1979, #1 Sarah Kelling/Max Bittersohn, Beacon Hill, Boston; genteel cosy, still wonderful despite age. High jinks (and murder) in High Society, but with a very dark edgeMrs. Sarah Kelling has lived a very privileged life in the highest social circles of Boston, living on Beacon Hill and having a very extended - and locally famous (or infamous, but more on that later...) family. While she hasn't been pampered much, she has been sheltered from much of the daily grind most folks know, and lived in a sort of bubble for nearly all of her 26 years. Married to a man almost twice her age (who she's loved since childhood), she shares a large, rather shabby home in The Best Part of Boston (well, according to those living there, anyway) with his peculiar - and difficult - mother, the matriarch of the large Yankee clan. Sarah finds out there are snakes in this garden, many, many dark things happening just under the surface when an elderly relative dies who has made plans to be buried in a family vault that nobody has used for decades. A most unexpected body is found therein, leading to family secrets coming to light and big changes in the lives of many family members. The resulting mayhem and brou-ha-ha not only leads Sarah to a lot of disquieting information about many of her (so-called) respectable relatives and friends, it also helps her, finally, to grow up. This first Sarah Kelling/Max Bittersohn novel is easily one of the best in what is one of my favorite cosy series. Max, btw, plays a pretty peripheral - but necessary - role here, with what might seem to many folks to be extremely stilted behaviors and manners, but he grows as a character in later novels. This novel is quite funny, as are most of MacLeod's works, but also surprisingly dark and edgy as well, it connects rather strongly emotionally for this native Bostonian. YMMV. Filled with wonderful bits about scrimping and saving among the wealthy of Boston (and the not-so-wealthy-any-more), it's a nicely tongue-in-cheek look at a style of living and a set of attitudes that are now long gone and which were, actually, pretty much on their way out when this was first published in the late 1970s. But for those wanting a nice fairyland-ish cosy, it's still a strong mystery, filled with interesting - and peculiar - characters, smoothly written and carefully plotted. And if you find the character of Sarah interesting or intriguing, then you've a lot more good reads ahead of you; there are eleven more books in the series. And if you enjoy MacLeod's light-but-silly touch with humour and mystery, she also wrote three other series that offer varying shades of silliness and darkness, all, IMO, still very entertaining even after all these years. Peter Shandy, a professor at a very odd college in western Massachusetts (some are just funny/silly, others are completely over-the-top - the first is REST YOU MERRY, a very funny Christmas mystery); The Grub'n'Stakers, a truly strange gardening club in a small town somewhere in the middle of Canada (really, really far-fetched but sweetly funny - the first is G&S move a Mountain); Madoc Rhys, RCMP in New Brunswick, Canada (her only attempt at an almost police procedural, it's actually even more character-driven than her other series, very "personal", not procedural at all - the first is A PINT OF MURDER). The Rhys series and the G&S series were written under the name of Alisa Craig.
I bought this ebook a while ago, but just now got to reading it. I wish I had read it earlier. Charlotte McLeod is an excellent writer with a sense of humor and a gift for creating very likable characters. I couldn't even hate the bad guys (the few there were). This is definitely a "cozy" mystery. Oh, and I didn't figure out who did it (entirely), which was nice. The story opens with Sarah Keeling waiting in a Boston cemetery for the opening of her family's tomb. "Great-uncle Frederick had vowed he wouldn’t be caught dead with Great-aunt Matilda, who had already preempted their assigned space in the more recent Kelling family plot at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge."Instead, Frederick is being buried in the family's historical tomb, which is located in an equally historical cemetery. It all seems mundane and tedious until the crypt is opened to revealed a body that should not be there:"It must have been a woman’s. The flesh was rotted away, but the skeleton was still encased in the moldered remains of an hourglass corset and a crimson skirt. High black boots with frisky red heels held the leg and foot bones together. But what had turned Mr. Ritling’s stomach and would haunt all their nightmares forever after were the tiny chips of blood-colored rubies that winked flashes of burning scarlet from between the grinning teeth."Hardly what you expect to find in a very old, aristocratic tomb that hasn't been opened - supposedly - in 146 years. Sarah soon finds herself in the role of amateur detective - investigating her own family, including her husband, for it is obvious that Alexander knows a lot more about the skeleton than he is letting on. The Keelings are a very old - and rather inbred - New England family. Even though they are Yankees (I'm Texan), they seem very familiar to me, right down to referring to older members of the family as "Aunt" or "Uncle," whether they are or not. Sarah is married to her fifth cousin (once removed), Alexander, and has always referred to his mother as "Aunt" Caroline. I enjoyed the Keelings and their friends. I even like Cousin Dolph - grouchy and selfish though he is. If you are looking for a fun, interesting cozy with likable characters and a good mystery, then try this. You won't be disappointed.
