The Balloon Man (A Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn Mystery) [Import] [Hardcover]

CHARLOTTE MACLEOD (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: SEVERN HOUSE PUBLISHERS LTD (2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 072785559X
• ISBN-13: 978-0727855596
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absurdity and Desperate Emotions Nicely Intermingled..., January 30, 2000

By 

Susan Shedd (South Woodbury, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Balloon Man (Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Maceod has such a talent for zany details and irrelevant (therefore,quite realistic!) conversation that it's easy to ignore the emotional content of her mysteries. As a devoted series reader,I've always been grateful for the way the spotlight moves from Sarah & Max to others in their circle and then back again -- it keeps the series fresh, I think.

This time, the focus is on Sarah & Max (and Davy) with a vengeance! The joyous confusion of Max's nephew's wedding is a grand setting for the return of an old,sad problem (set with rubies) from Sarah's first marriage. After confusion piled on confusion ("Damn it," sputtered Max, "can't we stop conversing in questions?") causes us and the characters to wish for something decisive to happen...it does...they do -- whatever! And then things don't STOP happening...

MacLeod keeps the drama of real and painful emotions balanced with the melodrama of the ridiculous. The people and the plot are delicious, and although I didn't want to put it down, I wasn't afraid to go to sleep,either. Silly & scary is a great combination! The wrap-up is classic MacLeod: confection, compassion and confusion.

If you're new to this series I would recommend that you read "The Family Vault" and "The Palace Guard", at least, before you tackle any of the others. My own preference would be to line 'em all up and knock 'em back one after another (Uncle Jem must be rubbing off on me), but it isn't essential...and certainly most of Sarah & Max's relatives would never be that logical!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last One, October 26, 2001

By 

Doris Kimball "pcreader" (Panama City, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Balloon Man (Mass Market Paperback)

All of Charlotte MacLeod's books are zany and frequently require the reader to leap in joyful, but strange directions. The characters are charming if rarely life-like and that is part of the attraction. If you haven't read the books in both major series, please do. We will have no more. Ms. MacLeod is tragically "retired from writing" as a result of Alzheimer's.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully cozy, December 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Balloon Man (Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It was fantastic that some of the loose ends from the beginning of the series were finally wrapped up. It is time to move on - forget Alexander and have a sibling for Davy. This episode was interesting and exciting and made me wish for more!!!