Wrack and Rune

Peter Shandy #3

by Charlotte MacLeod

A gruesome murder leads Professor Peter Shandy to uncover an ancient Viking curse

When 105-year-old Hilda Horsefall tells young reporter Cronkite Swope of a stone carved with Norse runes that once sat in the nearby woods, the writer starts salivating at the thought of breaking the news that Vikings once marauded through their sleepy Massachusetts countryside. But while he’s jotting down notes, a scream rings out, and Cronkite finds an even bigger story. A farmhand has been burned to death by quicklime, and Cronkite gets an exclusive scoop.

In this neck of New England, strange deaths are invariably referred to Professor Peter Shandy, the only local with the know-how to connect fearsome quicklime to the Vikings of old. But as he digs into the ancient mystery, he finds the forgotten Norse gods are not above demanding a modern sacrifice.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Humor, Crime, Audiobook

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Naturalized US Citizen

Also wrote as Alisa Craig

Charlotte MacLeod, born in New Brunswick, Canada, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, was the multi-award-winning author of over thirty acclaimed novels. Her series featuring detective Professor Peter Shandy, America's homegrown Hercule Poirot, delivers "generous dollops of...warmth, wit, and whimsy" (San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle). But fully a dozen novels star her popular husband-and-wife team of Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. And her native Canada provides a backdrop for the amusing Grub-and-Stakers cozies written under the pseudonym Alisa Craig and the almost-police procedurals starring Madoc Rhys, RCMP. A cofounder and past president of the American Crime Writers League, she also edited the bestselling anthologies Mistletoe Mysteries and Christmas Stalkings.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles van Buren

TOP 1000 REVIEWER

3.0 out of 5 stars

A most vicious murderer

April 7, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

This review is of the Kindle edition:
Publication date: November 6, 2012
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Language: English
ASIN: B009S33LRO

I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the first two Peter Shandy mysteries. One problem for me was that the particularly heinous, cold-blooded murder at the beginning just doesn't juxtapose well with Ms MacCleod's trademark humor which follows. As usual MacCleod displays a large and varied vocabulary in her writing.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles van Buren

TOP 1000 REVIEWER

3.0 out of 5 stars

A most vicious murderer

April 7, 2019

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

This review is of the Kindle edition:
Publication date: November 6, 2012
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Language: English
ASIN: B009S33LRO

I did not enjoy this book as much as I did the first two Peter Shandy mysteries. One problem for me was that the particularly heinous, cold-blooded murder at the beginning just doesn't juxtapose well with Ms MacCleod's trademark humor which follows. As usual MacCleod displays a large and varied vocabulary in her writing.

[Kaya Kobold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich liebe Charlotte Macleod.

1. Alte Menschen waren irgendwann mal jung
2. Alte Menschen sind sexuell aktiv
3. Ja, auch wenn die jüngeren Generationen prüde sind
4. Jane Austen, Orks und Hobbits
5. Zusammenhalt und die wohl skurrileste Verteidigung eines Anwesens.
6. Akademische Bauernschläue

[Selah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series can be a little slow and extremely erudite, but the characters are so much fun!

[dmayr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deadly pranks, a Viking curse and plenty of geriatric seduction. More eccentric characters than ever but I felt that the plot got buried somewhere along the larks.

[Susan in NC · Rating 3 out of 5]

2024: still just three, maybe 3.5 stars for me, she has a whimsical way with words, but it became tedious for me this time around. Stopped at about halfway, just read the last chapter. A short trip and the ebook being due back to the library made me lose the thread, and I just wasn’t interested enough to pick it up again!

For anyone interested in trying this often charming and clever vintage cozy series, I’d start with my favorite, Rest You Merry, the first, and in my opinion, best. And if you like her witty, bantering style, try her Sarah Kelling series, set about the same time, late 1970s-early ‘80s Boston; the first book is The Family Vault.

