Something in the Water (Peter Shandy Mysteries)

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Summary: Veteran mystery writer releases a new delight
Review: Charlotte MacLeod, veteran mystery writer, has released a paperback delight called Something in the Water. This latest entry stars Peter Shandy, professor at a mythical agricultural college in Massachusetts, who has an amazing ability to kick up clods of murder as he traipses through life. Professor Shandy, a reluctant economy-size hero, has temporarily abandoned his wife Helen's side at her request while she entertains childhood chums. The timing appears perfect for Peter to visit Pickwance, Maine and see for himself the "glorious" lupine the scientist in him knows must be more the stuff of legend than fact. To his chagrin the lupine are real and everything else in this picturesque community is not what it seems to be. He discovers paintings (by an artist who refuses to be identified) that evoke distinct pictures in the mind, but are only hazy colors on the canvass. He drinks water from a mysterious spring owned by a woman who must be old, but looks young. Most disconcerting to him, however, is the man who dies within his purview the evening of his arrival. In a community where so much is larger than life (quite literally as even the hens are the size of turkeys and lay enormous eggs), so is the corpse, perhaps not in physical size, but in perfidity. This truly is a man whom none mourn. Time passes, Peter Shandy requests his wife join him in Maine, and the mystery spins itself out. Try this book--if you have never read a MacLeod mystery befoe you will be enchanted, if you have, you will find yourself comfortably back within the company of old friends. Two other selections by the same author featuring Peter Shandy which are very good reading are The Corpse in Oozak's Pond and Vane Pursuit.