The Odd Job (Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Charlotte MacLeod (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1995 | Series: Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries

When a museum administrator is stabbed to death with a hat pin, popular Boston detective Sarah Kelling must interrupt her seaside idyll and pursue her twelfth case, in this best-selling whodunit series. By the author of Something in the Water.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Reaching for too many laughs, MacLeod falls flat with the 12th entry in her Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series (after Something in the Water). The title refers to Sarah's duties as unexpected executrix of the will of bossy Dolores Tawne, administrator of Boston's Wilkins Museum, who has been stabbed to death with an antique hairpin (a method, Sarah observes, written about by famed archeologist Amelia Peabody Emerson, Elizabeth Peters's series heroine). Among Dolores's effects is a safe deposit box she left unopened for 30 years. The box contains six antique stickpins and a photograph of the Wicked Widows, a group of seven masked street performers who, it turns out, are wanted for the murders of four Boston policemen some years ago. Relying on disguises and guesswork, Sarah triumphs in a final melodramatic scene. The meandering narrative, aimless chatter and absence of Sarah's husband, Max, who's in Argentina, sabotage this effort.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The latest in MacLeod's series of Sarah and Max Kelling mysteries more than meets the standards of her earlier works, filled as ever with touches of comedy, eccentric characters, and mild suspense, all in a neatly depicted Bostonian setting. Left on her own, while her art-detective spouse Max Kelling is in Argentina on a job, Sarah holds down the office, nearly gets herself killed, secures child care for her son (whose nurse is ill), probates an estate, and solves the murder of the woman who named Sarah her executor. Sarah is impressively competent, but she is aided by her houseman/butler Charles and a local police detective, both of whom are wise to the adventures that beset the Kelling family. MacLeod's tendency to restate the case, via Sarah updating relatives and police professionals, results in some unnecessary repetitions, but readers who like to solve the mystery before novel's end may find these summations desirable. Denise Perry Donavin

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 278 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Pr; 1ST edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892965711
• ISBN-13: 978-0892965717
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not one of her best....., January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Odd Job (Paperback)

This is not one of Charlotte Macleod's best outings--things get a little toooo contrived, and there's hardly any Kelling family in the story (except some juicy stories from Jem)--but it's still a good way to spend a rainy (or snowy) afternoon.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars She's done better jobs of writing before..., July 3, 2000

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Odd Job (Paperback)

I had to force my way through this mystery. For books which are read for enjoyment and entertainment, that should not be the case. I've read her books before, and usually they are more tightly written, concise, with a plausible plot. This was not the case in this book, and it felt as though the inclusion of different family members was merely done as afterthoughts to connect to previous books. Very disconnected job... Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A tiresome way to spend an evening., May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Odd Job (Paperback)

Crushingly dull. The characters are bland and too poorly drawn even to be irritating. The plot is pedestrian, with details that are neither relevant nor even entertaining. Luckily the heroine's husband is absent in this book, so we are spared the embarrasment of being invited to share their (probably) tedious bedroom. Disagree with me if you like - just don't ask me to read any more Charlotte McLeod.