A Dismal Thing to Do

Madoc and Janet Rhys #3

by Alisa Craig, Charlotte MacLeod

After witnessing a strange explosion, Janet becomes a murderer’s next target

Janet Rhys is driving through the backwoods of Canada when she sees the truck ahead of her lose control, smash into a snow bank, and flip sideways, completely blocking the road. Springing to action, she darts into a nearby barn, searching for something to use to rescue the person trapped inside. When she hears an explosion, Janet returns to find the truck is nothing but smoking wreckage, and the driver has stolen her car.

Janet takes shelter in an abandoned house, and is waiting for help to come when the truck driver’s accomplices set fire to her hideout. Just before she is engulfed in flames, she leaps through a window and escapes into the snow. The killers think their witness is dead, and if Janet doesn’t move quickly, they will be right.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Canada, Humor, Audiobook

198 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1986

About the author

A pseudonym used by Charlotte MacLeod.

Reviews

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Dismal Thing to Do is the third in the series featuring Detective Inspector Madoc Rhys of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and his wife Janet. It’s also the best, even though I loved A Pint of Murder and Murder Goes Mumming, Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

That Madoc and Janet head back to the greater Pitcherville area in A Dismal Thing to Do I credit with why I enjoyed it so much. Charlotte MacLeod, writing as Alisa Craig, has created such fun and memorable denizens in Pitcherville and neighboring Bigears, New Brunswick, that readers can’t help but revel in their adventures and foibles. The mystery is pretty fun, but it’s the characters that make this cozy mystery a joy to read.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We've all been driving on a narrow road wondering if another car would be able to pass us. Janet Madoc is very lost and driving on a lonely country road with snow banks on either side. Janet is thinking: 1.Why did I get directions from my neighbor Muriel who is terrible at giving directions? 2.Where am I and where are all the people? 3.Does that speeding truck headed towards me see my car? In the next split second, the speeding truck flips and Janet is trying to figure out how to rescue the trapped truck driver. And then, the truck blows up... Welcome to the 4th Rhys Madoc book! Don't worry - I've only described the first few pages of Charlotte Macleod's book. This is one of my favorite opening scenes and sets up a wonderful story. Mountie Inspector Rhys and his wife Janet spend this book trying to figure out what Janet accidentally stumbled upon, and who is involved. Enjoy!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janet goes looking for a wash stand for their new little house. Following the poor directions of her neighbour she encounters a large vehicle on a narrow road lined with high snow banks in either side.. with no where to pass she stops and waits but then the truck just falls over trapping the driver. Y the time Janet backs up to a barn she just passed to look for a ladder and gets inside the truck explodes! And then burns hot and long. The barn was knocked down in the explosion, mostly on Janet and by the time she can crawl out her car is gone and she is stranded in the middle of nowhere. So begins a convoluted tale with unexpected turnings and a surprise end.

[Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another gem from Charlotte MacLeod a.k.a. Alisa Craig. This one lost a star just because Janet wasn't in it as much as the previous two, and she is also missing from the next book in the series. I enjoy her wit and humor very much and think it plays very well against Madoc's more practical mind. The plot is pretty far fetched but that makes it even more fun. This series isn't meant to be taken very seriously. Readers should just enjoy the ride. It is chock full of small town eccentrics who make me laugh out loud.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the saga of Rhys and Janet continues, the reader meets previous characters again, many of which are improving, and is introduced to many new ones. Rhys investigates with Janet's help the destruction of property on a back road and the "possible" attempted murder of Janet. One doesn't quite believe it would have come to that until a garrulous and likeable young man is killed - the very one who has claimed to have killed Janet, thereby possibly saving her life. I went through most of the book sure that I knew who the villain was only to have my whole premise thrown up into the air and landing way off base. Good luck on this one. Maybe you'll be more discerning than I was when it comes to the clues.

