Rest You Merry

The Peter Shandy Mysteries, Book 1

By: Charlotte MacLeod

Narrated by: John McLain

A Christmas scrooge discovers a murdered librarian in this holiday novel from an Edgar Award finalist known for her "witty, literate, and charming" mysteries (Publishers Weekly).

Each December, the faculty of Balaclava Agricultural College goes wild with holiday decorations. The entire campus glitters with Christmas lights, save for one dark spot: the home of Professor Peter Shandy. But after years of resisting the school's Illumination festival, Shandy suddenly snaps, installing a million-watt display of flashing lights and blaring music perfectly calculated to drive his neighbors mad. Then the horticulturalist flees town, planning to spend Christmas on a tramp steamer. It's not long before he feels guilty about his prank and returns home to find his lights extinguished - and a dead librarian in his living room.

Hoping to avoid a scandal, the school's head asks Shandy, sometimes detective, to investigate the matter quietly. After all, Christmas is big business, and the town needs the cash infusion that typically comes with the Illumination. But as Shandy will soon find out, there's a dark side to even the whitest of white Christmases.

©1978 Charlotte MacLeod (P)2021 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Fun Cozy Read

Was excited to see Charlotte MacLeod books in catalog. The Peter Shandy mysteries are a lot of fun and good puzzles to boot. Def. recommend for a fun read any time of the year.

Peter Shanty

This is the first book in this series. I like Peter Shanty's character. I thought he was funny and smart. I'll continue to the next book and see how it goes. John Mclain did a great job narrating this book.

Lovely old fashioned mystery!

A lovely mystery, set in the Midwest in modern—but not TOO modern—times. A little romance, a little partnership, and even a car chase. A very nice escape!

Wrong, wrong, wrong narrator

The narrator has the wrong accent for anything set in New England. This book has a fairly large vocabulary and he can’t pronounce too many of the words. His voices just don’t match the characters. It’s dissonant.

I didn’t love the story as much as I expected from the Keller and Bittersohn stories I’ve listened to, but it would have worked better with a different narrator.

Quirky story and characters

Macleod ‘s stories are still a fun listen. I’ve always enjoyed her New England settings.