Exit the Milkman

By Charlotte MacLeod

When the dullest man in town goes missing, and Professor Peter Shandy must figure out where to look.

Although he towers over his neighbors, Jim Feldster is otherwise unremarkable, except for his mastery of cow milking and his membership in every lodge, rotary club, and brotherhood that Balaclava County has to offer. And anyone who's met his wife, Mirelle, a vicious gossip with a hysterical streak, can understand why he never misses a meeting. But one night their neighbors, the sleuthing academics Peter and Helen Shandy, wake at 2:47 a.m. to the sound of Mirelle screaming. Jim hasn't come home, and she will lose her mind if he isn't found quickly.

None of Jim's lodge brothers know where to find him, and Peter's investigation turns up few clues. But when a mystery author comes to town and Mirelle is found murdered, Peter begins to wonder if the master milker is less wholesome than he appears.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Head of Zeus
• Release date: Jun 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781784087081

Charlotte MacLeod

Charlotte MacLeod (1922–2005) was an international bestselling author of cozy mysteries. Born in Canada, she moved to Boston as a child and lived in New England most of her life. After graduating from college, she made a career in advertising, writing copy for the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company before moving on to Boston firm N. H. Miller & Co., where she rose to the rank of vice president. In her spare time, MacLeod wrote short stories, and in 1964 published her first novel, a children’s book called Mystery of the White Knight. In Rest You Merry (1978), MacLeod introduced Professor Peter Shandy, a horticulturist and amateur sleuth whose adventures she would chronicle for two decades. The Family Vault (1979) marked the first appearance of her other best-known characters: the husband and wife sleuthing team Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn, whom she followed until her last novel, The Balloon Man, in 1998.

Reviews for Exit the Milkman

[bookwoman247 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Jim Feldtster, the head of the dairy dept. at a small, New England, agricultural college disappears under mysterious circumstances, his unpleasant wife rouses her neighbor, Professor Peter Shandy, in the middle of the night. Shandy dismisses her pleas for help as attention-seekkng hystrionics.When Feldster still hasn't turned up to teach his classes the next day, Shandy has second thoughts, and regrets being so dismissive the night before.After Peter and Helen Shandy's friend, Catriona McBogle, gets lost on a rarely-used backroad and finds Feldster strapped into a wrecked car and apparently suffering from amnesia, the mystery only deepens.The mystery becomes even more profound when Feldster's unpleasant wife is found dead in their immaculate house.This was an entertaining read. Among the cozies I've read, I'd probably rate it somewhere in the middle - not the worst by any means, but certanly not the best.

[cbl_tn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was my first Charlotte MacLeod novel, and I started at the end of her Peter Shandy series. Based on the writing style, it probably doesn't matter in what order one reads the books in this series. The characters are essentially caricatures and, as such, are probably much the same from book to book. The story is heavy on witty banter and light on narrative description and anything resembling a clue. I think it's probably an acquired taste. I prefer mysteries with clues and suspects, and I enjoy the challenge of trying to solve the puzzle before the big revelation. Apparently this isn't MacLeod's style, at least not in this series. I won't be going out of my way to find more books in this series, but I might pick one up if it's handy and I'm in a frivolous mood.