The Fat Lady's Ghost

by Charlotte MacLeod

A young art student catches a thief—and finds her soul mate—in this charming, early YA novel from the million-selling “mistress of the ‘cozy’ mystery” (Los Angeles Times).
 
Possessed of cool common sense and burning ambition, nineteen-year-old Corin Johansen leaves home to attend a prestigious art school in Boston. But Corin never met anyone back in Proctor’s Crossing, Pennsylvania, like the larger-than-life landlady at her new boardinghouse. A former circus star known as Daring Dina who trained lions and leopards under the big top, Madame Despau-Davy now contents herself with teaching her four beloved pet ocelots tricks in the kitchen.
 
Corin soon learns the boardinghouse kitchen is supposedly haunted by the ghost of the Fat Lady from the circus, Dina’s old friend Rosie Garside. Corin is skeptical, but when she cooks, she can’t shake the feeling she’s being watched.
 
The tall redhead has also caught the eye of some of the young male boarders: playboy Jack Banks and standoffish but gifted art student Alex Bodmin. When Corin discovers jewelry hidden in the haunted kitchen and hears the real story of how Rosie met her demise, she begins to suspect one of them may be a jewel thief—and possibly a murderer.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult

156 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1968

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

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supposedly a young adult book this was an excellent read. A young woman determined to be a designer does what she has to saving and working to get to art school in Boston. She takes a room in a boarding house recommended by a family friend and gets set to begin school. The first evening in the house an art student tells her hand printed fabric in her dress could be improved and she gets a little upset with him. But the next day at art school she discovers how talented he is an friendship begins. Our heroine is the only one in the house willing to use the kitchen as it is supposedly haunted. As she begins to cook and bake she keeps finding expensive jewellery stashed in the kitchen fittings and dishes etc. It seems to come and go. Is there a thief in the house. and did the previous owner really die of natural causes in the kitchen? An excellent plot.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third young adult novel by Charlotte MacLeod that I've read and each has featured a beautiful 19 year old young lady, striking out on her own and finding the solution to a mystery and true romance at the end of the book. Nothing earth shattering but pleasant easy reads. MacLeod apparently got her literary feet (novel length) wet with these juveniles in the mid-1960s through the late 1970s - this novel was published in 1968. Her more complex comic /mystery series written under her own name and as Alisa Craig began in 1978-1981.

Non-series - YA - Against the workings of a great art school and the routine of her conventional (possibly haunted) lodgings, Corin discovers the person she is inside the girl she thinks she wants to be.

[Lee✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was published in 1968!! Wild.

It was a light read and the fat lady’s ghost features far less than I’d imagined.

Corin has transferred to this new art school with great plans to be an incredibly successful designer. She moves into a boarding house with a host of other characters headed by the land lady- a former circus performer who owns four ocelots.

The mystery part is the discovery of stolen jewels in the kitchen and the odd circumstances surrounding the death of Rosie- the titular fat lady.

The blurb makes it sound like there’s a love triangle but it hardly counts.

Corin makes her own clothes so it was fun to see the outfits described!

I can’t say I exactly enjoyed her character progression and I didn’t feel like the mystery was juicy enough. For its length though it’s very easy to be forgiving!

I would’ve liked to see the other tenants more. It would’ve made figuring out the thief more difficult and just made for more entertaining dynamics throughout.
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[SPOILERS]

I really enjoyed Corin at the beginning. She was self assured and I liked how fixated on her work she was.

I respect her decision to take on the role of cook. I was just sad that because Alex was so much more talented than her, she gave up on her own ambitions.

She’s clearly skilled and enjoys her work and she is content to give up in the face of Alex’s overwhelming abilities and to support him because she will never be the Greatest Designer.

Perhaps she isn’t a prodigy but her work could have developed over time. This has been the case for other great designers. Watching her lose her drive was kind of sad and I certainly didn’t think of her as selfish as I read in another review.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mystery, love story, and the tenacious work of a young woman to find out the truth. Corin came to the city to attend art school. Corin finds a boarding room run by a former circus performer known as Daring Dina. She finds that the kitchen area may be haunted by a friend of Daring Dina. Daring Dina has four interesting companions that you need to read about to believe. This is a fun book. Charlotte MacLeod (1922–2005) was an international bestselling author of cozy mysteries. If you like cozy mysteries Charlotte MacLeod is one of the authors you should consider reading.

[Yue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and short, nothing out of the world, but it is a little mystery with a touch of romance that I really like. I specially like that the arrogant Corin has a wake-up call, realizes she is not the special artist she always thought she was and I also like that she supports Alex with all her heart, it was like an old-fashioned romance, realizing her dreams are actually being by his side and cooking for him. Many would not like that (preferring a much independent woman) but this kind of dream are fine too.

And I like that the old -scarred man gets out of the basement at last :)

[Ella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lesson learned: do not buy a book just because it has ocelots. The mystery was flimsy and poorly paced. It occasionally felt like I was being hit over the head with the author’s sexism and right wing politics. The vaguely screwball romance was devoid of chemistry. If the synopsis on the back of the book appeals to you, go pick up one of Kerry Greenwood’s Corinna Chapman mysteries instead.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ghosts and ocelots

Corin is a beauty, but on a budget. As she lives at the boarding house she realizes the house has a secret. She decides not to get close to the other boarders and the owner. But one of the young men is throwing himself at her. The secrets of the house draw her in. Worth reading.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Feel Good Mystery

Great comforting mystery. For a murder mystery it has very little angst but it does have a plot line that drives you to read the next page. Nothing that’s too high brow as far as detecting so you can see yourself taking the same steps in the story. .

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

New 2 me

I thought I'd read all MacLeod's books but just found this one. It is an enjoyable story. Written when a student could rent a comfortable room for $18 a week. Sounds amazing now but back then many people made friends in their rooming houses.

[Mare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do adore her books and the characters were quite fun in this one.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Charlotte MacLeod's first juvenile fiction book to be published under her own name. Corin Johansen was the best young artist and her dream was always to come to Boston to study in a real art school. Following the advice of a family friend she arranges to board at Madame Depard-Davy's. There she finds an astonishing mix of people and pets begining with her ladylady, a former circus performer, and her four pet ocelots.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2. I mean it's MacLeod, whom I love and it definitely reads like her. But, it's also one that was originally published for children (although nowadays it would be YA), so the mystery isn't too hard to figure out. And, it definitely feels more dated than other offerings. I am still super happy to have access to it and hope that Open Road follows up with making her other offerings for young people available.

[Mary Schwarz Sheppard]

This is a title that stuck with me from childhood. While I don't remember the story now, I have a very clear picture in my mind of taking this book of the shelf of the bookmobile near our house in Fort Lauderdale. I want to reread this one. As I recall, it was one of my favorites. I'm curious to see how my taste in books at that young age translates to today.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the best written book, but it was one of my favorites when I was a young teen. Has mystery, romance, and a selfish girl changing for the better.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one where imagining the clothes was a lot of fun.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely dated, but still cute.