The Transcendental Murder

Homer Kelly #1

by Jane Langton

In an intellectual hamlet, century-old love letters give rise to murder The citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, never tire of their heritage. For decades, the intellectuals of this little hamlet have continued endless debates about Concord’s favorite Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and their contemporaries. Concord’s latter-day transcendental scholars are a strange bunch, but none is more peculiar than Homer Kelly, an expert on Emerson and on homicide. An old-fashioned murder is about to put both skills to the test. At a meeting of the town’s intellectuals, Ernest Goss produces a cache of saucy love letters written by the men and women of the transcendentalist sect. Although Homer chortles at the idea that Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson might have had a fling, Goss insists the letters are real. He never gets a chance to prove it. Soon after he is found killed by a musket ball. The past may not be dead, but Goss certainly is.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Audiobook, 20th Century, Books About Books

363 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Langton was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She studied astronomy at Wellesley College and the University of Michigan, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1944. She received an M.A. in art history from the University of Michigan in 1945, and another M.A. from Radcliffe College in 1948. She studied at the Boston Museum School from 1958 to 1959.

In 1961 Langton wrote and illustrated her first book for children, The Majesty of Grace, a story about a young girl during the Depression who is certain she will some day be Queen of England. Langton has since written a children's series, The Hall Family Chronicles, and the Homer Kelly murder mystery novels. She has also written several stand-alone novels and picture books.

Langton's novel The Fledgling is a Newbery Honor book. Her novel Emily Dickinson is Dead was nominated for an Edgar Award and received a Nero Award. The Face on the Wall was an editors' choice selection by The Drood Review of Mystery for 1998.

Langton lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, near the town of Concord, the setting of many of her novels. Her husband, Bill, died in 1997. Langton has three adult sons: Chris, David and Andy.

Series:
* Hall Family
* Homer Kelly Mystery

Reviews

[Mary Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 tourist description of the setting, but Langton's deep love and knowledge of New England gives this book authenticity. The descriptions are gorgeous. I learned more about Thoreau, Emily Dickinson and Ralph Waldo Emerson from this book than I did in my miserable high school and I enjoyed every minute. And it's very very funny.

[audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

She was a servant of the old school, eager to please. But she had one well-known flaw. Gwen beheld Mrs. Bewley sticking the sugar tongs coyly into her bosom, the dear old kleptomaniac. It was just a habit she had. She didn't mean anything by it. Mrs. Goss always frisked her sternly before she went home. Mrs. Bewley never seemed to mind at all. "WHY, HOW DID THAT GET THERE. OH, TAKE IT, TAKE IT," she would say nobly, when the frying pan turned up in her shirtfront.

Synopsis: Northern New England scandal and murder, involving dead Transcendentalists, librarians, horses, islands, quotes and an elderly woman who wears squirrels and keeps chickens in her living room. Quite simply lovely.

The tiny town of Concord, Mass., continues to cheerfully live in the past. Specifically, the inhabitants revel in the fact that Concord was a hotbed of Transcendentalism, the 19th century American literary movement where Ralph Waldo Emerson considered himself to be a giant transparent eyeball, bouncing merrily across the green. Needless to say, his spiritual descendents are themselves a little different.

There's the guy who believes he might possibly be Thoreau reincarnated, and who holds his ragged clothes together with staples. There's Ernest Goss, a mean old man who delights in tricking his eldest son into shooting the younger. There's a bonafide sex maniac.

And there's Homer Kelly, a police detective who happens to dabble in Emersonian scholarship when not solving crimes. Both these skills come in handy when someone offs the 'orrible Mr. Goss and Kelly falls hard for the local spinster, Mary Morgan, who spends most of her time in the 19th century.

It's fantastic.

It's a book I'd term "fluff" of the nicest sort. The sentences are all neat and very, very precise:

"A noisy flock of grackles had filled the elm tree like a convention of Shriners using up all the available hotels. The sky was blowing away like a silk scarf caught in the branches."

