The Luck Runs Out

Peter Shandy #2

by Charlotte MacLeod

Professor Peter Shandy is in trouble up to the eyeballs again. With the Annual Competition of the Balaclava County Draft Horse Association coming up, some saboteur has reversed all the horseshoes nailed to the stable doors of Balaclava Agricultural College as good luck charms. Shandy predicts dire happenings. His predictions are nowhere near dire enough.

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

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

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

[Randee Baty · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's really hard for me to describe how much I love Charlotte MacLeod. Her gentle manner of writing, her wonderful command of the most obscure use of the English language, her ability to plot a mystery, the way she draws characters, the way she uses humour. It's as good as it gets for me. She ranks with Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters on my list of mystery writers who's works would accompany me to a desert island.

If you've never been to Balaclava Agricultural College, you've missed a great treat. This is the second visit we can make there after the first in the series "Rest You Merry." Peter Shandy and his new wife Helen have settle down to a pleasant life in the brick house on the Crescent when a terrible omen appears. An upside-down horseshoe is found in the barns. Nothing good can come of this. And, of course, the terrible omen is followed by a series of tragic events, not the least of which is the kidnapping of the college's prize pig.

Peter and Helen become embroiled in the mysteries invading their comfy little world and great fun for the reader ensues. This is as far away from hard-boiled as a mystery can get. This is clever and witty. It's as cozy and comfortable as my warm fuzzy fleece socks. It's pure pleasure for those who like their mysteries without blood and gore. Pure pleasure, pure silliness and, in my opinion, pure genius.

[Susan in NC · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun, I love this series and reread the first in the series, "Rest Ye Merry" every Christmas. Professor Peter Shandy, wife Helen, Balaclava College President Thorkjeld Svenson, Professors Ames and Stott and the rest of the whimsical, wacky denizens of the small Massachusetts agricultural college never fail to elicit chuckles and often guffaws - MacLeod was such a witty, dry, charming writer and knew how to spin a good mystery as well.

This time out, Peter and Helen get caught up in a precious metals heist when they go to purchase sterling flatware, then Flackley the Farrier turns up dead in the piggery and Professor Stott's prized sow, Belinda of Balaclava, has been pignapped. Once again vicious pranksters and murderers are stalking Balaclava and it's up to Peter Shandy (whether he wants to or not) to get to the bottom of all the trouble. I also highly recommend her Max Bittersohn and Sarah Kelling mysteries - delightful!

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After rereading in 2024, I enjoyed the book more this time around, reading the ebook rather than listening to the audible version. My old review is below
It's back to Balaclava Agricultural College in book two of this popular series, following on from the hilarious Rest You Merry. Professor Peter Shandy seems to be mellowing after getting married to Helen, but he is soon beset by a whole batch of problems, after some lucky horseshoes are turned upside down. The ensuing bad luck includes the pignapping of a prize sow called Belinda, and, more seriously, a murder.

I quite enjoyed this but not as much as the first book - it starts off really well and I enjoyed the humour (aside from too many jokes at one point about Iduna being a large lady, but luckily these didn't carry on.) But I thought it gets a bit bogged down in the middle.

However, part of the problem was probably that I listened to a lot of it on Audible. I was tempted to do this because Kindle Unlimited offers the audiobook in with the Kindle edition. I mainly liked the narrator, John McLain, but the story seemed rather slow and laboured on audio - I will probably go on to book 3 and try just reading it on Kindle. I also thought McLain made the identity of the main villain too obvious by giving him a mwahaha-type evil voice - I knew it must be him ages before the end because of this!

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored Rest You Merry, the first novel in the late Charlotte MacLeod’s Peter Shandy series, so much that I immediately launched on the sequel upon finishing the first. In it, Peter Shandy, professor of agrology at Balaclava Agricultural College in Massachusetts, investigates a silver robbery, a murder, and the theft of a prize pig. The curmudgeonly bachelor has married and mellowed a bit; however, he’s still as sharp as ever and he manages to figure it all out.

