Murder at the Gardner

Homer Kelly #7

by Jane Langton

Homer Kelly investigates a series of bizarre pranks at a Boston museum that escalates into a bomb threat, the theft of two famous paintings, and murder

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Art, Adult

353 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

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

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this book was too cutesy by far, but that does not mean it was poorly written. It just didn’t appeal to me. Naturally, there are many allusions to the art collection of Isabella Stewart Gardner, the late 19th century benefactress of the museum in the title. Along with her husband Jack (a Peabody, a Lowell, a Gardner, etc.) who had loads of money, Isabella shopped, shopped, shopped…for Old Masters and objects of art in Europe and Asia. She had her gallery built and as a part of its gifting to the city of Boston it was to keep the art where she personally intended it to be and the museum was not to sell or add to the collection. Legacy, wow, what power.

This light-hearted mystery book was published in 1988 and ironically within two years the REAL crime at the Gardner happened. One night two thieves dressed as policemen gained access and stole 13 major pieces of art worth over $500 million dollars, the single largest unsolved art crime ever.

The real crime is much more interesting than the imagined one here. After the big heist, the empty frames remain on the walls as a sad statement. The museum didn’t close however and a court case in 2009 allowed the museum to expand into an annex. That sort of blows the pretext of the novel that nothing may change. The novel has lots of jokey characters and side stories.

I hope Mrs. Gardner would approve of the changes to her museum, but she really should have left more money for adequate security. A good book on the real crime—-The Gardner Heist: the True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally preposterous. If I didn't enjoy reading about the Gardner and Boston in general, I wouldn't have finished this one.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-written mystery taking place in the (non-fictional) Gardner Museum in Boston. The story is written in a humorous, tongue-in-cheek style, with the author's drawings of the museum and its collections adding a unique touch and greater understanding of the environment. In the book, the museum is being hit by what seems to be a series of practical jokes - music that seems to be coming from paintings; paintings going missing and turning up in inappropriate places (a toilet and a pub). The director of the museum calls in Homer Kelly, a private detective, to investigate. Then a rich benefactor is found dead and one of the governors is assaulted and left for dead. Now it's serious. In the background lies the greed of some of the governors, who are using the events to trigger a clause in the museum's constitution that says if things don't remain exactly as they were bequeathed, then the collection must be sold, a sale by which they will profit in one way or another. Homer and the police struggle mightily to find clues: the main suspects are the governors and their financial motivations, but Homer eventually stumbles on one person in particular to investigate. In the end, there is not a lot of detection going on; the book is more about the atmosphere of the museum, and the personalities of its governors and administrators. The humorous style of writing, including wry looks at the changes taking place in Boston in the late 1980's are what make the book attractive. A nice read.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Nope. All the focus is on winking at the reader | Langton apparently decided to expend her writing energies in all the places I didn't care about. Bored me senseless from the very start, and yet it seemed to think it was very cute and clever.

[V. Briceland · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Murder at the Gardner originally released in 1988, I considered it the pinnacle of Langton's works to date, primarily for its peerless premise. Namely: when Isabella Stewart Gardner established a museum in the Fenway area of Boston, packed to the gills with her extensive collection of art, she was so reluctant to consider any future change in either the building or her personal arrangement of the pieces therein that she stipulated in her will that if any changes were to be made of any kind, the entire collection should immediately be dissolved and sold off at auction.

In this Homer Kelly mystery, Langton decided to upset the precarious balance of Gardner's bequest by setting a villain loose among the museum's exhibits—escalating from altering the displays and marring symmetry, to stealing paintings, and eventually, committing murder—forcing the Gardner's board at every step of the way to accede to a dead woman's demands and liquidate one of Boston's greatest cultural institutions.

In 1988 the premise stuck me as brilliantly conceived. It's not really Langton's fault that two years later two non-fictional thieves disguised as police officers made off with thirteen works from the collection worth over $500 million...and not a damned thing happened. The pieces were never recovered. The Gardner's open to this day. Langton in her novel has her characters talk a lot about the high cost of insuring the art, but it turned out that in real life, nothing in the Gardner has actually ever been insured.

