God in Concord [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Jane Langton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

Homer Kelly is trying to cope with the changes to his beloved Concord: an influx of tourists and boutiques, a convergence of homeless, even a proposed mall on the banks of Walden Pond. But when some retirees begins to meet untimely deaths, he draws the line. Illustrated.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Liberally laced with wry Yankee humor, Langton's eighth Homer Kelly mystery chides America's throwaway society with a tale of mysterious deaths occuring near Walden Pond and the municipal dump in Concord, Mass. Illustrations.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Ominous happenings in Concord, Mass., site of Thoreau's Walden and long the home base of the author's intellectual ex-cop Homer Kelly (National Enemy, etc.). Mega-developer Jefferson Grandison is determined to build a cutesy new town on the edge of the pond. His ardent henchman is Jack Markey, aided in turn by money-mad entrepreneur Mimi Pink, who's already overboutiqued a once-sensible Main Street. The elderly population of Walden Breezes, a trailer camp on desirable land, is being decimated at an alarming rate, despite Homer's pleas to local law enforcement to pay attention. Add to all this the invasion of a tacky little band of homeless from Boston; the emotional turmoil of handsome young Ananda Singh, a Thoreau worshiper from India whose pilgrimage almost costs him his life; and the ongoing conflicts between planning boards and nature lovers. The final upshot is a tidy triumph for the good guys--unrealistic, perhaps, but great good fun for the reader. The author's clever live drawings further enhance a richly textured, unflaggingly entertaining story. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 501 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560545348
• ISBN-13: 978-1560545347
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,444,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've written an awful lot of books. There are eleven for middle-aged children, mostly fantasies. The ones that have hung around the longest are "The Diamond in the Window" and "The Fledgling." The seventh in the series called "The Hall Family Chronicles" came out last spring, "The Mysterious Circus," and I've just finished writing an eighth, "The Dragon Tree."

All eighteen mysteries for adults have the same protagonists, Homer and Mary Kelly. Mary is the sensible one, but I confess I like Homer's rhapsodic flights of fancy. Most of their adventures happen in Massachusetts, but I've also sent them to farflung places I wanted to visit myself, like Florence, Oxford and Venice. Most of the novels are illustrated with my own drawings, but "The Escher Twist" has ten prints by the mysterious Dutch artist M. C. Escher, and the two historical mysteries are illustrated with nineteenth-century photographs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery and New England Nostalgia, June 21, 2008

By 

Rebecca M (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God in Concord (A Homer Kelly Mystery) (Paperback)

Jane Langton's Homer Kelly is one part absent-minded professor, one part Doctor Who (sans time travel) and one part...well, Homer Kelly. Suffering from JFS (Jessica Fletcher Syndrome), mystery and death seem to "sniff out" Homer, rather than the other way around.

The story is not just merely about scenic suburban life and the petty trifles of its inhabitants. That provides the narrative façade for an astute commentary regarding the politics of development/city planning, environmentalism and the dangers/benefits of nostalgia.

Langton's characters are vividly multi-dimensional, torn in their allegiances by both heart and mind. The author asks the reader not to pass immediate judgment, suggesting that the potential for villainy resides within us as well, under the right set of circumstances.

I think this is one of Langton's better books in the series. Highly recommended for Thoreau buffs and those readers familiar with Boston/Concord, Massachusetts.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I liked this mystery!, May 20, 2001

By 

Maureen - See all my reviews

This review is from: God in Concord (A Homer Kelly Mystery) (Paperback)

I loved Thoreau's Walden -- and therefore loved the backdrop of this mystery -- and I love mysteries, though I read only about 1/3 of the mysteries I pick up and this one was fun and one you can put down, as each chapter was rather a chocolate; the characters were foibled, the conversations spirited and it was engagingly plotted.