Maid of Honor

by Charlotte MacLeod

Chaos erupts at the Green household during preparations for the wedding of Persis' spoiled older sister and Persis must discover the truth about the disappearance of an expensive brooch.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

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

[Lauren Weishaar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Choppy, lots of typos, abrupt, unsatisfactory ending

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing my December 2021 mini challenge to find books “relating” to song The 12 Days of Christmas, I chose this book for its title containing “maid” which relates to the line in the song, “eight maids a milking.” This was a short bit delightful read. Persis Green is dealing with the looming marriage and its related boring activities of her sister, Loni, while she’s busy working on an important piano recital that her waspish mother and unengaged father seem to have given as a very low priority. In fact, Persis seems to be a nonentity in the family and if noticed, it’s for all the wrong reasons. Unknown to her family, after the recital, Persis is given a scholarship to a prestigious music school - though her family doesn’t seem to recognize her musical skills. On the same day as the recital, Persis’s family is hosting all the grandparents and in-laws to the upcoming Loni and Chet nuptials. At this fete, Loni is given an expensive but ugly broach which after everyone leaves appears to have been stolen. A series of events put Persis in the driver’s seat for getting her sister out a bit of a mess and helping resolve the missing broach issue and help propel her family’s acceptance of her pursuing a career in music. Loved Persis. She was very clever, witty and very engaging. Enjoyed the read.

[Lynn Redington · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a wonderful thing when you THINK you've read everything by a beloved author, but come to find you haven't. So it was for me with this book. While it lacks the charm of the Peter Shandy series or Max and Sarah, it's still a good, light easy read and I'm happy to have found it.

[Yue · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mystery more on the juvenile style. Nothing grand happens.. it is just the disappearance of an expensive heirloom. The FML thinks is her mother, then her sister (all in the family XD)

TBH her family was pretty awful. But still her mother was a bit similar to mine, and I adore her XD

[Tammy Buchli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this back in the 80s when it was first published and adored it. Still a fun read.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Charlotte MacLeod. This was a little different from her other stuff but jusdt as enjoyable.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

A *very* slight MacLeod - 80s YA mystery?! - but I am ever the completest.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and uncomplicated. Very fun to try and imagine the styles of all the clothing mentioned, between all the mauve bridal clothing, suede jacket and red velvet dress.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cinderella story. Sure to gladden the heart of anyone who thinks that the fussed-over sibling is getting the better deal.

[Barbara Bilodeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different book by a familiar author

I really like this author's books. This was very different from her usual books but still very well written and very entertaining.

[Donna Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute

I liked this book. It was a cute story. Wasn’t sure what to expect since I normally read murder mysteries.

[Melanie Emry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite

I was hoping for another light and witty mystery. Instead I got a coming of age novel. It's still good - better than most coming of age novels I've read, but I prefer her mysteries.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick moving young adult mystery from Charlotte MacLeod. No body in this mystery, only a missing piece of expensive jewelry. This was her last YA, by 1984 she already had her Peter Shandy and Sara Kelling/Max Bittersohn series established and under the pen name of Alisa Craig was writing the Grub and Stakers series and the Janet/Madoc Rhys series.

Non-series - YA - Upset with her family's near-obsession with her older sister's wedding, a teen-aged girl does not tell them that she has won a gold medal in a state piano contest, nor that she has been awarded a scholarship to a prestigious music college. When the bride-to-be is given an expensive diamond and ruby pin, the younger sister hides it as a prank, then learns that it is no longer in its hiding place, precipitating a family crisis.