What do you think?
Rate this book
The Butterflies of Grand Canyon: A Novel
Set against the backdrop of the brooding and sensual canyon, a young woman's heart awakens and a decades-old mystery is solved
When Jane Merkle arrives in the tiny town of Flagstaff, Arizona, with her much older husband on a summer day in 1951, she hasn't any idea that her life is about to change forever. After all, one of Jane's favorite sayings is "When in Rome, remember that you're from St . Louis." But over a summer spent with her sister-in-law, Dotty, and Dotty's lepidopterist husband, Oliver, in a village perched on the rim of the Grand Canyon, Jane discovers her latent ability with a butterfly net and her attraction to a handsome young ranger. Meanwhile, an unidentified skeleton is found on the premises of one of the village's most cantankerous citizens. With the help-and hindrance-of a colorful cast of historical characters, including an eccentric botanist who moonlights as an amateur sleuth, the murder mystery that has haunted the town for years is solved.
In her latest novel, set in the quintessential landscape of the Southwest, Margaret Erhart weaves history, science, and an intimate knowledge of the human heart to tell a fast-paced tale.
When Jane Merkle arrives in the tiny town of Flagstaff, Arizona, with her much older husband on a summer day in 1951, she hasn't any idea that her life is about to change forever. After all, one of Jane's favorite sayings is "When in Rome, remember that you're from St . Louis." But over a summer spent with her sister-in-law, Dotty, and Dotty's lepidopterist husband, Oliver, in a village perched on the rim of the Grand Canyon, Jane discovers her latent ability with a butterfly net and her attraction to a handsome young ranger. Meanwhile, an unidentified skeleton is found on the premises of one of the village's most cantankerous citizens. With the help-and hindrance-of a colorful cast of historical characters, including an eccentric botanist who moonlights as an amateur sleuth, the murder mystery that has haunted the town for years is solved.
In her latest novel, set in the quintessential landscape of the Southwest, Margaret Erhart weaves history, science, and an intimate knowledge of the human heart to tell a fast-paced tale.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
4 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
December 26, 2018
Nope, just not for me, even if it is set in Arizona.
I was too annoyed by the characters, and could not get interested in what was going on.
Back to the library it goes.
DNF after 50 pages.
I was too annoyed by the characters, and could not get interested in what was going on.
Back to the library it goes.
DNF after 50 pages.
November 29, 2010
Although I liked several parts of this book, not a single member of my Hyatt/Vi senior book group liked it. Half the members didn't finish it. They disliked the voice of the characters - felt they were cartoonish. They were confused by the large number of characters and they way they were presented.
October 29, 2018
rating: 1.5
The trail to the river is steep, the footing unreliable. An animal track is what it is. Bighorn sheep, mule deer. Water is life and takes life, as he well knows.
That's the first paragraph of the book, and it isn't bad, but unfortunately that's the way the whole book is written. Choppy sentences. Then, too, the point of view is constantly shifting from one character to another, thus giving the reader insight into what the characters are thinking. That wasn't problematic, but their thoughts were also choppy, and the characters all had similar personalities.
I think this is supposed to be humorous, maybe flip, glib, or silly.
Anyway, I gave up after reading 140 pages. I probably should have given up sooner.
The trail to the river is steep, the footing unreliable. An animal track is what it is. Bighorn sheep, mule deer. Water is life and takes life, as he well knows.
That's the first paragraph of the book, and it isn't bad, but unfortunately that's the way the whole book is written. Choppy sentences. Then, too, the point of view is constantly shifting from one character to another, thus giving the reader insight into what the characters are thinking. That wasn't problematic, but their thoughts were also choppy, and the characters all had similar personalities.
I think this is supposed to be humorous, maybe flip, glib, or silly.
Anyway, I gave up after reading 140 pages. I probably should have given up sooner.
