps you guessing and with an exciting ending. Over the years I haveread and enjoyed Langton's other books as very literate - just quirky andfunny enough to be charming without being silly. Some years ago I visitedNew England and found myself imagining Mary and Homer in the places Ivisited. So it appears I can never forget Mary and Homer as they havebecome a part of my life. Over 30 years ago I wished these characters werereal so I could meet them - after all this time I still do.

This one got me Hooked!
I read this book on a trip overseas; several of us did a paperback swap to lighten our loads and at first I was none too thrilled to have to lug thisone around. But to my surprise and sheer delight, it started a wonderfullove affair with this author's main character, Homer Kelly.I love hisclumsy actions, absent-minded professor ways -- and Jane Langton's linedrawings are wonderful.I have read every one of these books and scanamazon constantly for news of her latest releases. Set in Massachusetts, itis just a great read. Enjoy! ... Read more

Book Description
"Dying is a wild night and a new road" wrote Emily Dickinson. The sharpness of this poetic vision takes on a new meaning when, during the annual pageant commemorating Paul Revere's ride, a prominent citizen's gruesomely ventilated body (still in Minuteman costume) signals a murderer is on the loose.

Homer Kelly, celebrated Emersonian scholar and legendary ex-homicide detective, happens to be in Concord completing his academic opus. When the local constabulary asks him for help, he willingly agrees. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Henry David and Emily ?
Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickenson together ... well perhaps?Detective Homer Kelly and beautiful librarian Mary Morgan together ... you'll just have to read it! The 60 short chapters keep the story and the mystery moving along shapely, like a bite out of a McIntosh apple or a cool swig of apple cider.Perhaps there is nothing transcendental about murder, but each chapter is introduced by a quote from Thoreau, Emerson, Dickenson, or the Alcotts, and the quotes help you feel the presence of these in Concord. A good mystery and a fun read! As a bird watcher, I would have to question the realism of the Bald Eagle being Teddy's last bird on Thoreau's list, particularly since the now extinct, Passenger Pigeon was seen by Thoreau.

It stays in the mind
I first read this book in 1966 in high school and remember becoming instantly attracted to the characters and the New England setting.Even after all these years I remember worrying that Mary and Homer would neverget together.They were both so different and eccentric they belongedtogether! Langton also manages to keep a respectable mystery going thatkeeps you guessing and with an exciting ending. Over the years I haveread and enjoyed Langton's other books as very literate - just quirky andfunny enough to be charming without being silly. Some years ago I visitedNew England and found myself imagining Mary and Homer in the places Ivisited. So it appears I can never forget Mary and Homer as they havebecome a part of my life. Over 30 years ago I wished these characters werereal so I could meet them - after all this time I still do.

This one got me Hooked!
I read this book on a trip overseas; several of us did a paperback swap to lighten our loads and at first I was none too thrilled to have to lug thisone around. But to my surprise and sheer delight, it started a wonderfullove affair with this author's main character, Homer Kelly.I love hisclumsy actions, absent-minded professor ways -- and Jane Langton's linedrawings are wonderful.I have read every one of these books and scanamazon constantly for news of her latest releases. Set in Massachusetts, itis just a great read. Enjoy! ... Read more