"In Monument Hall the Lions were struggling heroically with a fantastic bottleneck in the shape of a tide of hungry people and one small grill."

"Everything seemed to fit the image of the woman Elizabeth Goss had been before she had gone out of her mind."

I could go on and on.

The characters, all quirky and appealing, overrun the murder plot, and in the last third of the book, when the whole thing performs a spectacular faceplant, you don't really care, because at that point you're just rooting for Mary to get organized and realize Homer's in love with her. And then we can get back to hearing about the assorted strange townspeople. And that's a good thing, because as a murder mystery, it really does come terrifically apart.

Nonetheless, Langton has a way with place and the people who inhabit it, and for me, that's a perfect fit. I wouldn't say this book was as good as her seminal lovesong to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Murder at the Gardner, but it's darn close. I'll definitely be keeping this around to re-read.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 the actual murder investigation. There were a few times the story drug. The murder was interesting in itself. I'm not sure I'm going to read any more of these books or not. It didn't move quick enough for me and sometimes it got a little pedantic with just so much Emerson references. I would have to wonder if a non-English major would be as interested in those references or even understand them because there's not a lot of context given. You're expected to know that what a transcendentalist was before you read this novel. I do appreciate that the author doesn't try to info dump this information too much and really make the story boring. But I'm not sure people who haven't studied the transcendentalists writers would know what’s going on. The other problem, or maybe the biggest problem, is the number of characters who come and go throughout the story and don't have much cohesion. I think the author needs to limit their characters POV and stick to one or two to tell the story which might make it a little more effective. I mean having a dozen characters who we get to see their perspective kind of hides to the real murderer, but in the end when it's solved it's not satisfying. I'll be honest writing this review about 3 hours after I finished the book I can't even remember who the murderer was, just that big Emily Dickinson might be my grandmother ending.

[Peter Parziale · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 through the perspectives of dozen-plus people, so while that was a, umm, unique approach it took me awhile to get the hang of that style. Several characters seemed to have no purpose in advancing the narrative and could easily have been edited out with no harm to the story. Conversely, a principal suspect disappears about 2/3 through the book with but little practical effort in caring too much about him after the police chief had another person in custody. I could go on.

The author might have spent less time selecting the oh-so-apt quote from Thoreau, Dickenson, et. al. with which she prefaces each of the 61 chapters -- that's about 4.5 pages per chapter, folks -- and more time tightening up the story. I have another of her books on my shelves, and I might read it because this author can hardly help but improve in subsequent efforts.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 as much as those that rely on technology. These are cozy mysteries with tech and violence both at a low level--but they have the timeless draw of interesting characters, complex puzzles, and intriguing frames. Not to mention clever dialog and lots of sly humor. Here Homer and Mary meet and court--and that seems a little dated but it was originally written in 1964 so I'll let it pass. It's set in Concord and explores its history--particularly the 1775 battle on April 19--and the history and lives of the Transcendentalists. Intriguing details of those famous figures fill the book, and lovely quotations from Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Emily Dickinson head the chapters.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Transcendental Murder" - written by Jane Langton and published in 1964 by Harper & Row. "In the elm tree a hoarse-throated bird had sprung a leak in his kettle and was dripping rusty splashes of song on the lawn." Quaint descriptive writing like this goes a long way with me and helped get me through this ho hum mystery written by one of my favorite authors. The novel is packed with references to the transcendental writers who lived in the Concord and Cambridge, Massachusetts area where the story takes place and I only have a thin veneer of understanding there, so it was mostly lost on me. There's a murder mystery too, intertwined with some newly introduced letters possibly written by Dickinson, or Thoreau or Emerson, and a young lady upon who the story turns. Langton continued writing this series (Homer Kelly) for many years and it wouldn't hurt to try some more recent ones, but I would also strongly recommend her children's series, the Hall Family Chronicles.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I discovered this series from a conversation I had with someone on a trail in Lincoln, MA. She had actually met the author, Jane Langton, who I wish I'd been able to meet.