April 7, 2010
quote from back of the book ... author "weaves history, science, and an intimate knowledge of the himan heart"... and the cover is all innocent looking and you hope you learn some stuff about butterflies and the grandcanyon and solve a mystery along the way... i learned that this author endorses cheating on your spouse... unless i misunderstood this part of the book... "i see the point of them (romps on the side). ive been persuaded they do us good. without them she would left long ago. im sure of it. and theyve made me honest."... um what? let me just say i found it strange that a woman would encourage the girl married to her brother to go be alone with some other guy knowing that she was attracted to him and him to her... weird... dont bother reading if you mind your own morals being pricked while reading books...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2018
Professor Elzada Clover and her assistant Lois Jotter Cutter have come to Flagstaff, Arizona to help solve a mystery. The chief park naturalist Louis Schellbach at Grand Canyon National Park has called her about an old acquaintance Emery Kolb who has a human skeleton in his garage.
In addition, Jane Merkle and her much older husband Morris are visiting his sister Dotty and her husband Oliver Hedquist. They live in a small community on the rim of the Canyon where Oliver delights in collection butterflies. He teaches Jane this art while she stays on and her husband returns to their home in St Louis.
Though the mystery is a little thin, the idea of spending the summer exploring the Canyon and learning about the fauna and floral there is intriguing.
The social norms of the 1950s don't hinder the characters from having a good time in this Western outpost.
In addition, Jane Merkle and her much older husband Morris are visiting his sister Dotty and her husband Oliver Hedquist. They live in a small community on the rim of the Canyon where Oliver delights in collection butterflies. He teaches Jane this art while she stays on and her husband returns to their home in St Louis.
Though the mystery is a little thin, the idea of spending the summer exploring the Canyon and learning about the fauna and floral there is intriguing.
The social norms of the 1950s don't hinder the characters from having a good time in this Western outpost.
June 22, 2011
The concept of the book definitely drew me in --- forbidden love and a decades-old unsolved murder. And Ms. Erhart's beautiful prose kept me reading.
But overall, this book was a disappointment.
For starters, there were far too many characters, most of whom had nothing to do with each other. Then, there were too many varying plots, again, all disjointed from the others.
It's a shame, because Ms. Erhart delivered some of the most beautiful literary passages I've read in a long, long time, but the plot and characters just did not do justice to her writing.
All in all, an OK read, but not one I'd particularly recommend.
But overall, this book was a disappointment.
For starters, there were far too many characters, most of whom had nothing to do with each other. Then, there were too many varying plots, again, all disjointed from the others.
It's a shame, because Ms. Erhart delivered some of the most beautiful literary passages I've read in a long, long time, but the plot and characters just did not do justice to her writing.
All in all, an OK read, but not one I'd particularly recommend.
December 12, 2022
There are people who talk to hear themselves think, and Erhart seems to be the author’s equivalent. Things like a random query about what the things mountain climbers use with their hands (pitons) jump from an explanation to morning conversation between two women who weren’t even participating in the first discussion. Characters throw scientific names of critters back and forth without the reader having a clue whether they even relate to the main interest (for most, butterflies and related) of the characters.
This book was very slow to develop, and, after the prologue teaser, I basically had to force myself through most of the book for the prize of figuring out who they were. And I feel cheated because the prologue clearly mention one gun, not used, and no indication of any other. The book was actually more interesting when I went through it to get my facts straight to write this review than it was in the initial reading.
Nitpicks:
Erhart spends time acknowledging all the help she had getting her butterflies right, but apparently she didn’t put so much effort into genetic history. On page 24, she’s got Elzada talking about selective breeding leading to (cross cows and fireflies to get glow-in-the-dark cows) “when we finally understand the configuration of DNA”--when DNA wasn’t proven to be the molecule of heredity until ___.
Just discovered as I’m typing this: The book starts with Jand AND Morris arriving, but a few chapters later, (p51, to be exact, and again p 141, and then he “arrives” mourning the loss of his dog, Martin) Morris is home, without Jane, or any explanation as to why he is no longer at the Hedquists. How’d the editors miss that?
(Personal pet peeve: "They were Galloway boats, shallow hulled, with a covered deck and lapstrake sides, built in Racine, Wisconsin, far from the sea. But seaworthy they were..." --Apparently Erhart, for all her research, is unaware that the Great Lakes have legally been "seas" since 1871.)
This book was very slow to develop, and, after the prologue teaser, I basically had to force myself through most of the book for the prize of figuring out who they were. And I feel cheated because the prologue clearly mention one gun, not used, and no indication of any other. The book was actually more interesting when I went through it to get my facts straight to write this review than it was in the initial reading.