Again, Langton's not really at fault here, but re-reading this particular entry with hindsight utterly deflates the premise's originality and tension. It's a bit like reading with modern eyes an earnest murder mystery originally written in 1910 set aboard the not-yet-completed-in-real-life Titanic, in which a mastermind sets off bombs and repeatedly sabotages the ship's hull only to find she really is unsinkable, after all.

[Peter Parziale · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's nothing satisfying in this book other than the pen-and-ink drawings -- the only reason I awarded a second star.

The tale is far-fetched, the murder is less important to the detective (comprising both H. Kelly and the BPD) than the practical jokes occurring within the Museum. Like that would happen!
The (bizarrely and distractingly-named) characters are completely unbelievable; their conversations are pedestrian. The situations that they find themselves are absurd (e.g. Kelly's wife is out-of-town for weeks). And he's in charge of two children while "immersed" in the investigation -- absurd.
The FatKat company that gobbles up the Citgo sign, restaurants, amusement parks *and* auto-repair shops is absurd.
Partially paralyzed C. Rule absconds with a motorized wheelchair and exits the esteemed Brigham and Women's Hospital -- absurd.
There's a wedding in the Museum courtyard simultaneous with the one-day (absurd!) auction of the thousands of contents of the Museum -- absurd.

I could go on.

Don't waste your time with this book. I read it while on a road trip to see my daughter run in an ultramarathon (the Western States 100, in which she was the fifth woman to finish). If I had any other material at hand I would have gladly exchanged it for something more substantial at a Little Free Library.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this shortly after it was published, while on a business trip to Boston nearly three decades ago. At the time, I had never even heard of this relatively small museum, but Langton’s vivid descriptions of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum prompted me to visit and I was entranced. I’ve been to the Gardner many times since. My interest was renewed by reading Sargent’s Women by Donna Lucey - her last chapter is a brief biography of Gardner, so I relished reading this cozy mystery again. How ironic that Langton’s fiction about a theft predated the actual Gardner theft by only a few years!

[Charles Gates · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for its humor. We realize fairly quickly who the murderer is, but the process by which he is eventually trapped is wonderfully laid out. I loved the comic encounters, mostly having to do with the comeuppance of Aurora O'Doyle, a determined social manipulator, and the ending, with Catherine Rule to the rescue, was fabulous. Not so well done is the character of Edward Fallfold, who is gay, which seems a bit gratuitous here (this book was published in 1988), and whose motivations for his nasty actions are not well explained. As always, the author's line drawings enhance the reader's pleasure.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read every book in the series and am a fan.
BUT, Homer’s personality and approach to life seems to vary wildly from book to book.

He was far from brilliant, or even interesting, in this book. I just read a comprehensive biography on Isabella Gardner, so I was was particularly interested in this novel. It presented a very interesting take on the Museum, and the donor’s legacy, but it was a meandering, almost off-putting mystery.

I enjoyed the museum perspective, but alert readers not to make this their first Homer Kelly book. He is much more enjoyable a character in other novels in the series.

[Eugene · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a 3 ⭐️, but I gotta say it didn’t excite me. The series has somehow fallen into a “sameness” that isn’t all that satisfying any longer…I wish I’d been more intrigued by it because the plot, such as it was, had some interest and of the course the setting at the iconic Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston was a real draw, but Langton’s characters have so much similarity from book to book that one almost feels they’re the same people from the earlier books, only the names have changed…sigh…

[Phillip Mclaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful tale of murder, intrigue, assault and self interest

Homer Kelly at his finest, but as usual it takes a long time to fit all the pieces together and solve a riddle.
The description s of the Gardner museum are spot on.
Highly recommend

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

the mystery itself was slow and lacklustre but the sketches and descriptions of the artwork in the Gardner, a museum that I frequent, were fantastic

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic murder mystery, with that touch of whimsy one wants in a good murder....

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Flat characters, inane problems, nothing to draw me in.

[Jean Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable visit to a museum I’ve long wanted to visit. The mystery was bit half baked but Jane Langton is witty and funny and a delight to read.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to read after touring the museum.

