Charlotte MacLeod : Queen of the Cozies

A recent question on a Facebook page dedicated to cozy mysteries led to the surprising realization that newer readers have never heard of Charlotte MacLeod. It also led to the surprising realization that I am older than I like to remember.

If you need proof of her cozy cred, consider that Charlotte MacLeod was a co-founder and president of the American Crime Writers League, won the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon in 1992, and the 1998 Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement, the fifth award given. She joined Phyllis A. Whitney, Mignon G. Eberhart, Mary Stewart, and Emma Lathen. She began writing in 1964 and completed four series, two collections of short stories, and fourteen stand-alone works, including Had She But Known: A Biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart, by 1993. She also edited two anthologies of cozy holiday-themed short stories, Christmas Stalkings (nominated for an Anthony in 1992) and Mistletoe Mysteries. Sadly, her final years were marred by Alzheimer’s Disease. She died in 2005.

I was introduced to her Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn series (1980-1998) in 1987. I have to be honest — they are not my favorite of her works, but that’s a personal thing. They are well-written and engaging and were well-received. The novels are set in Boston, among the “old money” Brahmins. Sarah has lost her money and turns her family home into a boarding house, filled with unconventional and idiosyncratic characters. She meets Max Bittersohn, an art investigator, and romance ensues. There are twelve volumes in the series, most featuring various members of Sarah’s extended and highly eccentric family, as well as some of her boarders. “The Plain Old Man,” sixth in this series, was a 1986 finalist for the Anthony Award and the reason that they came to my notice. Vane Pursuit was a finalist for the CWQ Last Laugh Dagger Award in 1989 and An Owl Too Many for an Agatha Award in 1992.

I moved from there to her ten volume Peter and Helen Marsh Shandy series (1979-1996), set at the fictional Balaclava Agricultural College somewhere in western Massachusetts. These are true cozies in every sense of the word. They are set in a small town, with a continuing cast of quirky characters. The victims are truly unpleasant people, as are the villains. The books are also a gentle satire of college life in general, and small agricultural colleges in particular, as well as rural New England culture. Helen Marsh is introduced when she arrives as the assistant librarian in special collections, but is far from the stereotype, which is another attraction for me. And she has a cat named Jane Austen. She and Peter are, of course, the primary detectives in the series. The Corpse in Oozak’s Pond won the Nero in 1987 and was nominated for an Edgar the same year.

Macleod wrote even cozier mysteries as Alisa Craig, which included five books in the Madoc and Janet Wadman Rhys Royal Canadian Mounted Police series (1980-92) and five in the Lobelia Falls Grub-and-Stakers Gardening & Roving Club series (1981-93). I’ll be honest — I’ve never read any of them, but they come highly recommended for those who enjoy true small town cozies.