Pamela Murray Winters contributed this review which originally ran in Roots & Branches.
At Winter Solstice, a number of morris dancers are meeting unexpected deaths. No, it’s not an Anglophobe’s wet dream; it’s The Shortest Day: Murder at the Revels. Jane Langton has brought back her familiar cast of New Englanders, headed by modern-day transcendentalist and ex-lawman Homer Kelly and his perceptive wife, Mary.
Without revealing too much of the plot, it’s worth noting that this is one of those books in which the murderer’s identity is fairly obvious from early on; the mystery surrounds how the culprit will be caught and how much more havoc will be wreaked before the capture. This structure may provoke a ho-hum response in those who read mysteries for intricate plots.
But for folks like myself, who don’t necessarily care whodunit and read more for atmosphere, The Shortest Day is a winner. The book is peppered with quotes from carols, mummers’ plays, and other seasonal delights. (If you’re a purist who wants to quibble with solstice-time performances of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, you might also find some of the details distracting.) Other motifs in the book include homelessness and astronomy, both appropriate subjects for the season when a star helped people who found no room at the inn.
One thing that often bothers me about Langton’s books is the illustrations. Langton’s whimsical line drawings of dancers and stately Harvard halls are at odds with the insanities and autopsies of the plot, distracting in a sub-Gorey way. Then again, to enjoy mysteries means one must ignore, or cope with, the idea of death as entertainment — the same theme found in the St. George play, come to think of it.
(Penguin, 1995)
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