I loved The Luck Runs Out almost as much — despite its convoluted and implausible crime; however, I would caution readers to avoid the Kindle version. While the first book had more than the usual number of typos for a book that’s been professionally published, the second is riddled with them to the point of annoyance. It’s clear that the copy was scanned from a previous edition and no one bothered to proofread. Still, with characters as offbeat and delightful as those of Balaclava Junction, I’m pretty sure I’ll stick around for the rest the series.

[Natalie aka Tannat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't take this book very seriously but as a ridiculous mystery with old fashioned ideas (published way back in 1979), I had some fun with it. The setting is an agricultural college and despite supposedly all being a lot of farmers, the professors end up sounding rather fusty. This one has a stolen pig, a murder that may or may not have been an unintended by-product of the pig-napping, and a gold and silver heist, that may or may not tie together (telling you would mean spoilers :) ).

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Shandy has another murder on his hands. This time it is a guest that came to dinner and later that night was killed. To make matters worse, his wife is high jacked in a gold and silver robbery that day and a friend of hers from North Dakota has come to move to Balaclava College.

This one kept me guessing all through the story. I really think the addition of a wife for Professor Shandy has made the series so much better than the first book. Shandy is a much more likable character than in the first book.

Having trouble finding these books because they are so old but they are well worth the read.

[Chautona Havig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this mystery was easier to figure out, but it was a lot more convoluted, so more fun to be sure you were right/wrong with. There were also a few more words but still really low. Not so sure... we'll see. If it gets much worse, I may have to set them aside. Still, I am loving the characters and the setting (a character in itself.

[Teri-K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiet professor Peter Shandy, the creator of the famous Balaclava Buster rutabaga, is trying to enjoy newly-wed life. His pleasure is interrupted by worry for his buddy Professor Ames, making room for his wife's visiting friend, and the kidnapping of the college's famous pig, Belinda. Belinda is due to have babies any day now, and President Thorkjeld Svenson's insistence that Shandy solve the kidnapping before the big inter-college Competition, which is always referred to in capital letters and includes events like senior plowing and horseshoe pitching, are taking time away from Shandy's private life.

These funny mysteries are perfect for the days when you want something silly, with characters you can root for, in a clean mystery. They take place at mythical Balaclava College, an agricultural school run by a Viking throw-back and his Valkyrie wife. (They're not real Viking's - there's no magic or gods and goddesses, just larger-than-life people.)

The setting may be silly, but MacLeod was a veteran mystery writer who knew how to fill her story with multiple suspects and subplots that may or may not all intertwine when everything is unraveled. I think this may be one of the best books in the series. Though it would be good to read Rest You Merry before this, it's not absolutely necessary as long as the reader is willing to go along for the ride. If Garrison Keillor wrote cozy mysteries about Lake Wobegon, "where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average"... they'd be a lot like these books. :)

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in the Peter Shandy series. We get to know Peter and Helen a bit better and are introduced to more quirky characters at Balaclava Agricultural College. One thing I love about the series is the wonderfully obscure words that MacLeod throws in. Some great ones this time include punctilio, megrim, encomium and the fabulous phrase "dree my weird" which is Old English for "submit to one's destiny". Can I possibly work that into a conversation? Another author using so many obselete words would be obnoxious but it seems totally appropriate for these eccentric characters. I do love the Kindle dictionary function.

[Selah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm incredibly glad I stumbled across this series while searching for Christmas themed books (the first in this series, Rest You Merry, takes place at Christmas, although it's wonderful in its own right). This second book does not disappoint. Peter and Helen are a lovely pair of amateur detectives, the secondary characters are quirky, and Balaclava College is a perfect setting. Basically, it's one of the coziest Cozies I've ever read!