2015: Upon rereading this third mystery in the Professor Peter Shandy series (after "Rest You Merry" and "The Luck Runs Out", my two favorites), I remember how Charlotte MacLeod, delightfully quirky though she was, could get a little too whimsical at times (for my taste). I liked it, but not my favorite entry in the series - I guess I prefer the books set on the campus of Balaclava College, a small agricultural college in rural Massachusetts.

Most of the action this time takes place out on the Horsefall Farm, where an old farm hand is horrifically killed by quicklime; at first it appears to be a terrible accident, but then an ancient Nordic runestone is discovered on the property. The elderly farmer has suffered a dirty tricks campaign of vandalism and damage, and now it's turned deadly; is it greedy developers? Family members anxious to take over the farm? Shandy suspects murder and is determined to get to the bottom of it, accompanied by his wife Helen and fellow academics and a pesky young reporter. The usual goofy cast of quirky locals adds to the fun and it moves along at a pretty good pace, just not one of my favorite entries. Almost time to reread "Rest You Merry" again, one of my annual Christmas rituals!

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte MacLeod is a Canadian I very much enjoy. She might be considered in the ‘cozy’ genre, although the brutality of some deaths and curse words overshoot its range. I deem her a classic mystery writer. If not plotted as thickly with puzzles as other legends; the lead character is definitely gifted with a deductive eye for detail. Intelligence amasses to the resolution of mysteries; not happenstance. Storylines are very original, delightfully peculiar, and her mastery of language is awe-striking! The dialogue between Peter & Helen Shandy exudes a fascinating blend of education, with overwhelmingly hilarious wit. It feels satisfying to catch their innuendos, similes, and wry turns of phrase.

The writing and rich characters you know intimately, make me savour these novels no matter what the other content is like. I wish I could ask the late Charlotte if she based these personalities on folks she met or whether it is possible she made so many of them up from scratch. The distinctness of individual personality after personality that you can identify wholly, whether you like them or not, is a gift and achievement indeed. I smile upon the entrance of Balaclava university president Thorkjeld Svenson, or his wife Sieglinde. With the Shandys’ addition of a kitten named Jane Austen, I can better relate to the couple and their mid-sentence, equal-plane dialogue with her is beyond funny. Nobody seems stern or unreachable if they love an animal.

“Wrack And Rune” features 105 year-old Hilda Horsefall and her 85 year-old nephew, maintaining their family farm with a friend, who dies gruesomely. I wish the Nordic rune stone on their land had brought mystical elements, as suggested by the synopsis. Fiction is open to fabrication! This mystery entailed Peter running between the farm and brash suspects entirely but I enjoyed it.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

I simply can’t get enough of the late Charlotte MacLeod’s Peter Shandy series! In the third installment, Peter Shandy, professor of agrology at Balaclava Agricultural College in Massachusetts, investigates the improbable death of Spurge Lumpkin, the dimwitted farmhand for 105-year-old Hilda Horsefall and her 82-year-old nephew. Soon he’s looking into a string of accidents at the Horsefall farm that locals attribute to a curse from a newly found rune stone and Shandy attributes to a conspiracy of malevolence and greed.

All of the names in this cozy mystery are just as fanciful as Lumpkin’s and the Horsefalls’, lots of the situations and events are simply over the top, and western Massachusetts seems more overrun with Scandinavians than North Dakota or Minnesota. But readers won’t care because MacLeod’s novel contains a tight plot and such delightful dialogue, slyly humorous turns of phrase, and winsome characters. I never guessed who the perpetrator was. I can’t wait to launch into No. 4, Something The Cat Dragged In.

[Chautona Havig · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounding to 4.

Great mystery. Fun characterization. More foul language than previous books that marred my enjoyment of the series.

An old Viking rune and artifacts are found on an old homestead and a lot of hulaballoo follows.

[Karen Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Were the Vikings visiting the area of Balaclava Junction? Rumor has it, they did and 105-year-old Hilda Horsefall claims that there is evidence in the shape of a huge rock with Norse runes carved upon it. Young reporter Cronkite Swope thinks he's got a great story here, even better than celebrating the life of a 105-year-old woman, but he gets a better story within minutes as horrendous screams lead him and the Horsefalls to a terrible sight. The hired man is burned alive with quicklime!!