[Jenn Estepp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is probably my least favorite of the series, although it was still rather good and quite charming. I am coming rather quickly to love Madoc and Janet.

[Michael Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d never come across Charlotte MacLeod before, and was sent this by my Canadian friend Suzy. “America’s Reigning Whodunit Queen” trumpets the blurb in the back matter of this paperback dating from 1988, followed by a quote comparing her to Agatha Christie. And with good reason, it turns out. When I started this book, I’d just finished They Came to Baghdad for the sadly missed Goodreads Agatha Christie Reading Group. The style was fractionally more modern, but was just as crisp and precise without being in any way derivative, and it immediately drew me in.
MacLeod seems to be virtually unknown here in the UK. I can only assume this is to do with the historic decisions of international publishing houses over whom they will publish in their various territories. With the advent of Amazon, such decisions are pointless…and yet they are still being made.
I only wish it had been Janet, wife of DI Madcoc Rhys of the Royal Canadian Mounties, who got to play the detective. He’s fun, but she’s more fun.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madoc Rhys and his wife, Jenny, are the main characters in this book. It starts out by Jenny looking an
antique chest and the directions she given, were not good. She ended up miles out in the country and there was a lot of snow. Jenny went up a steep hill and she saw a big truck coming down fast. The truck stopped and tipped over in the road. Jenny tried to help the truck driver, but she needed a ladder and she found a ladder in a barn and the truck blew up and the barns roof fell on Jenny. She got out of that and ran into the house and she heard men talking and they thought she was dead, so they planned on burning the house down, with Jenny in it. An accomplice stole her car and left her stranded. Luckily the Police found her car and Madoc was able to find her. This is a crazy book, but fun to read, with a bunch of Canadian Backwoodsmen crooks. Madoc investigates. I highly recommend this book.

[PR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun read from Charlotte MacLeod.

Complex case, convoluted in spots, fun to read in spite of that, great characters, light romance, all tied up in her proverbial bow at the end of the novel, as per usual.
Her run on sentences can't compare to mine...hahaha. Anyhoo...another fun, funny, challenging read from this autgoe.
I mourn her. So sad there are only a few of these and that her other series ended seemingly abruptly...though she wrote them for years band years...when reading them all at once, or one at a time in order one after the other...Like streaming a T.V. series...it seems as if there should always be another book!...only two left in this series. Soooo sad.
I love her sense of humor, the laugh out loud demerits and film's antics... The comic relief.
Always makes for a fast and satisfying read.
Highly recommend all her books...always.
Happy reading...though be prepared to miss her more and more!

[Teri-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

For some reason I didn't think this was one of the better books in the series. Perhaps because, though Madoc and Janet are together for most of this, they hardly interact at all. In fact, once Janet's part is done she pretty much drops out of the picture. The charm of this story relies on convoluted plot and silly characters. Except they're not silly or really charming, either. Despite names like Badger, Eyeball Grouse and Wolfman Wombat, and not forgetting exploding port-a-potties and secret handshakes, this story just felt flat. As much as I want to like these books, her Peter Shandy and Sara Kelling books are much better. (At least the earlier books in each series are. Eventually they, too, drop off.)

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Survey reward | Rambles at the end | There's about 15 pages at the end that are just explaining things that had already been basically explained in the course of the narrative, which was boring as hell. Most frustrating to me, though, was people died because Mr X knew his family was involved and chose not to say anything, but the book ends with him still considered one of the good guys, being promised that the RCMP will help cover up the negligence of his military base that allowed many illegal and dangerous activities. If he'd been honest instead of hiding things out of family loyalty to people he didn't like, trust, or even know very well, a couple of men wouldn't have been shot.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of her better books, the plot device was so contrived it practically squeaked and the set up was impossibly convoluted, not to mention eyebrow raising. I'm not familiar with Canada but it seemed a lot of mayhem over moonshining.