[T.C. Wescott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional second book in a series that I'm very grateful to have found. Professor Shandy teaches at a horticultural college around which the action in the books take place. In this jam-packed story there's a gold heist, a murder, and a stolen prize pig. Shandy and his fellow faculty have to sort to the clues to find out if the events are related and who is the responsible party(ies). A load of fun! The first book thrilled me enough that I bought the remaining 9 books in the series in one fell swoop when a number of the Kindle editions were discounted. My only complaint, which has nothing to at all to do the late author, Charlotte MacLeod, is that these Kindle editions are very sloppily transcribed. In fact, it seems as though someone intentionally sabotaged them. Hundreds of commas are placed where none should be and periods are mysteriously removed from where they SHOULD be. The current publisher I'm sure is well enough compensated to afford an editor to take a sweep through the ten books and clean them up. In fact, I was tempted to take a star off my review of each of the books for this reason, but the quality of the writing itself is enough that I felt I'd be cheating the author and reader by doing so. I suspect if you get the older print editions you will not have to deal with the distraction of poor transcribing, but if you get the Kindle editions as I have done, prepare to be occasionally confused and regularly annoyed by them.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stolen bullion, a pignapping and murder

By Charles van Buren on March 1, 2018

Format: Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

Another humorous entry in Charlotte MacLeod's Peter Shandy mysteries. The mystery is pretty good but the real fun is in the quirky characters and locale. MacLeod entertains with humor which includes word play and the use of a sprinkling of 10¢ words ($2 words with inflation). The mystery is replete with false trails but the criminals were a little easy to pick out before the end. Of course Ms MacLeod may have planned it that way so that her readers could feel clever about more than just knowing some of the 10¢ words without looking them up. I don't think it too much of a spoiler to ask if you knew that if you hang horseshoes with the points down, the luck runs out.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good offering in this light and humorous mystery series.

[Mo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Characters
• Dr. Helen Marsh Shandy, curator of the Buggins Collection at Balaclava Agricultural College
• Chief of Police Wilbur J. Olson
• Praxiteles Lumpkin, and artist and great nephew of Forttude Lumpkin
• Canute Lumpkin
• Fortitude Lumpkin
• Druella Buggins Lumpkin, married to Fortitude Lumpkin
• Beornia (Fortitude’s horse)
• Brinkley Swope, a young firebrand
• Cronkite Swope, a reporter for the Balaclava County Fane and Pennon
• Hengist (Henny) Horsefall
• Peter Shandy, a professor of Balaclava Agricultural College
• Aunt Hilda
• Nephew Eddie, a student at Balaclava
• Nephew Ralph
• Niece-in-Law Marie
• Niece-in-Law Jolene
• Soapy Snell
• Hilary (Hilly)
• Tommy Lomax
• Huntley (Swopes?)
• Gabe Fescue
• Mrs. Peavey

Places
• Lumpkin Corners
• Lumpkiton
• Lumpkin Upper Mills
• Clavaton
• Balaclava Junction
• Forgery Point
• Hoddersville

All of these characters and places were named in the first 10 pages (PHEW!), and it read like I was supposed to know who everyone was. Since I only knew 3 of the characters from Book #1, I started to take notes so that I'd have a snowball’s- chance-in-hell of remembering who everyone was.

NOTE:
On page 8 I had read “It was largely thanks to Peter that the Horsefalls still owned the family farm.”* It then referenced “Wrack and Ruin” which is Book #3 in the series. I thought I was reading in the wrong order, so I started reading Book #3 instead. Unhappily, it referenced back to this book.

At that point I was so confused that I decided the heck with this series. It’s just not worth it.

Read to page 21 and abandoned ship.

[LibraryCin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen is kidnapped (temporarily) when she and her husband Peter are shopping and the kidnappers come in to rob the place. Luckily, she is soon found and brought back no worse for wear. Meantime, the agricultural college’s (where both Peter and Helen work) pregnant pig is also kidnapped. And the local farrier turns up murdered. What happened here? Was it all the same person, or are these unrelated crimes?

This was ok. I liked the first in the series better. This was pretty slow-moving. Some of the terminology felt… pretentious? (Trying to come up with a good word.) Maybe it was supposed to be, since there are so many academics in the book? I did lose interest periodically, so I missed how they figured out “who dun it”, though at least I did catch the “who”. I will read the next book in the series before deciding if I want to continue further.

[Jamie Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice cozy mystery -- I liked this second book more than the first one.

These are set at a fictional agricultural college in New England in the 1970’s. This time around, there’s a stolen prize pig (suspects include a radical group of vegan students), and a robbery which imperils Professor Shandy’s wife, and finally a murder. I was a little saddened by the murder, actually, and the book is so determinedly cozy that it was handled rather too lightly.