Amazon.com
Eccentric Harvard philosophy professor Homer Kelly and his sharp wife Mary are like a literary Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man fame. Jane Langston has put the frumpy professor through a series of whimsical mysteries for 30 years now, but this is the most original and fanciful. Combining hard-edged crime suspense with philosophical meanderings, a meditation on Darwinism, intellectual curiousity, Alice in Wonderland-styled zaniness, and a playful prose style, Dead as Dodo is joyful reading.Book Description
* Viking will publish Jane Langton's 13th Homer Kelly mystery, The Face on The Wall, in January 1998 What is Homer Kelly doing in Oxford, England? In addition to working as a visiting lecturer, he's playing part-time detective, trying to solve the great questions of life and, along the way, the death of a young priest who has left a cryptic note saying simply, The answer is no.As he sets off on his search for answers to this most real and inauspicious death, Homer also begins a philosophical journey far more challenging than any begun in a classroom, and discovers a crime much more sinister and troubling: God himself seems dead as a dodo. Who committed murder sublime? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Do do read it!
This story really grew on me, taking me longer to read and ponder than I had expected. It is a leisurely story told in crisply short chapters. It begins as a rather fusty sabbatical visit to Oxford, England, by Harvard professors Homer and Mary Kelly (Langton's series characters), and turns into an enthusiastical meld of Alice in Wonderland and Darwinian evolution, especially in a climactic dream sequence! There are hidden depths to the situations and academic theories juxtaposed here. The eventual murders are almost beside the point. The joy in intellectual disputation herein made me not really worried for anyone. For a professor of English, Homer is quite a scientist, an experimenter, and not in the least PC and post-modern like his ilk. While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Langton definitely has an amusingly light touch and a bit of satire. The book is illustrated with the author's jaunty sketches of Oxford places. I suspect that any knowledge of Lewis Carroll, Darwin, and Oxford will increase the pleasure of the reader still further.

An erudite mystery in the British Tradition
As if to take on the style of the British mysteries, Ms. Langton paces the plot fairly slowly, picking up speed toward the middle of the book. Less formulaic than Agatha Christie, Ms. Langton's book is more along the lines of P.D. James.Her references to Darwinian fact and fiction are formidable, and makes several pages more than simply "light reading."However, the scientific references and theological postulations never become tedious and in fact provide a lovely intellectual backdrop for a somewhat boring set of murders.

For those who enjoy something more than plot, this mystery is highly recommended.Anyone who has been to Oxford will most definitely enjoy Ms. Langton's thorough and fanciful descriptions.

Homer Kelly is as eccentric as he is brilliant, making for an excellent protagonist.However, some of the other characters are lacking in development which leads to a miniscule disappointment in reading the book.Otherwise, a delightfully well-written work. ... Read more

Book Description
First a fire consumes both the sexton and the pipe organ at a Boston church; then a 14-month-old baby appears at the door. Alan Starr, master organist, teams up with Homer Kelly to find the boy's mother -- only to discover that competition for the job of chief organist is reaching deadly proportions.

Spiced with ecclesiastical mayhem and musical mischief, accented with Bach's musical puzzles, church politics and pipe organs, DIVINE INSPIRATION is vintage Langton -- with all the stops pulled out!

"Happily, Langton, as well as the new organ, is equipped with a unique stop knob button marked 'DIV INSP.'" (B-O-T Editorial Review Board) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Divine Read
The hero of "Divine Inspiration" is an organist who is "voicing" a new organ just installed in a church damaged by a mysterious fire.He befriends a toddler who is making his way up the steps of the church one day, then locates the baby's home and discovers that the fatherless child's mother - herself an accomplished organist - is mysteriously missing.Our hero falls in love with both the child and the child's mother, whom he has never met except through her photos and mementoes in the baby's home.

Jane Langton's delightful Homer Kelly mysteries are just what the doctor ordered for a rainy afternoon.What makes these books special are, of course, her charming line drawings, her spellbinding plots, and her humor, which has a Dickensian ability to expose the pompous, the greedy, the pretentious.What distinguishes the Langton mysteries (apart from the line drawings) is that you always come away from them having learned something - in this case, all about organs, which was of particular interest to me."Divine Inspiration" is a divine read.

Great Characters + Great Plot = Great Book
I was a bit reluctant to begin this Homer Kelly mystery - my third (after getting hooked with Escher Twist and then Dark Nantucket Noon).The reason for my reluctance was the subject matter - churches and organists.Sounded boring.I know very little about either of those things and couldn't imagine wanting to learn more.

