Dec 23: Rest You Merry - SPOILER Thread - by Charlotte MacLeod (1978)

[Susan]

Welcome to the last book in our 2023 reading challenge: Rest You Merry The first book in the Professor Peter Shandy series, this was published in 1978.

On Christmas Day, a University scrooge finds a murdered librarian.

Each December, the faculty of Balaclava Agricultural College goes wild with Christmas lights. The entire campus glitters with holiday decorations, save for one dark spot: the home of professor Peter Shandy. But after years of resisting the Illumination festival, Shandy snaps, installing a million-watt display of flashing lights and blaring music perfectly calculated to drive his neighbors mad. The horticulturalist flees town, planning to spend Christmas on a tramp steamer, but soon feels guilty about his prank and returns home to find his Christmas lights extinguished, and a dead librarian in his living room.

Wishing to avoid a scandal, the school's head asks Shandy to investigate the matter quietly. After all, Christmas is big business, and the town needs the cash infusion provided by the Illumination. As Peter Shandy will soon find, though, there is a dark side to even the whitest of white Christmases.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

[Susan in NC]

I loved the setting, humor, and the atmosphere. And I appreciated that at the center of all the criminal activity were rare and precious books!

[Sandy]

Susan in NC wrote: "I loved the setting, humor, and the atmosphere. And I appreciated that at the center of all the criminal activity were rare and precious books!"

I agree completely, but it took me six years before I read the next in the series and I haven't yet read the third though it is on my TBR list. So, while enjoyable, it is not a series I follow avidly.

[Susan]

I found the writing style annoying. Peter seemed to um and er all the time and go from being some rather dry academic to being chased by all the female faculty. I didn't feel it had aged well to be honest.

[Susan in NC]

Good point, the ‘ums and ers’ are annoying, I listen to the audiobook, so it sounds more natural than it reads, if that makes sense! I think for me it’s just a sentimental cozy series, like Amelia Peabody - the humor and less bloody mysteries struck me as just the ticket when I first read them - often at a stressful time in my life. Now, they are comfort reads!

[Judy]

Susan and Susan, I listened to the audiobook this time around, after discovering that even though UK Audible doesn't have it, Spotify does, and I didn't notice any ums and ers -as you say, Susan in NC, that must be a bonus of listening rather than reading it! I thought the reader, John McLain, was great - very clear, and he does good voices for the different characters.

Sorry you didn't enjoy it much, Susan the mod - I do agree that it was quite dated, with all the women swooning over Peter etc, but I still really enjoyed the humour and the campus atmosphere. I will have to try more in the series - I did read the second one but remember not liking that so much. I am currently trying out Kobo Plus and there are lots of this series on there.

[Sandy]

I listened with the print version at my side and the narrator paused when there was an 'er' but did not say 'er' so it sounded very natural.

[Neer]

Okay finished it and enjoyed it tremendously so thanks for choosing this book as I was not aware of the book or its author. Though I couldn't guess the culprits, the cape thing and the first murder being related to the collection were pretty obvious. Did you guess who the murderers were? I liked almost all the characters but my favourites were Tim, and the Imposing President and his even more imposing wife whose Scandinavian names I absolutely loved. Who were your favourites?

[Neer]

Susan wrote: "I found the writing style annoying. Peter seemed to um and er all the time and go from being some rather dry academic to being chased by all the female faculty. I didn't feel it had aged well to be..."

Yes Peter suddenly being chased by all the females was a little too much and could have been avoided.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Susan and Susan, I listened to the audiobook this time around, after discovering that even though UK Audible doesn't have it, Spotify does, and I didn't notice any ums and ers -as you say, Susan in..."

Thanks for the heads up on Kobo Plus - I currently have Everand (formerly Scribd), and was prepared to chuck it in the new year because they played about with limiting books or pulling them without warning, but with the new branding I’ve received notice well in advance of any book I’ve saved that will disappear. So, that’s appreciated, but I still wonder about trying anew service for a bit, after this subscription ends. What do members think of Kindle Unlimited? I read a lot of older (1920s-1980s) fiction and mysteries, I’d like a service to have a decent selection, not just new stuff they push at you.