[Andy Plonka · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older mystery with an unusual setting, a art museum in Massachusetts.

[Alfred New · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second worst book I have ever finished.
Totally unbelievable and insulting to the museum.

[Anthony Romano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one has it all; Boston, elder closeted-men, rich and naive women, a beautiful museum setting, art, and twist after twist.

[Merry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meandering book, lost interest, DNFed it, then decided to go back and finish because I needed to know whodunnit. I have enoyed other books from Jane Langton's Homer Kelly series, but I found this one to be a slog.

[B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Kristie Kirkpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dated but also quirky and very entertaining. Almost more myth than fiction. I liked it.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#7 in the Homer Kelly series.

Homer Kelly series - Strange and faintly ominous things are happening at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, an Italianate palace chock-full of masterpieces from centuries past. Seemingly harmless pranks at first, hardly serious enough to worry the museum's seven trustees, they soon escalate into the murder of art patron Madeline Hepplewhite, who had apparently caught the perpetrator in an act of mischief. Newly appointed director Titus Moon, security chief Charlie Tibby, and Homer (called in to help) are at wit's end. And the trustees, especially stuffy chairman John Bodkin, are troubled by the terms of Mrs. Gardner's will: the museum is to stay exactly as she left it (any change could permit the trustees to dismantle the structure and sell its treasures), and proceeds are to go to Harvard.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

A murder mystery that had promise, but in the end, left me cold. Homer Kelly is hired by the Gardner Museum (a real place, by the way) to investigate some mischievous happenings, and eventually a couple of murders.

For a man who is supposed to be a great detective, he is not very clever and does very little investigating. It goes on and on and on and nothing is ever solved, until the end, when our glorious detective has an insightful moment that is almost preposterous and a bit of a reach.

The characters are somewhat interesting, if slightly unbelievable. And the story is way too long for what it is.

A great disappointment of a book. May I never run into any Homer Kelly mysteries again. He is a lousy detective!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The new curator of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum loves his job, but he--and the board of trustees--are dismayed by strange incidents that have been plaguing the Boston institution. So far, they're not serious, insofar as a breach of security in a museum can ever be trivial. But the strange, and true, provisions of Mrs. Gardner's will make them a matter for concern. When Homer Kelly becomes a museum member, the curator decides to enlist the scholar and former police detective before things become more serious--which they soon do. Only the absence of Kelly's wonderful wife Mary makes this a four-star rather than a five-star.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first 200 pages rather slowly. I learned a lot about the Gardner Museum, it's directors, its staff, it's beautiful court yard garden, and it's works of art. It started to get really interesting, when I thought a character I liked, had been killed, when she was thrown out a window. It became a page turner for the pages after 200. I really enjoyed the last pages of the book. I did a google search for the Gardner Museum in Boston. I found some very beautiful works of art, and I loved their garden.

[Patricia Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this one years ago, before I started volunteering at the Gardner. Published in 1988, two years before the theft, it was interesting to see how the staff at the Gardner was depicted as eccentric and a bit amateur - probably closer to the mark at the time than anyone would like to admit! The plot was a bit silly and the writing dated, but the museum and the art work were accurately and lovingly represented and Langton obviously did her homework.

[Vikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book right after I visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston. I loved the museum and was delighted when I got back to Kansas to find that a book had been written by Jane Langton about the museum. Fiction and mystery. I could just picture the museum when I read the book. I sure wish those four paintings will be found someday.

[Kathy Moberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun, especially since it takes place in Boston's Gardner Museum which I have visited. It's been years since I read one of Jane Langton's mysteries, and that was a mistake on my part! I'm going to have to make time to read more of them. Her children's books, especially The Diamond in the Window, are among my very favorites.

[Katherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

So wordy. So very wordy. The premise of this book is fine, and the mystery is adequate, but whole passages desperately needed to be pruned. Rather than being content to be a mystery, this book struggles and fails to say Important And Clever Things while propping itself up with the mystery. Engaging characters and an interesting setting, but not recommended.