The book primarily feels dated because the characters are intent on fixing up a single professor with a woman who can keep house for him.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all the Peter Shandy books. All the characters are so good. I love having a series set in an agricultural college. I didn't have this one figured out ahead of time and was a little surprised by who did it.

[☺Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent cozy murder mystery. Would have enjoyed reading more about Peter and Helen's newlywed relationship and their homemaking efforts but the addition of newcomer Iduna Bjorklund, Helen's former landlady and good friend from South Dakota was a welcome diversion.

[Megan Hex · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are totally enjoyable little mysteries with a ridiculous cast.

[Ruth Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this cast of main characters & was still guessing almost to the end.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Peter Shandy amateur sleuth cozy mystery series and revolving around an agrology professor in Balaclava Junction in Massachusetts. The focus is on murder, theft, and kidnapping. The story is set in April. It was originally published in 1979.

My Take
It’s a sweet start with an erudite farrier filing Odin’s hoof. Part of her conversation includes a history of horseshoeing and the comfort of filing.

I must confess I wasn’t impressed with MacLeod’s first story in this series, Rest You Merry , and yet I felt the need to read The Luck Runs Out. And I’ve changed my mind about MacLeod’s Peter Shandy series.

MacLeod uses a third person global subjective point-of-view from a variety of characters’ perspectives, although Peter’s is the most prominent. She captures that sense of intellectualism in the characters’ dialogues AND she is hilarious, in a subtle way. She pokes fun at everything, from her obsession with the competition and the contests various college members have won, her depiction of various characters — the president’s daughters’ names!, the silly papers instructors are known for, and yet I truly appreciate her championing of individual farmers and what it takes to farm.

It’s partly the language and manners that had me confused as to what time period the story took place in and The Luck Runs Out revealed it was in the 1970s. It still feels like it’s taking place much earlier, like the 1950s. Although phrases like “repressive tools of a property-oriented society” are definitely more 1970s. Then it flips back, for me, with the college's drinks etiquette. It does all sound tasty.

The sense of “earlier” also comes through in how the college is run, especially when it comes to how the farriers come and go. Although, it does make sense later on in the story when MacLeod revealed that the farrier is independent. That sense of “other” also comes through with that sense of loyalty from the students and how the faculty pulls them in for searches.

It’s a good thing Peter’s rich, as it’s enabling him to indulge his new wife with silver and a new car.

It’s no wonder that Mirelle and McSpee get on so well with all the nasty insults they toss around.

The good-hearted college president is a crack-up with all his blustering. It’s amusing to watch Peter and Sieglinde push his buttons.

With all the red herrings and drama in The Luck Runs Out, from the kidnappings, murder, crude innuendos, the loss of years of work, the fears for the competition, the relationship issues, the ambush, the vandalism, the betrayals(!) . . . and Peter’s hopes for a romance for Professor Ames, you won’t be able to stop reading.

The Story
Momentarily stunned at Helen inviting her old landlady, Peter quickly realizes how useful Iduna could be.

But the best laid plans . . . get taken over by murder, kidnapping, theft, and betrayals.

The Characters
Peter “Root” Shandy is an agrology professor who helped invent the Balaclava Buster and the Portulaca Purple Passion. He married the sociable Helen Shandy in Rest You Merry , 1, who is now an assistant librarian in charge of cataloging the valuable Buggins Collection. Peter’s cleaning lady, Mrs Lomax, still comes to clean. Deacon Marsh had been Peter’s grandfather. Marguerite had been Helen’s handy great-aunt.

The merry, huge Iduna Bjorklund, Helen’s former landlady in South Dakota, has fallen on hard times with the demise of the family company, Bjorklund’s Buggy Whips. Her aunt Astrid and uncle Olaf used to keep pigs. Willem is Iduna’s cousin Margit’s son. The Knebels with their prize boar used to be Iduna’s neighbors. Her uncle Elmer had been quite vain.