Professor Peter Shandy is asked to look into this... how could it happen? And what is the reason why weird things have been happening around the Horsefall farm? The Horsefall land is under siege by realtors, a local antique dealer, and throngs of the public when the rumor that Viking treasure may be found on the farm so Peter has a lot of information to sift through to find the answers.

Another fun read!

[Gary Sundell · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up. After starting with violent murder, the book turned into a hilarious romp of a read/listen. I have already started book 4.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third in the Peter Shandy cozy mystery series set in Massachusetts and revolving around an amateur sleuth botanist. The focus is on murder and vandalism.

It’s June and it’s been two months since The Luck Runs Out , 2.

My Take
Professor Peter Shandy has become the go-to guy when murder outs, and while MacLeod does use third person global subjective point-of-view to show us the emotions, thoughts, and actions of a variety of characters, although most of the perspective is Peter’s.

MacLeod doesn’t hesitate to spell out the dialect, contrary to current “wisdom” insisting that the impression of dialect should be in the dialogue tag. It’s an argument I can understand in terms of easily reading it, but I do find spelling it out more effective in establishing character.

That Hilda! She’s a feisty one, lol. I can sympathize with her memories of her father running their farm. It did help that he had had seven sons! She does seem to be lucky in some of her relatives.

It’s all those Scandinavian names in the area that makes it so possibe that the Norsemen really had landed in the area all those centuries ago, making that runestone all the more likely to be historical and upend what we knew of the discovery of America.

It’s so sweet that Peter is developing a special strain of petunias just for Helen. He intends to name it Helen’s Fancy.

I love how charitable the College is. They really care for their students and graduates, partly through the The Agricultural Laborers’ Assistance Fund. Professor Shandy and Ames are a decent pair who also help out. More aid comes through Sieglunde’s assessment of the Horsefalls antiques and that they're likely to see Great-aunt Matilda’s wedding china as a memory and not as an investment.

I did enjoy the back history MacLeod provides about the college’s founding and all the bad feelings about it from the Buggins family. Crazy old fool, spending all that money on education, lol.

It’s too bad the town doesn’t provide enough funds for the police department. It really does sound like they need a lot of help.

Another sad issue is the loss of so many family farms and those danged pushy realtors and developers.

Wrack and Rune is not short of the action. What with vandalism, murders, Hilda under siege from developers, family betrayals, the truth behind Jolene and Marie’s feuding, those lawsuits Nute is trying to bring, the sabotage on Cronkite, explosives, confronting the crowds and the police, whew.

Hmm, the number of healthy premature babies is abundant.

Ooh, I do love Peter’s attitude about grammar:

”. . . we who degrade ourselves by allowing our standards to be debased without a struggle.”

MacLeod makes great use of satire, creating a soap opera of a story that pokes fun at Scandinavian names and their love of herring; the emotional Thorkjeld Svenson (he so reminds me of Radcliffe Emerson from Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody series) and his wife’s obsession with herring; the wide cluster of related people who are the son of so-and-so’s aunt’s brother’s cousin’s wife; the gossip; the school interests; the past histories; poking fun at nasty commercials at mealtimes; and, more.

Cronkite’s excitement about those big “scoops” — that crazy sprinkler system incident, the barbershop quartets parade — in hip boots will keep you laughing.

For some reason, I’ve been reading a lot of stories that involve pushy crowds who have no consideration for person’s property. What’s with that?

More action includes Thorkjeld’s angry attitude towards the unruly crowd, the students’ defense of the Horsefall farm, the murderous attitude of some characters, and the unhealthy greed.

Once I got past Rest You Merry , 1, and started in on The Luck Runs Out , 2, I came to appreciate MacLeod’s sense of humor.

And yes, it still reads like it’s set in the 1950s, although it’s actually the 1970s.

