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Dark Nantucket Noon: A Homer Kelly Mystery (Paperback)

by Jane Langton (Author) "Below the little plane the water of Nantucket Sound slipped over itself..." (more)
Key Phrases: new bylaw, sheep commons, spear gun, Helen Green, Bob Fern, Joe Green (more...)

3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 30, 1981)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0140058362
ISBN-13: 978-0140058369
Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.8 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces

Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #790,780 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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This is item 2 in The Homer Kelly Series.

Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Below the little plane the water of Nantucket Sound slipped over itself. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
new bylaw, sheep commons, spear gun, conservation trust, straight tip

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Helen Green, Bob Fern, Joe Green, Great Point, Moby Dick, Sergeant Fern, Arthur Bird, Homer Kelly, Nantucket Protection Society, Kitty Clark, Alice Dove, Boatwright Trust, Katharine Clark, Miss Clark, Polpis Road, Alden Dove, Ensign Hawkins, Nantucket Sound, Charley Piper, Chief Pike, Wilhelmina Magee, Herr Dankbinkel, Joseph Green, Whaling Museum, Andrea Doria

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Concordance | Text Stats

Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 11 books:

My God by Michael Green on 4 pages
Moby dick by Melville on page 146, and page 147
Moby Dick (Usborne classics) by Herman Melville on page 146, and page 147
Moby dick by H. Melville on page 146, and page 147
Atlantic Ocean (Oceans and Seas) by Jen Green on page 2, and page 230

See all 11 books this book cites

8 books cite this book:

Murder at the Gardner : A Novel of Suspense: A Homer Kelly Mystery (Penguin Crime Monthly) by Jane Langton in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Dead As a Dodo (A Homer Kelly Mystery) by Jane Langton in Front Matter, and Back Matter
Sugarplum Dead (Death on Demand Mysteries, No. 12) by Carolyn Hart on page 16
The Escher Twist: A Homer Kelly Mystery by Jane Langton in Front Matter
A Cruising Guide to Narragansett Bay and the South Coast of Massachusetts: Including Buzzard's Bay, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Block Island by Lynda Childress in Back Matter

See all 8 books citing this book

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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

Average Customer Review

3.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hard to read, July 12, 2002

By	Dawn Dowdle "mysteryloverscorner.com reviewer" (Lynchburg, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional, literate mystery, July 22, 2002

By	Alicia K. Ahlvers "alibrarian" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A mystery based on an incredible coincidence disappoints, June 29, 1998

By A Customer

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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a WONDERFUL book!!
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... Read more

Published on August 4, 2004 by N. Cantwell

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Too Well Written
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... Read more

Published on March 14, 2004 by MZ

2.0 out of 5 stars Weak Book by Good Author
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... Read more

Published on August 3, 2000 by Chad Gandenberger

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing plotline undermines scenic thriller
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. Read more

Published on December 12, 1997 by Ernest Joselovitz

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