As for the rest of this series, Judy, I enjoyed it but as I recall, this first was the funniest- the next few books took place on campus or in the surrounding rural community, and then Macleod went further afield with the cast of regulars - not sure if she didn’t know what to do with them, or got caught up in her other series based in Boston (Sarah Kelling is the amateur sleuth, first book is The Family Vault) also quite funny.

Anyway, the author kind of jumped the shark for me in this series with The Curse of the Giant Hogweed - very whimsical and rather silly, I felt. (view spoiler)[As I recall, it involved a trip to Wales and time travel! (hide spoiler)] Only read it once, that was enough; when I later read she died from dementia, I honestly wondered if this was an early manifestation…

[Judy]

Susan in NC wrote: "Thanks for the heads up on Kobo Plus - I currently have Everand (formerly Scribd), and was prepared to chuck it in the new year because they played about with limiting books or pulling them without warning, ..."

Susan, I'm not really sure what I think of Kobo Plus overall yet - I decided to take out a 30-day free trial after noticing that they had a book I'm reading with another group which would otherwise have cost me £8. I then found a couple of other group reads in their selection. Their selection seems to be different from Kindle Unlimited but it is can be a bit difficult to find what they have got available. Anyway I'm enjoying it so far.

Thanks for the info about Macleod - I might try her other series too. I believe lots of her books are on Kindle Unlimited as well.

[Susan in NC]

Judy wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Thanks for the heads up on Kobo Plus - I currently have Everand (formerly Scribd), and was prepared to chuck it in the new year because they played about with limiting books or ..."

Thanks, Judy, I was already to chuck Scribd, but I may rethink it now that they’ve revamped the service- I got an email saying they were splitting e- and audiobooks off into “Everand” while other products remain as Scribd. I was afraid it would change drastically, but so far, so good, no complaints. I’ve kept it all these years because they seemed to carry a lot of the older books I read in my groups here, which weren’t always available on Kindle Unlimited.

[Abigail]

Finished it last night and enjoyed it about as much as I did back in the 1980s when I first read it (the only difference being that I already knew what the setting was, so I wasn’t as bowled over by the novelty). Thanks so much for giving me the push to reread!

These days I read with an eye to how well an author executes their strategy for a book, and I thought “MacLeod” executed her strategy brilliantly. Reviewed here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Frances]

Susan wrote: "I found the writing style annoying. Peter seemed to um and er all the time and go from being some rather dry academic to being chased by all the female faculty. I didn't feel it had aged well to be..."

I agree with Susan on this one-while the mystery itself was engaging and I enjoyed some parts of it, the humour fell flat for me, and the bitchy, over-sexed flirtatious wives (and girlfriend), in contrast with the clever and ladylike Helen, (not to mention the stereotypical Scandinavian giants), just grated after a while. I don't think I would read more, particularly if, as the other Susan suggests, this is the best of the lot.

[Judy]

Frances, I did find the bitchy wives grated a bit, as you say, but still enjoyed the humour overall. The narrator reading it on Audible was great so that added to my enjoyment.

[Vanessa]

I really liked this. I'm a sucker for a seasonal mystery, and I like when a cozy has a big cast of eccentric characters. I thought this book was mostly funny, but I do hope the running joke of all women being attracted to the main character is done after this book.

Neer wrote: "Okay finished it and enjoyed it tremendously so thanks for choosing this book as I was not aware of the book or its author. Though I couldn't guess the culprits, the cape thing and the first murder..."

I also really liked Tim. I was disappointed when he was sent to California. Hopefully, he shows up in more books in the series.

I did guess the culprits, but I wasn't disappointed by it.

[Ellen]

I just finished it. As a former librarian who's not very fond of Christmas or academia, this book appealed to me on a lot of levels, plus I enjoyed the humor. I did guess half of whodunnit pretty early on. She was the one unlikeable character not under suspicion so I figured it had to be her.

I will say that I never believed a guy like Shandy would spend so much time and attention counting things. And then for Helen to do it, too... I get that the author was trying to show them as soulmates but I thought she could have come up with something better, something less OCD.

[Pamela]

I enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere and the silly humour, it made a nice change from some of the gloomy books I’ve been reading recently.

I liked Tim and wished he’d stayed around, I guessed one of the culprits but wasn’t sure of the other and I liked the academic setting with its cliques and petty gossip. It did feel a bit dated but that didn’t stop me enjoying it, it was the right book for my current mood I think.