The Story
It was a hideous death that made no sense. Professor Shandy investigates that murder and the increasingly suspicious historic find that rouses all sorts of bad behavior.

The Characters
Professor Peter Shandy is a botany professor. Helen Shandy is Peter’s wife (for the past six months since Rest You Merry ) and an assistant librarian in charge of cataloguing the Buggins Collection donated by Belial, who made the best white lightning. Jane Austen is their tiger kitten. Aunt Bessie sent a wedding present.

Miss Hilda Horsefall, who is as sweet as a barrel of vinegar pickles, will be turning 105 and is still very interested in a bit of fun. She suspects that Belial was her grandfather. Hengist “Henny” Horsefall, Hilda’s nephew who helps work the Horsefall Farm, is 82 and named for Great-uncle Hengist, who was named for his great-uncle Hengist who fought with General Herkimer at Oriskany. Eddie (runs a variety store) and Ralph (works at the soap factory) are Henny’s great-nephews who’d give their eye-teeth for the farm. Unfortunately, their wives, Jolene and Marie, don’t get on. Ralph’s son married that Bronson girl. Another son, Ralphie, helps out at the farm all the time; Hilly is a sister. She has ideas about what she and Aunt Hilda could do. Uncle Adelbert is being a jerk.

Spurge Lumpkin is Hilda's handyman. The lascivious and duplicitous Canute “Nutie the Cutie” Lumpkin runs an antique shop, Nute’s Nook, in Lumpkin Center. Kenny, his mother was a Swope, has the land next door to Hilda's. Bill Swope, I think he's Kenny’s son, is doing some surveying and plans to major in Orchard Management.

Orm Tokesson was the Norseman.

Canute “Canny” Lumpkin, Spurge’s great-uncle, is fondly remembered by Hilda, even 40 years later. Other Lumpkins who could have inherited include Hannah, her brother Floyd, his son Malcolm, and Charlie Spurge and his wife and two sons.

Mrs Lomax is the cleaning lady for a number of professors. She’s also related to half the population of the county and quite the gatherer of information. Her aunt Aggie. Aunt Betsy Lomax is actually a cousin by marriage. Effie Lomax née Fescue is said to, um, have spent time with Belial.

The too-pushy-for-words Loretta Fescue is a realtor who’d been married to that drunken Jim Fescue. It seems he had reason to resort to drink. Their son, Fesky, does a good job of faking up repairs. He works for Gunder Gaffson and his company, Gaffson Development Corporation — Gaffson has a really bad reputation as a developer.

Balaclava Agricultural College was . . .
. . . founded by Balaclava Buggins and is located in Balaclava Junction, Massachusetts. His brother had been Bedivere and his son was Belial.

Thorkjeld Svenson is the college president and Grand Master of the Straight Furrow. He also has, now, the possession of the crummiest car in Balaclava County. He and his wife, Sieglinde, have seven daughters. Gudrun and Friedeswiede are their only unmarried ones. Thorkjeld’s 102-year-old uncle Sven came over from Sweden for Birgit’s wedding to Hjalmar Olafssen in The Luck Runs Out . Now Sven is making up for all those years of monogamy — just ask Hilda. Thorkjeld's great-aunt Ylva had been Sven’s wife.

Professor Timothy Ames is Peter’s best friend and collaborator on the Brassica napobrassica balaclaviensis that brought fame and wealth to the college and the two professors. His son, Roy, married Laurie Jilles. Both are biologists who got teaching fellowships; they’ve moved in with Timothy and take care of him and the house. Jemima Ames is Tim's deceased spouse ( Rest You Merry ). Lorene McSpee had been Timothy’s housekeeper in The Luck Runs Out .

Professor Daniel Stott and Iduna Bjorklund ( The Luck Runs Out ) are on their honeymoon. Odin and Freya are some of the Balaclava Blacks. Miss Tate is a student who hopes to become a food columnist. Bashan of Balaclava is the college’s prize bull. Janet is a librarian. Dr Porble is the library director; Grace is his wife who helps out.