The Balaclava Agricultural College was . . .
. . . founded by Balaclava Buggins and is generous with its Endowment Fund incentives. The larger-than-life Thorkjeld Svenson is the president of the college. Sieglinde Svenson is his beautiful and formidable wife. He lives in the neighborhood referred to as Valhalla. They have seven daughters, who include the passionate Birgit, Karin, and Frideswiede. Ortrud has been Sieglinde’s second cousin.

Professor Daniel Stott is the chairman of the animal husbandry department. His wife, Elizabeth, died of a surfeit of herring.The Stotts had had two sets of quadruplets (some of whom are Mary Beth, Julie Beth, Clara Beth, and Lily Beth) who have gone on into a variety of pig-related professions. Belinda is Balthazar’s latest consort, who’s pregnant. Balthazar of Balaclava is the college’s prize hog.

Professor Timothy Ames, Peter’s best friend, and newly widowed, is a soil specialist. Jemmy is Tim’s daughter who is married to Dave Marsh, Helen’s young relative. Royall Ames, Tim’s son, was recently married to Laurie Jilles while on an expedition in Antarctica. The snotty Jemima is Tim’s late wife, a real pain in the patootie. The nosy, rude Lorene McSpee is Tim’s new housekeeper who is obsessed with cleaning and ammonia. And she is ticking off Tim’s friends.

Dr Philip Porble is in charge of the college library, which makes him Helen’s boss. Grace is his wife. Moira Haskins is the new comptroller. Professor John (a Professor Emeritus of Local Fauna) and Mary Enderble are a sweet couple. Shirley Wrenne teaches here.

Mirelle Feldster is a nosy neighbor who is not above inventing gossip. Her husband, Professor Jim Feldster, is part of the animal husbandry department where Pam Waggoner is an assistant. He’s also a member of almost every fraternity around — to escape his wife! Mrs Mouzouka is the head of the cookery department. Miss Tibbett works in administration.

Grimble is no longer the college security chief, Not after events in Rest You Merry . Yay! The new security people are Silvester and Clarence Lomax, brothers.

Hannah Cadwall is having a going-away party. It only makes sense after events in Rest You Merry .

The students include Birgit and her boyfriend, Hjalmar Olafssen, who is brilliant yet inept, athletic yet clumsy; the misplaced and unhappy Matilda Gables; Genevieve; Henry Purvis, who can’t ride, plow or whang a drum; Jennifer Berg; and, Alison Blair. Some have founded the Vigilant Vegetarians, a.k.a. the Viggies.

Martha Flackley the Farrier, a former schoolteacher who lives at Forgery Point, is the farrier in charge of the college’s Balaclava Black horses who include Odin, who likes being fussed over; Loki, the smallest, who is a very private horse; Thor; Freya; Balder; Tyr; Heimdallr; and, Hoenir. Will Flackley had been Martha’s predecessor. Frank Flackley is her newly arrived nephew, who recently lost his job with Rudy’s Rough Riders. Matt Flackley was the last to work on the wagon. Captain Flackley had been on the Antarctica expedition and married Royall and Laurie; he had been Martha’s nephew. Bruce of Bannockburn is the collie with whom Hjalmar has been working.

Fred Ottermole is the chief of police, and Peter isn’t impressed with his work ethic or intelligence. The charitable Harry Goulson is the local mortician.

Lieutenant Corbin, Sergeants Mullins and Lubbock with his BS degree, and Officers Partinger and Madigan are with the state police.

The Balaclava County Weekly Fane and Pennon is the local paper. Arabella Goulson, Harry's wife, writes Junction Jottings, a column for the paper. The Reverend Spottswold. Mrs Olson. Mrs Pleyer. Branwell. The Ruptured Duck is a feeble excuse for a restaurant. Mabel is one of its waitresses. Charlie operates a garage in town where Peter garages his car. The Illumination is a Christmas event from Rest You Merry .

The Carlovingian Crafters are known for their silverwork and where Mr Peaslee gives tours. Mr Birkenhead appears to be the owner. I think Mrs Pomfret is the secretary. Mr Williams and Ferdinand McSpee, a former maintenance man, were more employees.