This is the first in the Homer Kelly series, where Homer is working for the DA's office in Cambridge, after having worked as a detective.

Homer is in Concord because of his interest in Henry Thoreau and the Transcendentalists. He gets involved with the townspeople over the murder of one of the important people in town who is also a jerk and a bully. By the end of the story, Homer's life will be changed. I enjoyed reading about the Concord of 60 years ago, what has changed, and what has remained the same.

I've decided to read all of the books in the series that are set in New England.

[Vicki Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The page number count is incorrect on this novel. It is listed as 36, but it is really 360 pages. So I am not really done reading it. I will rate it once I am.

[Marlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sentences are ridiculous. I forced myself to get through fifty pages and stopped.

[V. Briceland · Rating 4 out of 5]

What strikes me about this first entry in Jane Langton's Homer Kelly mysteries is how very little it's dated over the years. True, there's a single mention of a mysterious object called a 'typewriter' that I'm going to pretend I'm too young to understand, but otherwise this portrayal of small-town life in Concord, freed from other references to technology, seems almost suspended in time, and almost could have been written in any of the last six decades.

I love the Homer Kelly mysteries. I began reading them with my mother as a kid; for at least books two through ten of the series we'd reserve each new entry as soon as it hit the library, and fight to be the first to read it. The Transcendental Murder is a bit of an oddity, though; the murder promised in the title seems a long time coming, and its setup and resolution is grandiose in a way that none of Langton's subsequent mysteries are. Further, Langton's librarian protagonist, Mary indulges in so many whimsical flights of fancy that the novel's first half sometimes takes on a surreal quality.

By the time a second killing happens, the courtship between Homer and Mary begins to heat up, the book finds its footing and becomes a charming portrait at small-town eccentrics...and one small-town murderer. The Transcendental Murder isn't the best of the Homer Kelly mysteries, but as an introduction to Homer and Mary, and even as an introduction to the Transcendental writers to my younger self, it managed to reel me in.

[Cheryl Sabas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mystery solution was too convoluted to warrant the fifth star, but the historical fiction won me over. I learned and became curious about transcendentalists in literature and history, and the peek into the difficulties of being a professional/academic woman in the mid-20th century was humbling and enlightening. The love story was believable and despite the trope of the the protagonist's ambivalence (justifiably) I found myself rooting for the couple. It also awakened me to the beauty of the setting, Concord, Massachusetts. The locale was displayed in several settings, and Langton was able to show us how the specific character of the land and the expressions of nature lent themselves to the historical figures' embrace of utopian dreams; these figures are vivid enough to reach the stature of characters in their own right--perhaps more interesting that the people the story is about. Which is part of Langton's achievement: we learn that the people who enlivened the past are still alive, and we still have to know them if we want to fully understand ourselves. As convoluted as the details of the crime turn out to be, it's amazing that Langdon convinces us that the motive is believably located in the perceived characters (in both senses) of the figures of the past, and the meaning of their legacy.

[Jazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS | Jane Langton is an artist as well as writer, so her books have long beckoned to me. What I didn't realize is how much of a scholar she is. Reading this novel, I felt lacking in my knowledge of Thoreau, Emerson, Dickinson and the Alcotts, however it wasn't off-putting, but fun and done with humor. Set in Concord, Mass, where the famous Minuteman statue stands in the square, the mystery revolves around secret love letters supposedly written within that small circle of 19th century Transcendentalists. A murder occurs during the annual Patriot Day celebration. The only things that kept me from giving this 4 stars were the lengthy descriptions which slowed down the story, but equally added atmosphere and a strong sense of place. Most of Langton's Homer Kelly (scholar/lawyer/detective) mysteries include her own line drawings, however this first in the series did not. I think English majors and American history buffs will be drawn to her books. I will certainly read more.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm surprised (given how much I loved the Langton family series) that these books should be so "meh" for me. I read a later one, and reviewers mentioned it had lost some of its earlier sparkle, so I went back to the beginning, and still, "meh." (Less than "meh," really). None of the characters engaged, there seemed to be no plot to speak of (in the first 1/5 of the book, which ought to be enough to get things going), and it only came alive in one sequence when a gullible dupe began quoting forged letters from literary luminaries--not enough to save it for me.