The Balaclava Busters beat the Lolloping Lumberjacks of Lumpkin Corners at the Balaclava County Draft Horse Competition in The Luck Runs Out . The Headless Horsemen of Hoddersville, a local workhorse association, didn’t get close.

Fred Ottermole is the police chief for Balaclava Junction. The Lumpkinton chief of police is a Fescue, ahem, and hasn’t any more time for Peter than Ottermole.

Cronkite Swope is a reporter for the Balaclava County Weekly Fane and Pennon . He’s busy making plans for the winner of the Miss Balaclava Beauty Pageant. Cronkite's mother, Marie’s cousin Bertha, married Charlie Swope and additional sons include Huntley and Brinkley, who both work at the soap factory. (Bertha was Mr Lomax’s cousin too.) Doc Fensterwald inspects the body. Charlie Ross runs a garage where the inhabitants of the Crescent also store their cars — one simply doesn’t park one’s car in the Crescent. Henry Goulson is a funeral director as is Jack Strath. Ferguson “Fergy” Black runs the Bargain Barn. Millicent Peavey is the waitress Fergy met in Florida. (Joe Peavey had been her second out of four.) It sounds like Henny made a good escape from Effie Evers. She and Bill Lewis went to work at the soap factory. The Lewises have some useful guard geese. Jeff Lewis is a son.

Roger Mudd was a renowned newscaster. Felicia D Hemans was effective in her PR for the pilgrims. Belinda was kidnapped in The Luck Runs Out . Paali had been a handsome Finnish boy who did babysitting. The Balaclava Boomerang is a popular drink invented by a Buggins. Peter and Helen’s neighbors include the overly nosy Mirelle Feldster and the Enderbles.

King Canute conquered England and married Emma, Ethelred the Unready’s widow.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a chocolate brown background with two overlapping creamy brown circles, each containing a horned Viking helmet with shading and highlighting. At the top is the author’s name in white. Below the graphic is the title in a slightly deeper creamy brown. At the bottom is the series info in white.

The title is the Wrack and Rune of both the involved families and that amazing historic find.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, the author has provided an interesting somewhat humorous mystery. But like the others in this series the real strength lies in her characters. In this book we learn more about the main characters from the previous 2 (Prof. & Mrs. Shandy, President & Mrs. Svenson, Prof. Ames, and Mrs. Lomax) as well as some new characters. The author introduces a young reporter, Cronkite Swope, Roy and Laurie Ames, 82-year old Henny Horsefall, 105-year old Hilda Horsefall, and 102-year old Sven Svenson. 5 stars because I love the characters.

207 pages.

[Brenda Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this mystery series involving Professor Peter Shandy. It's a screwball murder mystery starring a stone carved with Norse runes. Is it the cause of a death and a few near deaths? Dr. Shandy is on the case.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikings are entertaining, but they leave everything in runes.

This author was a Canadian-born naturalized U.S. citizen. Her surname was Scots and she spent most of her life in the Irish stronghold of Boston. How did she come to create Balaclava County, where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Scandinavian?

Balaclava Agricultural College's President Svenson, his fierce wife, and his seven beautiful daughters are herring-loving Swedes, as is his lecherous, learned uncle, Dr Sven Svenson. But that's not the only Norse connection in the area. This book concerns the troubles of two farming families. Their last names (Horsefall and Lumpkin) could have come off the Mayflower, but the men are named Hengist and Canute.

Balaclava College exists to train students to run small family farms profitably. But it won't do any good if farm land falls into the hands of developers and is turned into housing subdivisions and malls.

On the Horsefall farm, an ancient spinster and her nephew struggle to keep going with the help of a good-natured farm hand. Farming (modern or traditional) can be dangerous business and accidents do happen, but when the farm hand meets a gruesome death, Professor Peter Shandy smells a rat. Too many people have been showing an interest in acquiring that land and getting rid of their farm hand might force the old people to sell.