Nitpicks:
Erhart spends time acknowledging all the help she had getting her butterflies right, but apparently she didn’t put so much effort into genetic history. On page 24, she’s got Elzada talking about selective breeding leading to (cross cows and fireflies to get glow-in-the-dark cows) “when we finally understand the configuration of DNA”--when DNA wasn’t proven to be the molecule of heredity until ___.
Just discovered as I’m typing this: The book starts with Jand AND Morris arriving, but a few chapters later, (p51, to be exact, and again p 141, and then he “arrives” mourning the loss of his dog, Martin) Morris is home, without Jane, or any explanation as to why he is no longer at the Hedquists. How’d the editors miss that?
(Personal pet peeve: "They were Galloway boats, shallow hulled, with a covered deck and lapstrake sides, built in Racine, Wisconsin, far from the sea. But seaworthy they were..." --Apparently Erhart, for all her research, is unaware that the Great Lakes have legally been "seas" since 1871.)
November 24, 2017
The title makes this sound like a non-fiction guidebook, but this is actually a murder mystery based on actual people and events from the Grand Canyon. Emery Kolb is suspected of murder after a body is found in his garage. He asks his botantist friend Elzada Clover to assist with the investigation. Another side story that actually takes up most of the novel is a love story between a married woman and a young ranger. It was fun reading about familiar characters in an environment well known to me. I was excited to see names of current botanists and researchers that I know in the acknowledgement section.
May 22, 2024
I don't often read fiction these days, but this one kept my interest enough to finish. I was particularly intrigued that the author includes two real-life women, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter Cutter, as minor characters in the novel. I'm now reading a nonfiction book about these two, called Brave the Wild River, describing their hazardous journey through the Grand Canyon in 1938 to collect rare botanical specimens.
November 20, 2020
A quirky story about butterfly collecting, the Grand canyon, a murder investigation and love. I found the story somewhat disconnected, but continued reading hoping for resolution. The love triangles and murder do get resolved but in rather round about manners.
Not highly recommended. I did not "get" the butterfly collection theme throughout.
Not highly recommended. I did not "get" the butterfly collection theme throughout.
July 16, 2019
I didn't enjoy this book. I had a hard time getting it finished because I just did not enjoy the storyline. It might be someone else's cup of tea though. Don't let my opinion deter you from delving into this book.
February 18, 2021
Up until the last quarter of this book, I thought it was decent. The writing is beautiful, and while it is very slow, I did enjoy the story. But by the last fourth, it had just gotten so dull and pointless. A shame, really, when the writing is lovely.
June 27, 2018
A charming little diversion. Not bad, not great.
November 4, 2019
I so wanted to like this one..... very disappointed...
March 13, 2021
The story is difficult to access. It was choppy and hard to follow but the murder mystery was interesting. I found the interpersonal relationships the most interesting part.
July 17, 2024
Maybe it's just me, but I thought there were too many characters and too many tales being told.
March 4, 2017
A quirky book with touches of Shaw-like social commentary, doses of Natural history, bits of treatises on the nature of love and all wrapped up in a murder mystery and love story. I enjoyed the dventure of reading this book and found quite a few flashes of brilliance in er escriptions of the natural world and human character.
February 10, 2010
An incident in 1938 at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is the underlying story that flows under the lives of several people living in the Grand Canyon National Park village in 1951. I had to keep a list of characters to keep the relationships straight. Once I did that the story moved along. It's a gentle story which is strange given it revolves around the skeleton of someone who might be a suicide or might have been murdered.
The plot seems weak, and the ending somewhat implausible, but it was an enjoyable read. And there were some enlightening moments. Some of my favorite lines:
"It's the sister-in-law, wanting to get in touch with Mr. Wigglesworth, and she asks me would I happen to know where he is right now. What do they think? I've got a crystal ball?" "You do, Gavvy," Elzada points to the switchboard. "You've got better than a crystal ball. You've got technology."
"Do you mean," asks Jane, "tht two people should embark on their own adventures in order to live soundly together?"
