Customer Reviews

Dark Nantucket Noon: A Homer Kelly Mystery

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Homer Kelly has come to Nantucket to complete his study of the men who sailed with Melville. When poetess, Katherine Clark, is arrested for the murder of her ex-lover's beautiful new wife, Homer is asked to help find the real murderer. As he investigates, it turns out that the beautiful new wife, Helen Boatwright Green was keeping secrets that someone would kill to protect. When you read some of her descriptions, especially those involving the natural world, there is a lovely moment of recognition, of her descriptions being exactly right. This is the second in her Homer and Mary Kelly series and is considered to be her best novel by many critics.

Jane Langton's series of Homer Kelly mysteries is excellent; this book is weak. The characters are thin, the plot is disappointing, the atmosphere lacks her usual charm. Langton's a very enjoyable writer, but this book does not demonstrate it.

If you've read and enjoyed the others, you'll probably want to read this to complete the series. If you haven't read any of her books yet, pick a different one.

Langton's picture of Nantucket is vaguely matching my own recent memories, although she succeeds in making it duller than it was for me. More than that, the story begins with a scene that is explained as an incredible coincidence pointing to our heroine as the murderer. I kept thinking, "No, this is a device to mislead me" but it was not the clever intricacy I'd been waiting for. It was just plain silliness. This is not just a small problem; this is the kind of mystery in which one must suspend commonsense. Some people can accept that fantasyland escapism. For them I've got a great bridge to Brooklyn cheap.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I began reading this at the beginning of our vacation to New England. I almost didn't make it past the first chapter. I stuck it out another chapter to meet the main character Homer Kelly. That made it bearable.

I must say that this is not one of my favorite books. I just didn't feel that the characters flowed with each other. I especially did not like Kitty Clark who was accused of the murder. She was too flighty for me.

Homer Kelly, a former lieutenant-detective and academic, was her attorney. He is the main character of this series. I did like him. So I will try another book in this series in time. I hope that not all her books are written in this same way.

There just wasn't any connection between the characters and maybe that's the way this story needed to be told in her opinion, but I felt it was too disjointed and Kitty had no "confidant" friend other than her attorney whom she had just met.

I prefer a series where you really get to know the characters...

The setting as I stated is on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Kitty has come there to view the eclipse, as have many other people. She stumbles upon a dead woman at the lighthouse who happens to be Joe Green's wife. Kitty and Joe Green had an affair before Joe was married. She is still in love with Joe and had tried to NOT run into him on the island. Kitty is accused of the murder because of this history and the fact that she is found by the dead woman with a knife in her hand. Homer Kelly comes to her aid and helps her unravel the truth.

This mystery takes place on Nantucket Island, which I've visited. And the feel of the island is nicely drawn by Langton, if not with particular colorfulness. the incredible coincidence at the core of the mystery, however, undermines the novel. It demands a leap of "faith", that is, fantasy beyond any degree of realism, which I was not willing to take. In a nutshell: Langton, here, can't tell a story.

I love this book. I just finished it...for the second time. It is beautifully written. The mystery almost takes a back seat to the fantastic descriptions of Nantucket, and sea and shore. I found myself delving into Rachel Carson and websites about marine life, while reading it. Jane Langton is one of my favorite authors because her books make you think about so much more than just the mystery. They introduce you to wonderful aspects of the universe that you never thought about before. i have read them all...including her "children's" books. This is one of my favorites.

I say that this book is almost too well-written because Jane Langton has such an intimate knowledge of the topic of this mystery that it put parts of the book over my head. Langton has really done her research here, with all of the details and maps of Nantucket, the Biblical and Moby Dick references, and the details of sea ecology and tides.

Some of this information was a little too complex for the non-seafarer, especially regarding the sea ecology and tides. I admit that I skimmed some of it, and I believe I came away from the story with the same understanding of the murder mystery.

In general, I recommend this book. If you are perplexed by the jargon as I was, skim over those parts and enjoy Kitty Clark, Homer Kelly, and the menagerie of characters presented in this well-told tale.

This is the second book I have read in the Homer Kelly series. I loved The Escher Twist, and I will probably read another of Langton's books in the future. Even if it is full of over-my-head jargon.