No shortage of suspects here. There a pushy real estate saleswoman and her no-good son who will do anything to please the developer who's gobbling up land in Balaclava County and throwing up shoddy housing. Two very different characters are making a living peddling rural "antiques" to gullible tourists. One is a mysterious newcomer who pretends to be a country bumpkin. One is a farm-raised local who passes himself off as a sophisticated lover of high-end antiques. Which one is a danger to the Horsefalls?

The discovery of a Viking runestone on Horsefall property sends waves of idiots to the isolated farm, all eager to see the ancient artifact. Shandy and his students unite with neighboring farmers to fight off the invasion. New England rural folks may not have modern arsenals, but they're quite resourceful at using handy materials to defend themselves. Bashan the massive Balaclava College bull is a natural discourager of trespassers, but the Lewis family's herd of geese can be nasty, too.

There are two more near-murders (one disguised as an agricultural accident and the other as a motorcycle wreck) before Professor Shandy figures out who's threatening the Horsefells and why. There's a nice twist to the end. This author didn't mind getting up on her soap box to fight for her favorite causes, but she was honest and so is Shandy. The Bad Guys don't have to be guilty of all crimes. They're still the Bad Guys.

There's the fun of catching up on all of Balaclava College's quirky characters and meeting some new ones. You'll love Hilda Horsefall and her BF. Who but Sieglinde Svenson could drag this pair of unruly senior citizens to the altar?

This is the third of the ten-book series of Peter Shandy mysteries and I'm still loving the combination of old-fashioned eccentrics and modern crimes. Anyone who thinks rural areas are paradises filled with noble folks should visit Balaclava County. It's a real eye-opener and a funny one, too.

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vikings and a supposed curse around a runestone are all things I would normally gravitate toward, but somehow they weren't very interesting in this story.

First, historically, I knew it had to be a hoax (or else MacLeod would be very off in her history) so there wasn't much mystery there.

Second, the murderer gives a blatant clue early on in the book about a motorbike accident.

Next, we have a character/suspect with the obnoxious nickname Nutie the Cutie that everyone uses only because the author enjoyed it so much. No real adults would constantly refer to this slick, arrogant person by such a name.

Speaking of characters, it's very difficult keeping track of who's related to who. There are far too many family connections. At a certain point, I stopped trying or caring.

Also, we have the sudden addition of our lead, Peter Shandy, suddenly gaining this recurring quirk where he says, "M'yes" all the time.

Finally, it's weird that a book with so much implied sex should also be so morally righteous suggesting and insisting that anyone who hooks up, even two centenarians, must get married. We're told that 105-year-old Hilda is going to move to Sweden. The trip alone would kill her. Even in this imagined world of MacLeod's, we still have to be realistic about the reality that any time two people meet, they don't have to get married.

I'm tempted to drop this to two stars, but I realize my reaction is because it's such a drop in quality from the previous two. It's not a bad book, just disappointing.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third book was weaker than the previous books in the series. Peter is called out to the Horsefall farm when the farmhand was killed by quicklime burns. Henny Horsefall and his 105-year-old Aunt Hilda are crestfallen since they have no other farm help and a realtor has been breathing down their necks to get them to sell. While on site, young reporter, Cronkite Swope, finds an old Norse runestone that Hilda told him about and writes an article about it. Before long, the farm is overrun with people trying to get a look at the stone. Peter and the school president manage to keep them away so that the president and his elderly uncle can try to authenticate the runestone. But soon another death on the farm makes Shandy think that something more sinister is going on. With the help of his wife, Helen, he finally figures out that the deaths have nothing to do with the runestone and little to do with the pressure from the realtor to sell the farm but everything to do with the horde of antiques in the farmhouse. The farm's next door neighbor, Fergie, is an antique dealer, and he wants the whole horde to himself so he creates calamity on the farm so that he can swoop in and save the day by offering a fair price for the antiques. He enlists the help from the realtor's son to execute his plot. A weak plot in this one.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are tough on the Horsefall farm, where 105 year old Hilda and her 80-something nephew are struggling to keep the farm going while they decide which great-nephew will inherit. In the meantime, they've been subject to a series of cruel pranks, which might be intended to force them to sell to a local developer. Then Hilda tells a young reporter of a Viking runestone on the property, and next thing they know, their only farmhand has been burned to death by quicklime, massive crowds invade to demand access to the runestone, the reporter ends up in the hospital after a supposed accident, and that's all just the start. Peter Shandy knows there's more going on, if only he can prove it before someone else is killed--or before Henny Horsefall sells the farm.