On to other books--there's no shortage of them!

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Homer Kelly mysteries are set in Concord, Massachusetts and its surrounding area, steeped in the history of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, and especially Henry David Thoreau. There are plenty of small town "characters", some of whom want to protect the history and natural beauty Thoreau wrote about. Other people want to exploit the Camden area for commercial and tourist purposes, and to line their own pockets. These books move slowly and are filled with literary references, but they are entertaining. If you are a patient reader with some interest in New England history and nature, try one. I've read three now, and will go back for more.

[Nicholas George · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cozy mystery will be of much more appeal to students or fans of the New England transcendentalists (including Thoreau, Dickinson, Emerson) than it was to me. The love story between librarian Mary and historian Homer Kelly--who pair up to find the book's murderer--is cute and well-drawn. But the mystery plot is a real stretch, even though the characters are your usual bunch of typically quant and idiosyncratic folks you usually find in mysteries like this.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give this one 2.5 stars. I enjoyed the quotes that opened each chapter. However, these characters are not ones I want to spend time with. Mary is inexplicably weak and emotionally volatile. Homer is confusingly learned and crude in turns.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended to me originally by my fabulous sisters-in-law, I have read this book several times and loved it for years.

[Martha F-P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but I was charmed and would read more in the series! Enjoyed the descriptions of a familiar setting.

[Reading Fury · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see other readers loved this book, but something about it just ran off the rails for me. I originally gave it four stars but upon reflection lowered it. I know that people rave about Langton's writing, and certainly there was some good description, especially of physical traits, both of characters and the setting. It's true that her characters are rather different. And the plot was reasonably compelling. But .. . . she introduced some characters who were red herrings with no real purpose. In fact, they actually distracted and not in a cohesive way that might have added depth and complexity. Spoiler alert! Read no further if you don't want to know the fate of some characters.

Having fairly warned everyone, I will continue with an example. There is a very creepy character that we are told early on is a fake. Mr. Gransville-Galsworthy has a hideous complexion, uses a ridiculous fake British accent, and plagiarizes shamelessly. And to round him out, he seems to be a stalker. He is in no other way connected to the plot other than as an incidental visitor. At the end, it is revealed he was wanted for rape and other charges. In another instance, there is an odd incident in which a female rider (the murderer?) pulls up to baby Freddy and cuts the balloon string on his wrist, severing him from the balloon that made him so happy. What was that about? Nothing really comes of it. Again, at the end it is unrelated. So messy.

I purchased this book on the strength of its setting and the mention of Emerson, et al., in the descriptor. But the book is a strange mix of disdain for some of the prominent figures of the era and a casual nod to others. Rather bothering is Homer Kelly, the hero detective, who delivers a speech in which he thoroughly belittles Margaret Fuller. In general, Louisa May Alcott doesn't fare well either. Perhaps this was all ironic, and I read it too literally? The subplot of one character possibly being the love child of Thoreau and Emily Dickinson, well I hope that was comic relief. I was expecting a story that would be more intellectually engaging and provide a strong detective (Gamache, anyone?) that I would care about. Didn't happen here. Lots of quotes from Dickinson, Thoreau, et al., as chapter starters. Other than loosely basing the mystery on a batch of forged letters from key authors, this didn't connect well with transcendental ideas or the history of Concord (except for the dress up as a revolutionary war character day).