College rivals in the Annual Competition of the Balaclava County Draft Horse Association (the equine Olympics) include the Lolloping Lumberjacks of Lumpkin Corners and the Headless Horsemen of Hoddersville. Ethelred Spinney had been a previous champion.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a deep grass green background. At the very top is an info blurb in white with the author’s name in pink below it. Below the upward arching last name is a broken porcelain pale pink piggy bank. Below that the title curves downward and is in white. The same pink is repeated in the series info at the very bottom.

The title refers to the wrong way to hang a horseshoe, as The Luck Runs Out.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy this but even so it did just lack that humorous fizz that the first book had. I'm pleased that Shandy and Helen are together and so compatible.
The story is based on the annual show and competition of the Balaclava Agricultural College and a neighbouring college.There is much readying for this. The horses are shod and the animals are all on show, but it is noticed that all the horseshoes in the barn above the horses names have been turned upside down. At first this is just put down to being a prank between the colleges, but it also turns out that the prize pig has been pig-napped. Also that the farrier has been murdered, this happening on her way home from a dinner party given by the Shandy's. At the dinner party Helen says she wishes she had silver cutlery, but when they go to cutlers to choose, Helen is taken as hostage, while the gold and silver are stolen. We are also introduced to a friend of Helen, who has come to stay.
I will definitely be reading on in this series.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had wanted to experience the late Charlotte MacLeod a while. I discovered she is among the most genuinely talented writers who ever published a book. She concocts a reasonably complicated mystery, draws you into the environments she imagines, and her adeptness with rapid, natural dialogue can only be called a gift. Here is a human being who knew her career calling and answered it.

Above and beyond leaving all these elements of a great novel in deft hands; she can take a large cast and identify every individual uniquely enough for you to know them and feel certain you can predict how they will act. The most amusing example is the hefty, ethnically Swedish, majestic power couple of the university: 'president & Mrs. Thorkjeld Svenson'. It is also a delight to observe Helen & Peter, formerly resigned singles above 40 & 50, as a romantic newlywed couple. I merely wish their wedding had been shown in this, or the former book.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second of this series, the characters are beginning to become clearer and more developed. I now have a good picture of Peter and Helen. I must admit that Iduna hasn't quite come into focus yet. This book had more about President Svenson, who with his wife Sieglinde, are fast becoming favorites. I loved the scene with Svenson and Peter's door and also the rough and tumble fight with the three thieves. The vision of one of them being twirled round and round Svenson's head by his leg will stay with me for a while. I love his "Urgh!". Also, the scene with Iduna calling Belinda up the basement stairs is priceless. Lots of plays on words in this book for those of you who really enjoy that kind of thing. Also, plenty of quotes again.

[Lori Henrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Professor and his new wife Helen love to entertain. While Helen was visiting the barn and taking a look the prize pig, she meets the Farrier, Miss Flackley. On the spur of the moment Helen invites her to dinner. The night of the dinner will be remember for along time. Not because of the dinner, but because that night the farrier was murdered and the prize pig Belinda was pignapped. Professor Shandy is recruited to be the go between between the police and the college. He has a tough one on his hands.

I liked this and wasn't sure I was going to read another after this one, but I might just have to change my mind.

[Shalini Gunnasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So wildly implausible it was funny. A nice little romp with great characters and so funny too. Loved Professor Svenson, he reminded me of Terry Pratchett's Archchancellor Ridcully of Unseen University. Must be a real-life type wandering about the academic wilds.

I read the Amazon Kindle book, and luckily I got it for 1.99 during a deal. It's so badly edited with misspellings and strange punctuations peppered all over the book. If that stuff drives you nuts, find another edition. I would hesitate to get another of this particular publisher's book.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second in the Professor Shandy mysteries. Further character development of Professor Shandy and Helen Shandy as well as the president of the college and his family. We are also introduced to Professor Stott and Iduna Bjorklund in this book. The mystery is quite well crafted and kept me reading. But to me the real attraction of Ms. MacLeod's writing is her fascinating and eccentric characters.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in Peter Shandy series. Also funny. Involves murder, student demonstrators, and a pignapping.

[Sharla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the humor and quirky characters in the Charlotte MacLeod books. The plot in this one is a little wild and there is one major inconsistency but overall another enjoyable read.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant people in a pleasant setting, with touches of gentle humor. Too bad there was a murder.