The book read more like a 30's book in places and the way the women were written was horribly dated even by Ms Christie and Ms Sayers standards, not withstanding the book was actually written in the 1980s. Janet started strong and then wussed out to become a background dishrag for the remaining 130 pages.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. However, I was disappointed because the blurb about the book from my library suggested that Janet would play a large role in this story, as she did more so in book #1 of the series. However, aside from the first scene of the book, Janet's entire role seemed to be to sit around at her brother's and sister-in-law's home, eating, sleeping and doing the mending. I mean seriously, that was the best Craig could do with this character?

I will read the next in the series to see how it goes... and hope that Janet becomes a full-fledged character again.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desperate for something to read I raided my mysteries shelf and realized I hadn't read this one in ages. I love Charlotte Macleod and like all her various series but I admit to a slight partiality for the two set in Canada. The Madoc Rhys series and the Grub and Stakers. This is the third in the Madoc Rhys ones and it's a wild ride. I think, if pressed, I'd choose The Wrong Rite as my favourite but this one comes a close second!

[Sandy Shin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third Maddoc Rhys book and a delightful read. A hilarious cast of rural Canadian characters and an intelligent Mounties. The solution is unique and satisfying. I'll find and read the other books.

The same author wrote the Peter Sandy series I enjoyed years ago and will reread soon.

[Maeghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have missed her..

Charlotte MacLeod, that is. I have read her Peter handy and Sarah
Kelling series decades ago. They are delightful. A good, solid, creative mystery wrapped up in a comfy, charming package.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 3 of the series. Delightful.

[DJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

great read- very funny too

[Cynthia Sacks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly Delightful

First time I have read this author, but it will not be the last. Beautifully scripted mystery with the most wonderful eccentric characters.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters, the story, the mystery and the fun. I love these books by Charlotte MacLeod. When I want some fun and high entertainment, her books are a sure bet.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book written in by a prolific writer. Fun characters. Just what a cozy mystery should be; after all, she helped define the sub-genre of cozy. Still fun at the re-read.

[Dogsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable series. Hoopla via dpl

[sg.00 macc · Rating 3 out of 5]

not enough Janet in this one ....

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 That was convoluted, but still funny. Janet should have been more in the story though.

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good aauthor. Good series.

[Mary Ruedisili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose it because of the setting in New Brunswick. It was a fun story.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Entertainment!

Plenty of action, mystery, humor & a little romance rolled into a winning plot! Find myself smiling often as I’m reading!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the Rhyses, got bogged down with all the characters

[Vontel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Downloaded this ebook for holiday reading, found it's the third in a series of 5 mysteries featuring RCMP officer Madoc Rhys, written under a pseudonym and published in 1988. Interesting, taking place in New Brunswick; not quite a cozy, have no idea what I will think when finished, or whether to request the others. I have read many of Charlotte MacLeod's mysteries and series under her own name.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madoc and Janet are married now. Janet goes off on an antique-hunting trip, gets lost, and finds her way blocked by a tipped-over high-top truck. When she goes to a nearby deserted barn to try to find a ladder to see if anyone is in the cab, the truck blows up in a mighty explosion, bringing a lot of the barn down on top of her. She finds her car gone, and goes into a woodshed to try to stay warm, where she hears some men in the house talking about her supposed death in the barn. The men have set fire to the remains of the truck and are in the process of setting fire to the house. She escapes by jumping through a window. In the meantime, Madoc has received word of his wife's abandoned car, and is trying to find her. He is hampered by a case brought by a local army man who is very hush-hush about what is missing, except that it was hijacked in transit and the drivers incapacitated. Naturally, the remains of the truck when he finds it indicate that the stolen mystery object had been in it. The two stories run somewhat side by side. Madoc also discovers a local group of incompetent would-be terrorists, the shooting death of a young snowmobiler, and a mysterious explosion at a local junkyard home. All these seemingly unrelated threads are just a bit confusing at first, but are eventually all drawn together.
April 2023 Rereading