I don't think I will invest in this series. Aside from the issues above, I didn't care for Homer Kelly as a character. And while I can forgive sometimes a bit of political incorrectness due to the time/place in which a book was written, the pseudo "Indian" silly talk was just embarrassing, even given the publication date.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read several of Langton's Homer Kelly books before, I was delighted to discover that this was the first one, where Homer meets Mary for the first time. When a Concord, Massachusetts man is killed shortly after the celebration of Patriot's Day, Homer Kelly, a former policeman and current scholar, is asked to help the locals. Mary is a local librarian, to whom Homer is instantly attracted, but she finds him a bit of an oaf at first. A boy scout has witnessed the murderer fleeing on a horse, dressed in costume, but is unable to identify him, since he only saw his back. The costume belongs to the murdered man's son, who played the part in the previous celebration. His brother is also suspected, but has an alibi and does nothing to back up his brother. Their mother loses her mind from shock. The plot gets a bit convoluted, bringing in letters the dead man claimed to be genuine, which appear to show the famous Transcendentalists' love lives, greatly shocking the community which holds them (Thoreau, Emerson, Dickinson, Alcott, et al) in reverence. Another murder shocks them further, and Mary herself ends up in danger when she tries to help a man trapped on an island during a hurricane. There is a great deal about the Transcendentalists, old guns, and Concord history which you would think would bog things down, but the characters and the current events keep the story moving. I didn't even try to figure out who did it, not that I would have guessed correctly anyway; fortunately Homer gives an exposition at the end explaining everything.

[Charlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been on a serious Concord/Transcendentalists reading binge since a trip there back in September. A friend mentioned enjoying this mystery series so I decided it would be a change from the biographies of Emerson & Peabody Sisters but I was disappointed. I didn't realize how dated it would be. This seems to be a lengthy series, written over many decades with gaps of several years between books, so perhaps I should have started with #12 or so. But I started with the first one, published in 1964.

Homer Kelly is a Boston detective and an Emerson/Thoreau scholar (a skeptic of just how wonderful they were). Mary Morgan is the Concord librarian and a great enthusiast for all the Concord writers and thinkers, as well as a being a fan and scholar of Emily Dickinson. I did enjoy all the familiar Concord places, the scenes on the river, the Sleepy Hollow cemetery, and the family farm of Mary's sister, growing all its many varieties of apples. My friend said these books all had charming illustrations by the author but my edition only had a very nice illustrated map on the end pieces.

Mystery itself was rather silly. Best part of book was setting which was well done. Maybe the later books are better.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I was charmed by this book's quirky characters and the tentative romance of Homer and Mary. And having recently finished the monster biography The Life of Emily Dickinson I loved the references to her and the epigraphs that were often snippets of her poetry. But somewhere around the halfway point, I felt like the story began to drag. The author is fond of super-short chapters—which I found distracting—and a lot of extraneous details and characters. (For instance, what was the point of Roland Granville-What's his name? He was so superfluous to the story, I can't even remember his ridiculous name.) By the time we got to the solution of the mystery, I'd pretty much forgotten the details imparted at the beginning of the story that pointed to the murderer. (But that might just be my lousy memory.) Overall, though, I was entertained enough by the story that I will definitely read the second book in the series.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book, I enjoyed the Narrator’s voice very much. A great job on switching out the accents and just a pleasant voice to listen too

Truthfully, when I first requested this book from my Library, apparently I didn’t look to much into the genre and thought this was non fiction and HOW could I not have heard of a Transcendental Murder in a town I adore and the time period of history I love??? Oops. FICTION !! lol

I kept on listening because again, it’s an area in my Hometown that we visit often and also involves the mention of many famous people of the time period and of my State.

I was very pleasantly surprised with how the story kept unfolding and enjoyed it immensely!
The ending of the story did have me wondering... could Emily really have loved .... and secretly born a child .... hmmmm

Very well done and glad that I mistook it for something else and found out about this Author

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful fun! Langdon marvelously captured sense of place and local color in this mystery set in Concord, Massachusetts, when a murder occurs amidst the the Patriot's Day festivities. The investigation centers around a controversy in Transcendentalist literary scholarship, threatening the Concord's renowned writers' reputations.

