Murder at the Gardner: A Novel of Suspense [Hardcover]

Jane Langton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1988

After a series of seemingly harmless pranks at Boston's Isabella Gardner Museum, the trustees call in ex-detective and Harvard lecturer Homer Kelly to investigate.

But when art patron Madeline Hepplewhite is murdered after surprising the prankster, Homer has to answer questions a bit more pressing than "Who tied a balloon to the Cellini?"

"Langton tucks her tongue firmly in cheek before treating readers to a wild and wholly enjoyable ride on the trail of the dangerous trickster...An exceedingly charming mystery." (Publishers Weekly)

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Within the palatial walls of Boston's Gardner Museum, paintings by Botticelli and Titian shed artistic light on a hodgepodge of lesser collectibles, all forever fixed in place as decreed by the inflexible terms of Isabella Stewart Gardner's will, which demands that the whole collection be auctioned off should any changes or unwelcome disturbances occur. The museum's very boyish director, Titus Moon, turns a blind eye to such pranks as tadpoles in the courtyard fountain and ghostly music in the galleries, but even he is appalled when a particularly awful benefactor meets an untimely end. Langton (Good and Dead) tucks her tongue firmly in cheek before treating readers to a wild and wholly enjoyable ride on the trail of the dangerous trickster. Although a bit light on motive and suspense, this exceedingly charming mystery more than makes up its weight in laughs called down upon the antics of one hapless character after the nextexuberant Polly, who gallumphs through cataloguing chores, wise and wily Catherine Rule, and the ubiquitous Mrs. Garboyle, who seems to be running Boston single-handedly from her basement apartment. Elegant line drawings by the author accompany the text.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

7 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 353 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr; 1st edition (March 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312014791
• ISBN-13: 978-0312014797
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,536,657 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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical combination of mystery and art, May 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Murder at the Gardner : A Novel of Suspense: A Homer Kelly Mystery (Penguin Crime Monthly) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was amazed to see that this book had only received one bad review. This is a wonderful book - one in a series of mysteries with a loveable absent-minded professor who speaks his mind and bumbles into all sorts of mischief while solving complex murders. The author also adds her own drawings, which are a nice touch. I highly recommend all the Homer Kelly mysteries-I have read them all - if you like your mysteries to have some weight too them. Not too fluffy, but not overly erudite either.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping plot and delightful story, May 30, 2005

By 

Roberta C. Watson (Tampa, Florida United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder at the Gardner : A Novel of Suspense: A Homer Kelly Mystery (Penguin Crime Monthly) (Mass Market Paperback)

What I like most about reading Jane Langton's Homer Kelly novels is that I get to enjoy a gripping plot while at the same time learning something. With this book, I got to learn about the Gardner Museum while I enjoyed the suspenseful story. And her murder mysteries are set in interesting and genteel places, so that I get the benefit of the suspense without having to feel like my soul is being dragged through all the darkest places in human consciousness. Ms. Langton's writing style is also very pleasant, and I enjoy the pace of her stories. I select her books when I want to be pleasantly entertained.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lyrical and involving, September 12, 2002

By 

Andrew Barss "andybarss" (Tucson, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Murder at the Gardner : A Novel of Suspense: A Homer Kelly Mystery (Penguin Crime Monthly) (Mass Market Paperback)

Jane Langton's mystery novels always present a detailed and engrossing picture of a small, intricately structured world and the people in it (here, the Gardner Museum in Boston). Her writing style is hard to describe -- it's seemingly effortless, yet lyrical at the same time, with hidden secondary meanings sprinkled here and there. A really fine book.