"She will know why she never had a life on Broadway. Why she's here with him instead, about to have a cup of bitter coffee and a plate of overcooked eggs and undercooked bacon, and why it makes no difference in the world what a person eats for breakfast as long as they're comfortable sitting in a booth with the one they've sworn themselves to. Not by the gold band on the fourth finger , but sworn through years of waking up and going to sleep, like two old dogs on the porch. It would not be right for one to wander off alone and never come back."
The plot seems weak, and the ending somewhat implausible, but it was an enjoyable read. And there were some enlightening moments. Some of my favorite lines:
"It's the sister-in-law, wanting to get in touch with Mr. Wigglesworth, and she asks me would I happen to know where he is right now. What do they think? I've got a crystal ball?" "You do, Gavvy," Elzada points to the switchboard. "You've got better than a crystal ball. You've got technology."
"Do you mean," asks Jane, "tht two people should embark on their own adventures in order to live soundly together?"
"She will know why she never had a life on Broadway. Why she's here with him instead, about to have a cup of bitter coffee and a plate of overcooked eggs and undercooked bacon, and why it makes no difference in the world what a person eats for breakfast as long as they're comfortable sitting in a booth with the one they've sworn themselves to. Not by the gold band on the fourth finger , but sworn through years of waking up and going to sleep, like two old dogs on the porch. It would not be right for one to wander off alone and never come back."
March 25, 2011
Another discovery from the 2010 Tucson Festival of Books, read just in time for the 2011 Festival. In 1951 Jane Merkle travels to Flagstaff, Arizona with her much older husband to spend the summer with her husband's sister and her husband. Jane becomes enamored of the Grand Canyon, butterflies, and a young park ranger. Deeply buried in a distant sub-plot, there is also a murder mystery that languidly unravels itself in a way that reveals connections and relationships among the characters but provides little in the way of suspense or involvement for the reader. On one hand, the novel reminded me why I am not a big fan of modern literary novels, which insist upon flaunting style and technique at the expense of storytelling. The present tense narrative is often irritating to me but was especially so here in a historical novel whose plodding plot was not enhanced by the often breathless feel that present tense can convey. There was also a rather dizzying amount of change of perspective, often all within in one paragraph, especially at the beginning of the book. In time, however, the novel settled in and generally slowed to one perspective per chapter. By the end, the most intriguing aspect was that the novel became a polemic for adultery as the means to a long and happy marriage as particularly detailed in a long conversation between Jane and her brother-in-law in the chapter entitled "Confession." Lots about butterflies, surprisingly little about the landscape of the Grand Canyon, but mostly a story about characters and relationships.
September 15, 2025
The Butterflies of Grand Canyon by Margaret Erhart is a book I purchased in October 2010 at Borders Bookstore for a dollar. I'd never heard of the book, nor the author before, but the cover artwork on this book, the book title, and its low price tag caught my attention.
Plus, I'd just visited the Grand Canyon for the 1st time ever in September of 2010, a month prior to purchasing this novel, and I thought the Grand Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful. I also love butterflies and a good mystery, so The Butterflies of Grand Canyon seemed to be the perfect match for me.
I really wanted to like The Butterflies of Grand Canyon, but I found this novel to be rather s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-o-w-w-w, dull, and boring for the most part.
Aside from being a slow novel overall, I did find Margaret Erhart's writing to be beautifully descriptive at times. Some of the scenes described made you feel like you were really there with characters.
As for the characters themselves, well let's just say that I found most of them annoying.
I also felt that the storyline didn't quite move in the direction I had anticipated it would... Meaning that I thought The Butterflies of Grand Canyon would be more of a mystery novel in the traditional sense, but instead this novel reads more like contemporary fiction with a mystery as a subplot.
Plus, I'd just visited the Grand Canyon for the 1st time ever in September of 2010, a month prior to purchasing this novel, and I thought the Grand Canyon was breathtakingly beautiful. I also love butterflies and a good mystery, so The Butterflies of Grand Canyon seemed to be the perfect match for me.
I really wanted to like The Butterflies of Grand Canyon, but I found this novel to be rather s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-o-w-w-w, dull, and boring for the most part.
Aside from being a slow novel overall, I did find Margaret Erhart's writing to be beautifully descriptive at times. Some of the scenes described made you feel like you were really there with characters.
As for the characters themselves, well let's just say that I found most of them annoying.