Although I'm not personally fond of Homer Kelly, the provincial cast of characters are both amusing and endearing. Originally published in 1964, some aspects of the novel are somewhat dated, particularly use of potentially offensive language and stereotypical characterizations used in reference to the indigenous Musketaquid people, and in some characters' misogynistic attitudes, which regrettably reflect dominate popular culture perspectives at the time the novel was written, and which will be discordant with modern sensibilities; Langton would likely write some passages differently with present awareness. Otherwise, the novel is a gem!

[Tom Godfrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book, the first of the Homer Kelly series, after I had read the second, and in retrospect that was an error. It took Ms. Langton 11 years to get around to writing the second book, and that one is much more assured and charming. Even so, the genuine love the author had for Concord, rife with its history in relation to the Revolution and of the great 19th century writers who lived there, is irresistible, both to us and to the characters themselves. The truth is that the mystery part of this book is really secondary, and indeed it takes twenty chapters before someone is bumped off, but don't be put off. The characters here are true individuals, richly delineated.

As a sidebar, I noticed the brief description provided by Goodreads references Paul Revere's ride. The truth is he didn't complete his ride, but rather a man named Sam Prescott who actually reached Lexington and Concord, a fact that is of consequence in the book!

[Ken Finlay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Many years ago I was a great fan of Flann O'Brien and memorised more than a few of his funnier paragraphs. A few similarly-minded friends shared the interest and we spent hours batting his books around. It wore off after a couple of years.
I mention it only because of "The Transcendental Murder" by Jane Langton - it's a book written by a knowledgeable fan of Dickinson, Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott, et al. Set in Concord, Massachusetts, it is somewhat of a love letter to the town, the authors, and the events surrounding "the shot that was heard around the world."
I found it close to unreadable but I am sure that others, more knowledgeable than I, would revel in the witty banter and erudite discussion of great American authors.
It took 14 Chapters for the story to take off and by that time I had lost interest.
2 Stars.

[Terri London Mabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest Langton book--I would skip it unless you're already a fan of the rest of the series. But if you've read others and want to see Homer and Mary's love story, that aspect is fun.

I also enjoyed, as I always do with her, the description and sense of place, and the fact that there's a literary theme woven throughout. And though the audio is good, I really missed not having the drawings.

Don't really agree with others who say the book isn't dated. The language sounded stiffer than other books in the series (it was written ten years before book two) and (a) Homer makes cliche sexist comments (which you don't believe he believes, but it still dates the book), and (b) he's always jokingly speaking like a "Hollywood Indian."

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains two love stories. The first is between Homer Kelly, a Boston-born Irish-bred police detective who also happens to be an expert on Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Mary Morgan, a bluestocking librarian in Concord, immersed in the world of Emerson, Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Louisa May Alcott, and the Transcendentalist circle from which the book gets its name. And the second is between Jane Langton (Author) and the geography and history in which the book is set.

Oh yes, there's also a murder mystery. It's preposterous, but it's a good excuse for a book.

[Nanosynergy · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book in Langton's Homer Kelly series set in Concord, Massachusetts. Full of references to the local, early U.S. political and literary history. Many quotations from and mentions of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Louisa May Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau. As can be the case in older books, some things don't age well. One of the main characters is being stalked and sexually harassed and this is not identified as an issue. Significant amount of derogatory language about women and others in the book. Homer Kelly was not that attractive a character in this book. Perhaps he warms up in the series.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Been on my list for a long time. I absolutely loved the descriptions of Concord, with mentions of Acton, Lexington, Middlesex County, and Boston and Cambridge, of course. Landmarks including Walden Pond, the Alcott House, Old North Bridge, Assabet River, the Minute Man statue, the Bulfinch gold dome on the State House, are all so familiar. Very fun.

But I just didn't care about the characters. And the narrator for the audio book kept pronouncing "Concord" wrong - you would think they would want to get the main location right?

Will not reread, which is rare for me. So many other books and series to read.