What do You think about The Family Vault (2002)?
this is my favortie of this series. It is so bizarre. I remember reading as Sarah becomes more aware and not so oppressed that begins with the brickwork around the vault. The mother-in-law is so extremely bad and obsessed with her little lover. And the first husband, what a whimp. One of the things I like about this author is the whole extended family in Boston thing that she uses, they are so eccentric. And Sarah surviving this truly sick situation and finally waking up to what is going on. The first time I read it I had no clue what was going on so when she discovers the "diary" that was fun. But then revelation of what was really going on makes my skin crawl.
—Joan
with a well written and strong first chapter, MacLeod lured me into the novel. However, her characters were all one dimensional and unlikeable. I lost sympathy with the heroine who as narrator was given the role of describing them. She did so with such biting sarcasm, that I lost any sympathy I should have had for her and began lumping her into this disgusting familial mileu she introduced as being incestuous in order to hoard family money. The introduction of her protagonist Max Bittersohn in the role of private detective, felt contrived. But as Sarah Kelling finally divests herself of her relations, it feels less like coming of age and more like vindictiveness. But mostly the novel suffered from a surfeit of exposition. As my writing teacher used to say, "don't tell--show."
—Pat
Love Charlotte MacLeod's books.This is the first in the Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series.....At the beginning of the book, Sarah is a lot, weary girl married to her second cousin Alexander whom she adores. Alex is about 20 years older than she is. The whole family seems to turn to Alexander when there is a problem and he is constantly dancing attendance on his mother who has become deaf and blind. She is still very involved with committees, etc. and expect Alex to wait on her pleasure for chaperoning her to those meetings and interpreting for her. The outside trouble starts when Great-Uncle Frederick does not want to be buried in the family cemetary with another Great-Uncle. He has stated in his will that he wants to be buried in the old, historical family vault. Sarah has gone to meet some of the other cousins to get the vault opened, even though they asked for Alex. But Alex has taken his mother to an appointment and Sarah resents the relatives constant demands on him. So, Sarah has gone in his place.When the vault is opened, there is a brick wall inside the door - and behind the brick wall, a body. It is Ruby Redd, with her rubies still in her teeth. She disappeared quite some time ago. And Sarah recognizes the pattern the bricks behind the door are laid in - and the bricks. It is a pattern that Alex and his mother had created years ago and had used bricks scavenged when an old building was torn down. Sarah is an heiress in her own right and Alex is her trustee. But Alex and his mother are supposed to be supremely wealthy themselves. Only the three of them are living off the interest of Sarah's inheritance - since she can't touch the principal until she is 27. With the discovery of Ruby's body, Sarah begins to grow up. She has always been treated like a child, but has discovered she wants to be treated like a wife and an adult. So one evening, she sits Alex down to find out what has been going on because he has been distraught since Ruby's body was found. She discovers that his mother has lost all of their money - he doesn't know how. And she insisted he marry Sarah, whom he loved, but he thought she might prefer someone nearer her own age. But Sarah has always adored him. So, she lets him know there will be some changes. As a wife, she wants his attention more than his mother does. So they begin to work out a new way of living. Then, at a blow, Alexander and his mother die and Sarah is bowled over. But she has begun to throw her weight around and demand respect from the people around her who always ignored her as inconsequential. She is also suspicious of Alex's death and is sure it was not an accident. Then she discovers the author she has been suppposed to make drawings for for a book, is actually an insurance investigator tracking jewelry and art theft......The characters are all a little quirky, Sarah not the least. The Kellings are a large and old family who tend to marry second and third cousins to keep the money in the family and Sarah doesn't know anyone much beyond family. Except for Max Bittersohn, the detective. She has several great-uncles and cousins however, who immediately take up for her in family disagreements as she is learning to stand on her own.
—Susan Ferguson