This is a delightful, hilarious series, set in a county that blew past "extra" many years ago! The mystery is well-done, but you almost don't care so long as you get to read more about Shandy, the Viking berserker of a college president, Thorkjeld Svenson, his randyd 102 year old uncle, and all the rest. Don't read it if Scandinavian stereotypes get on your nerves, and I could do without the author's tendency to equate beauty with goodness and vice versa, but for the most part, pure fun!

[PR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cliches galore, Puns, Variations of Accents and ways of speaking...Funny...this author writes funny!

Such a vacation from the realities of the day...these stories take place in the 1970's if I am reading them right...and are jyst as relevant now in tgec2020's. Read them athen and am now reading them again...
Wish I had known Charlotte Macleod ...bet she was a wonderful, erudite, funny and engaging dinner guest...She would have been a joy to talk to and break bread with I am sure.
Love her light hearted books, the characters and their relationships, their small college town sensibilities, their loyalties to the college and to each other, their dealing with local events and Tragedies...all of it. To be a fly on the wall...well, it feels like one is, while reading her books, like 'you are there' ...that kind of feeling.
I highly recommend these books...all of her series and stand alone books.
She is an author to be remembered for her Humor, her Writing Skill, Her Ability to draw you into the story as if you were a part of the world she creates, Her convoluted and engaging plots, Her deneaumont and summaries during and at the end of the story, Her ability to 'Write Funny'...
I recommend these with all my heart...

[Jim Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

When old farmhand Spurge Lumpkin is horribly killed by getting a face full of quicklime when cleaning out farm equipment, the police dismiss it as an accident. Others say it's the curse of the Viking runestone found near the property. Into all of this, steps Professor Peter Shandy, whose friend Tim Ames had been one of those to find the body. Peter suspects there is more to this than an accident, especially when other things attributed to the curse occur.

The book feature the usual delightful crew of Balaclava College characters, as well as some new ones, including cranky 105-year old Hilda Horsefall and President Svenson's 102-year old feisty Uncle Sven. There's also a push real estate saleswoman, shady antique dealers, and an ambitious but likable reporter for the local paper.

MacLeod has again delivered a clever mystery, but as with other volumes in the series what really brings readers back for more it to spend more time with the characters.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slowly but surely, things are going from bad to worst at the Horsefall's farm. Not only are the two family members getting old (Miss Hilda is almost 105!) but someone is causing mischief and a realtor is pushing for them to sell the farm to an unscrupulous developer seeking more land to build flimsy condos.

But one of the mischiefs goes horribly wrong — and kills the Horsefall's hired man Spurge Lumpkin and a rumor ab out an ancient Norse ruin causes a near riot. But never fear, Professor Peter Shandy and his fellow academics rush to the rescue.

If you have never read any of the Professor Peter Shandy mysteries — expect a wild ride of silly and crazy characters, situations and antics. Crazy? Yes indeed, almost too much but the mystery in all this wackiness is a good one. If you are looking for seriousness, don't pick up this book — but if you want a fun read with one-of-the-kind oddball characters (Peter Shandy and his wife are quite normal), this is perfect.