Well, once I started reading, I couldn't put this book down!I loved the characters (Rosie, Alan, Pip, Charlie, Harold Oates, Barbara Inch, even Debbie Buffington), and I was completely taken by surprise at the end -- yet it all added up so perfectly.

In addition, I must mention once again that the illustrations really add to the book, especially with the look of the organs and the architecture.Because they are created by the author, they give a great insight into her perception as she is writing, yet she never reveals so much that your own imagination of the happenings is affected.

Kudos to another fine mystery by Jane Langton!I will be returning to the library for another Homer Kelly mystery ASAP.

Cozy at it's finest
Another wonderful book from Jane Langton. One of my favorite "cozy" mystery writers. She writes with a decidedly eccentric quirkinessthat makes her books stand out from the crowd. Full of irony, and loving touches, her books are 1990's quaint without being old fashioned. She spins a lovely web.

Cozy at it's finest
Another wonderful book from Jane Langton. One of my favorite "cozy" mystery writers. She writes with a decidedly eccentric quirkinessthat makes her books stand out from the crowd. Full of irony, and loving touches, her books are 1990's quaint without being old fashioned. She spins a lovely web. ... Read more

Book Description
Edward Heron died gasping for breath, yellow-jackets swarming around him. Had his asthma finally killed him...or something more sinister?

Heron's death affects many people in his small New England community: spinster sisters, a real estate developer with an eye on Edward's property and a long time neighbor, Buddy Whipple.

Enter Homer Kelly, another neighbor, also a Thoreau scholar and an ex-detective. With the help of his nephew, an amateur naturalist, he goes to work on the case.

"Everything is just right. A wry perceptive talent at his best."(The New Republic) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful Series!
I just finished rereading this book and I think I enjoyed it even more the second time. I absolutely adore Jane Langton's books. I have every one, including her series for children. I find the books enjoyable on so many levels. There's the mystery and you want to find out how the "bad guy" will finally be exposed. But then there is this whole other level. The books make you see the world in a different way. This book reminded me on "Charloote's Web", in that a spider's life is examined throughout the story. I just loved it. If you do too, read "Dark Nantucket Noon". That is my favorite!

My first Homer Kelly mystery
I chose this book at the Library many years ago and liked it so much that I always look for a new Jane Langdon mystery and I am never disappointed when I find one. I have enjoyed following Homer and Mary as they grow older with me living life with humor and tolerance.I have loved the drawings found in each novel. May there be many more in this series in the future.

Don't waste your time on this one.
I am an avid fan of murder mystery books on tape so I looked forward eagerly to listening to my unabridged copy of "Natural Enemy".

From the beginning, the story was sluggish....so much so that the only reason I kept listening to it was that I'd paid for it and I didn't want to have wasted my money! Unfortunately, I am now finished with the book and find that I have wasted my time AND my money.

Some of the characters in the book are interesting and the "idea" of the story has some merit but it is way too drawn out and convoluted for my taste. Since the main character of the book is fascinated with entymology and the like, there are tedious descriptions of spiders, webs, flowers, trees in the nearby meadow, ad nauseum, that are related to situations in the story but are too contrived to be interesting.

I could have stopped reading at any moment and would not have cared what happened to any of the book's characters.
To be honest, I stopped just short of the end of the book. I couldn't take any more.

I don't usually leave negative reviews but this book has really earned it. ... Read more

Book Description
After a series of seemingly harmless pranks at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, the trustees call in ex-detective and Harvard lecturer Homer Kelly to investigate.

But when art patron Madeline Hepplewhite is murdered after surprising the prankster, Homer has to answer questions a bit more pressing than "Who tied a balloon to the Cellini?"

"Langton tucks her tongue firmly in cheek before treating readers to a wild and wholly enjoyable ride on the trail of the dangerous trickster...An exceedingly charming mystery." (Publishers Weekly) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Gripping plot and delightful story
What I like most about reading Jane Langton's Homer Kelly novels is that I get to enjoy a gripping plot while at the same time learning something.With this book, I got to learn about the Gardner Museum while I enjoyed the suspenseful story.And her murder mysteries are set in interesting and genteel places, so that I get the benefit of the suspense without having to feel like my soul is being dragged through all the darkest places in human consciousness.Ms. Langton's writing style is also very pleasant, and I enjoy the pace of her stories.I select her books when I want to be pleasantly entertained.

Predictable mystery
I picked this book up because I love both Boston and the Garder Museum. The author has clearly done her research. Unfortunately, it shows a bit too much. I read it three days after I visited the Gardner; I found myself wishing I'd read it before, so that I could bring it along to use as a guidebook. It sometimes felt as though the exposition on how Wonderful and Fabulous the Gardner Museum is (which it is) and where the Vermeer is placed (which I'm sure is correct) got in the way of the plot.

I should also say that I'm not a big fan of mystery novels where the killer is revealed early on. This was not a tightly-wound psychological mystery, so I REALLY wasn't a fan of the fact that the reader was more or less told who the killer was long, LONG before the conclusion of the book. It was a procedural. And I was thinking, "Okay, I know who did it, get to the point already."

That was a general problem with a lot of the plot-- things were a little bit too telegraphed for my taste, although I think that's a matter of personal preference. We're told who is in love with who, and we're given minor characters that are more stereotypes than anything else. When their stereotypical qualities start having a bearing on the plot, it irritates me, since these qualities are those that are not possessed by normal people out in the real world. Similarly, a bequest figures heavily in the book, and a big part of it is that no one knows what the bequest really will be. I-- let's just say I found myself wondering about whether or not the denoument of that plotline would ever have been played out in an actual museum.

On the other hand, I was really really anxious by one of the climactic moments of the book, which has more to do with the Gardner than the mystery, although a little of both. I was biting-my-nails anxious, even though I knew that the scene didn't really happen in the Real Life History of the Gardner. I love that museum, I really do. And certainly the book provides a nice overview of the place and its history and its eccentric but well-intentioned founder.

lyrical and involving
Jane Langton's mystery novels always present a detailed and engrossing picture of a small, intricately structured world and the people in it (here, the Gardner Museum in Boston).Her writing style is hard to describe -- it's seemingly effortless, yet lyrical at the same time, with hidden secondary meanings sprinkled here and there.A really fine book.

Lyrical combination of mystery and art
I was amazed to see that this book had only received one bad review.This is a wonderful book - one in a series of mysteries with a loveable absent-minded professor who speaks his mind and bumbles into all sorts ofmischief while solving complex murders.The author also adds her owndrawings, which are a nice touch. I highly recommend all the Homer Kellymysteries-I have read them all - if you like your mysteries to have someweight too them.Not too fluffy, but not overly erudite either.

waste of time
Total waste of time. The characters are contrived, shallow and affected, the plot boring and predictable ... Read more

Book Description
Emily Dickinson noted "death's tremendous nearness" in one of her poems.Of course, she'd been dead 100 years when her admirers came to Amherst to celebrate her at a memorial symposium.

Among them was Homer Kelly, distinguished Thoreau scholar and ex-detective, who had himself dealt with murder -- a form of death -- in the past.To his amazement he finds himself once again embroiled in sudden death when murder stalks the symposium. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A perfect blend of personalities
I wonder if there is a writer more perfectly suited to exploit Emily Dickinson than Jane Langton for Jane's beautifully disciplined tone and New England quaintness mixed with a sparkling imagination evokes in me a sense of Emily. That's in addition to the plot of this novel which is a complex mystery surrounding a newly unearthed photo of a woman who might be Emily Dickinson (in addition to the one irrefutable photo which exists). It's set in Emily's hometown of Amherst during a symposium where conflicts abound. Jane gives this story a mixture of wry humor and homespun drama, and she contributes her own line drawings. This is for people who prefer quiet, thoughtful movies to loud, blazing action films. I found it pure joy.

A Wonderful Mystery!
As a life-long resident of Amherst, I was thrilled to see the sketches of familiar places, and read in such vivid detail a beautifully written persective of my town.A wonderful, wonderful mystery as well.Guaranteed to tickle the funny bone as well as keep you on the edge of your seat!
Well done, Ms. Langton!

Emily Dickinson Lives!
I chose the book because a friend is an Emily Dickinson fan, I'm a mystery fan, I was charmed by the author's sketches, and delighted by the snippets of Dickinson's poetry.What a fine discovery!The characters are complex,subtle, and interesting.The college town setting is vivid. The plot hadunexpected twists and turns that kept me guessing.I learned somethingabout the workings of dams and reservoirs, and I learned something aboutEmily Dickinson and her poetry, enough so I followed up "EmilyDickinson is Dead" by reading her biography. This was my first JaneLangton book. She has managed to do what a lot of writers only aspire to --her writing is so transparent I forget the story and setting were coming tome through print on a page.

Marvelous Characters tangled in a Whimisical plot
I have to totally disagree with the previous review. I found this Homer Kelly mystery refreshing and fully of marvelous characters full of human foibles. The descriptions were subtle but often verged on the hilarious.This is the book that hooked me on Jane Langton. It's too bad that theprevious reader did not read the dust jacket before purchasing this book.It very clearly identifies itself as a mystery and not an study in EmilyDickinson. It's not surprising that she did not enjoy the book since itmocks stuffy Emily Dickinson scholars. But I found this book to be askillfully written romp in weakness of human nature.

I DID NOT like it and wouldn't recommend it either.
"Emily Dickinson is Dead" is one book that I didn't enjoy out of the 4 on my summer reading list...what a slow beginning. The title made it seem like it was a book about Emily Dickinson, but instead it was about aconference to celebrate the 100th anniversary of her death.... that didn'tinclude women and a fat girl who tried to kill a pretty one (whodisappeared anyways) by burning down a building and who ended up beingkilled...what about Emily Dickinson HERSELF??? THAT'S who I thought thebook was going to be about...not a bunch of confused people. I didn'texpect it to be a biography or anything, just not what it was. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Jane Langton's pen-and-ink illustrations, which decorate thepages of her books about retired Massachusetts detective Homer Kelly and hishistorian wife Mary, are as apparently simple--and deliciously deceptive--as her words. Even if your mystery tastes run to the tough and hard, you'llhave trouble avoiding the warmth, sharp wit, and clever detection thatanimate this series. "Homer Kelly had been Mary's husband for a long time,"begins a typical Langton paragraph. "He was a big man with a coarse gray beardand a rough head of hair like the thick fur of a dog. His impulsiveenthusiasms had often led him into absurdities in the past, but half a lifetimewith a sensible wife had mellowed him a little. So had his experience withviolent criminals." It's art that gets Homer and Mary involved in their 13th adventure, when an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome is found murdered near a wall that Mary's niece has been illustrating with charactersfrom fairy tales. The missing, abused wife of a nasty property developer isalso part of the mystery, which the Kellys unravel in a suspenseful and thoroughly plausible manner. Other Kelly outings available in paperback include The Dante Game, DarkNantucket Noon, Dead as a Dodo, Divine Inspiration, Emily Dickinson Is Dead, God in Concord, Good and Dead, The Memorial HallMurder, and Murder at the Gardner. --Dick AdlerBook Description
Long established as the queen of the New England mystery, Jane Langton threads each fast-selling Homer Kelly adventure with a wonderful sense of place, quirky surprises, thought-provoking themes, and her ever charming trademark line drawings.The Face on the Wall mirrors Langton's own artistic bent. Homer Kelly's hapless niece Annie Swann, an illustrator of children's books, has finally built the house of her dreams, complete with a blank wall thirty-five feet long. This is the perfect place for Annie to begin her masterpiece: a rich and complex painting, thick with fairy stories, honoring her lifelong passion. But aga