Good and Dead by Jane Langton

Image is from Jane Langton website
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I just finished reading an early book of Jane Langton's. It is loosely defined as a mystery and Homer Kelley as the sleuth. Good and Dead, about a group of people that all attend the same church.

It's less of a mystery than a study of human nature. Her characters are fascinating with humorous names. They do strange things. They're funny. Funny Ha-Ha, and Funny Strange. The narratives are funny.

And then, Jane's descriptions are rich and poetic. A new way of looking at things. Great metaphors and unique way of looking at things. Her stories are inventive and different. Entertaining and delightful.

It's refreshing to read a book with out a lot of creepy details about death and murder. (A few of the characters in this book die of natural causes.) It's not depressing or gory.

It's fun to read Jane's novels in the order they were written. I read one of the early ones recently (Transcendental Murders) in which Homer meets his wife Mary for the first time. I read the ones where they are a retired couple first, so it was a delight to see how they got together. Homer is a literary scholar and so is Mary. Homer is retired from the District Attorney's office as a law enforcement officer. The theme of the series revolves around people who love and study the New England poets and old American authors.

It's good to read a book from earlier years that doesn't have a lot of technology involved. The library had card files instead of computers to find a book (if you recall what they were.)

None of the characters is calling anyone from a cell phone. In fact, if cell phones had been invented, one of the guys wouldn't have gotten stuck in a snow storm.

So. Get yourself a Jane Langton novel. Enjoy yourself.