[Kay Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrack and Rune is the third installment in Charlotte MacLeod’s Peter Shandy series, centered around the discovery of a rune stone on the property of an 85-year-old farmer (and his feisty 105-year-old aunt). Along with the usual folks from Balaclava College (President Svenson, his wife Sieglinde, and his centenarian uncle from Sweden, Professor Ames, et al), a local journalist named Cronkite Swope (his brother Brinkley works at the soap factory), and a cat named Jane Austen, Peter and Helen deal with a number of untrustworthy characters with their eyes on the Horsefall homestead.

Despite the rather gruesome death that starts off the book, Wrack and Rune is full of humor and snarky dialog. I read this series years ago when the books first came out, and I’m enjoying them just as much today.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still enjoying this series a lot. I have to admit that as some other reviewers have said, the murder was a bit grizzly for a cozy, but there weren't a lot of details, and it soon passed on to the usual character driven investigation which went beyond the murder to various "pranks" being played on a local farmer in hopes of getting them to sell off the land, and the sudden appearance of a rune stone and a couple of buried viking treasures. The president of the college being Norwegian, he became especially interested. I always enjoy the way times of crisis bring out the help of the college (Balaclava Agricultural College), both students and professors. I will continue to follow this series.

[Ian Houston · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very entertaining “closed room” murder mystery story where the closed room is a 40 acre farm in a small town full of country bumpkins and erudite professors (thanks to the local agricultural college) with little in between. The characters are colourful and imaginative and well written, and the way their rough edges rub against each other makes for some very amusing dialogue and ridiculously funny situations. Pretty tongue-in-cheek for a murder mystery… nobody takes themselves too seriously except, perhaps, our hero Professor Shandy who is trying to dig to the bottom of things. Predictable at parts, surprising in others, and quite witty throughout. An excellent read and a solid addition to any mystery collection.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

#3 in the Peter Shandy professor at Balacava College in a rural small Massachusetts farming community mystery series.

This is really a humorous with colorful characters mystery on the light side. Shandy is the go to person in this community for strange deaths and mysterious happenings and is pretty much the only one who sees the whole picture. This mystery involves colorful Hilda and her cousin Henny Horsefall, strange happenings on their farm, people wanting to buy it, a long forgotten rune stone and the death of a worker on the Horsefall farm. Something nefarious is going on and Shandy will get to the bottom of it.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this book a 4 star rating, but really it is a weak 4 star, as although I enjoy the main characters, there were a lot to keep track here.
It starts with an horrendous death by quicklime, and then more crimes gradually come to light. most of the blame for the incidents are blamed on the curse of a runestone buried on the property of two elderly characters who are being more or less hounded from their farm for various reasons. There are some lighthearted moments but also some pretty sinister occurrences. I did feel at times there was quite a lot of repetition, and it wasn't as easy a read, as were the previous books.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have become quite a fan of MacLeod's quirky, funny, cozy mysteries, but this one was a bit of a disappointment - the quirkiness was overboard this time around and distracted from the story line. There were also a lot of characters with similar names and all apparently related to each other through various contortions of the family tree, which caused some confusion and forced me to look to earlier parts of the book to remind myself who was who. Nonetheless, a fun read, but not up to the usual MacLeod standard.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Another very silly mystery featuring the faculty of the Balaclava Agricultural College, as they rally to help some wacky locals save their family farm. The story begins with a gruesome murder, which rather clashes with the determinedly cozy nature of these books.

I didn’t like this one quite as well as the previous novel, but the characters are fun, and it’s a decent read if you’re in the mood for something light.

[Cfabrication · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good example of the goings on of the residents of Balaclava County and the professors of Balaclava Agricultural College.

But, while the narrator did an overall good job, a couple of pronunciation errors jarred me badly.

- Primly, as in spoken in a prim manner is not pronounced "primely".
- Askance is accented on the second syllable, not the first. It follows the pattern of abed, adrift, and other words like that.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Survey prize | Not as much fun as its predecessor, but still worth keeping with the series | I just didn't enjoy this as much as the previous book, because there were so many distinctly unpleasant characters, and because there was less farce. The known characters were still good to spend time with, however, and the solution was more creative than it at first appeared that it would be.