The Transcendental Murder

Published in 1964 and still in print, this is the first of Jane Langton's Homer Kelly mysteries. This has a multitude of characters, each distinct and memorable, as is the setting in Concord, Massachusetts. I usually have a low tolerance for 'travelogue' mysteries, where the author does a cursory to......more

One would think as an English major I would have been enthralled with all the transcendental Emerson and Emily Dickinson references sprinkled—is too light of word—probably smashed into the novel. The Emerson story is almost, if it were a TV script would be the B story, but sometimes it overshadows......more

I went to college in New England and have an interest in the beginnings of the N.E. Transcendental movement, so I had hopes that this new-to-me author and setting would be a winner. Sadly, author Langton's writing style didn't appeal to me -- is this a mystery, or a romance novel? The story is told......more

This was one of the first mystery series I discovered--and fell in love with--when I first started as a librarian. What a treat to rediscover it now in audio. Perhaps because they're so rich in literary references (or art, history, music in some of the later series titles), they don't seem to date a......more