I also felt that the storyline didn't quite move in the direction I had anticipated it would... Meaning that I thought The Butterflies of Grand Canyon would be more of a mystery novel in the traditional sense, but instead this novel reads more like contemporary fiction with a mystery as a subplot.
August 29, 2016
As an ecologist/entomologist who studies butterflies in the West, I was excited to read this book, which aspires to combine a murder mystery, a love story, and natural history. Those elements are all there, but the story is fragmented -- as though the author had assembled a pile of characters, places, and events, but didn't know how to put them together. The narrative was confusing, as were the backstories and motives of some of the characters. Butterflies? We learn nothing about them except a few scientific names, and they don't contribute in any meaningful way to the plot. Despite occasional flourishes of pleasant prose, I found the book to be a disappointment.
February 16, 2010
This was a very interesting book. Part historical travel journal about the Grand Canyon, part biology class (butterflies and bugs!), part murder mystery (quite engaging), all intertwined with a very kind study of the relationships among the characters in a small Southwest town.
The book is a quick read - I would recommend it. Just an fyi ... Not what I would consider HEA on the relationship side of the story (Happily Ever After-usually a requirement for me...); although everyone does seem to come to a level of acceptance about their situation.
The book is a quick read - I would recommend it. Just an fyi ... Not what I would consider HEA on the relationship side of the story (Happily Ever After-usually a requirement for me...); although everyone does seem to come to a level of acceptance about their situation.
September 2, 2014
I thought this was a pretty involving story, which included the beauty of the natural world, a murder mystery and extramarital love. Not a great, brilliant, amazing novel, but it kept my attention and I enjoyed it in the manner that it's sometimes impossible to enjoy great, brilliant, amazing novels. Simply put, I found it fun. And I thought the characters were, for the most part, pretty well-rounded and likable, although I did have some trouble keeping names straight.
July 19, 2010
This didn't move as much as I would like in a mystery. And it was almost a gentle read that I could recommend to people who don't like the sex/violence/language but it does have an affair that while not explicit could get me some complaints. The setting in this book was a big part of it and the butterflies.
The Butterflies of Grand Canyon
The Butterflies of Grand Canyon
November 29, 2010
I was drawn to this book because of its locale, being from Arizona. And I started reading it while in Arizona. It was an interesting story, but way too many scientific butterfly names. It didn't really matter! The bits and pieces of information that were the basis of this story was more interesting than the story itself.
It had it's twists and turns, but nothing that was sensational. Was I asleep or were some pieces left unresolved?
It had it's twists and turns, but nothing that was sensational. Was I asleep or were some pieces left unresolved?
May 27, 2016
This was sort of an interesting novel. Not my standard fare-a bit too focused on romance rather than twisty plots and violent death-but it was truly a delight to read while my family was visiting Grand Canyon Nat'l Park. Erhart's characters draw one into the novel, and it's for their sake that I finished it, having predicted the ending, but wanting to read their reactions to the way things had fallen out.
September 24, 2012
Bekah Sandy-Porter nailed it:
"The concept of the book definitely drew me in --- forbidden love and a decades-old unsolved murder. And Ms. Erhart's beautiful prose kept me reading. But overall, this book was a disappointment."
There were nice insights about marriage, love and aging in this book, but it needed to be better edited or something.
I wanted it to be more absorbing. Finished it to find out the mystery conclusion.
August 17, 2010
A lovely story set at Grand Canyon in 1951. A young wife goes to visit her much older sister-in-law and her husband. Once there our heroine discovers the beauty of the canyon and its butterflies and a young ranger. Her husband sits back in St. Louis fixing steaks for his dog while his wife wonders about the intricacies of love. Not for people who like plot driven novels.
March 30, 2010
This was a surprisingly delightful book full of quirky and laughable characters with a murder mystery included. Being a butterfly gardener helped with envisioning the species of butterflies and plants mentioned, but is not necessary to enjoy this book. I really loved some of the conversational exchanges between some of the characters.
May 5, 2010
I didn't think this was particularly well-written, although it had its moments. However, for a canyon-head like me, it was fun to recognize the historical people and events and the places used in the story. I read it while at Grand Canyon in April, and I saw butterflies! I had never noticed so many before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews