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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 show more academics Peter and Helen Shandy, wake at 2:47 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. show lessTags
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I can’t express how sad I am to let go of Charlotte MacLeod’s final novel in the 10-book Peter Shandy series. I’ve adored — for the most part — this series featuring the reluctant sleuthing of a perceptive if crotchety agrology professor, the redoubtable co-creator of the Balaclava Buster, a truly formidable rutabaga that put both Dr. Shandy and Balaclava Agricultural College on the map.
MacLeod died in 2004, but she was infirm for many years before that, making this her last Shandy novel and 1998’s The Balloon Man her last novel of all. I’m in mourning! So I shall have to imagine the ensuing adventures of Peter and Helen Shandy, their eccentric friends, and especially the future exploits of the irrepressible college show more President Thorkjeld Svenson, striking fear in the hearts of Balaclava College undergraduates and most of the faculty, as well. In my imagination, Svenson will continue bellowing, and his wife Sieglinde will continue putting him back in his place. The world may have changed radically from the idyllic Balaclava Junction in western Massachusetts, but these novels give us something to which to aspire: a world where people get along and justice is served, despite the best efforts of the wealthy, well-connected and pompous.
For those interested in the mystery more than my nostalgic ramblings, Exit the Milkman begins with the kidnap of mild-mannered dairy professor Jim Feldster (the titular milkman). The plot contains enough twists and turns to make this a worthy final novel; however, I think most readers will feel bittersweet when they turn the final page. show less
MacLeod died in 2004, but she was infirm for many years before that, making this her last Shandy novel and 1998’s The Balloon Man her last novel of all. I’m in mourning! So I shall have to imagine the ensuing adventures of Peter and Helen Shandy, their eccentric friends, and especially the future exploits of the irrepressible college show more President Thorkjeld Svenson, striking fear in the hearts of Balaclava College undergraduates and most of the faculty, as well. In my imagination, Svenson will continue bellowing, and his wife Sieglinde will continue putting him back in his place. The world may have changed radically from the idyllic Balaclava Junction in western Massachusetts, but these novels give us something to which to aspire: a world where people get along and justice is served, despite the best efforts of the wealthy, well-connected and pompous.
For those interested in the mystery more than my nostalgic ramblings, Exit the Milkman begins with the kidnap of mild-mannered dairy professor Jim Feldster (the titular milkman). The plot contains enough twists and turns to make this a worthy final novel; however, I think most readers will feel bittersweet when they turn the final page. show less
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 show more and I'm in a frivolous mood. show less
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 show more 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. show less
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 show more 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. show less
In the previous Peter Shandy book, Something in the Water, Ms. MacLeod seems to have taken a step toward keeping her middle-aged characters hale and hearty. In this, the last volume, she tidies up a couple of loose ends in proper cozy mystery fashion. This review is being written after my fourth reading of the book since I bought it new. Ms. MacLeod's books tended to keep me so focused on the characters and their diverting dialogue during my first readings that I frequently overlooked clues. This time the characters were as enjoyable as ever, but I remembered whodunnit and picked up the clues.
Ever since book one, Rest You Merry, Mirelle Feldster has been the kind of character a cozy fan wouldn't mind seeing bumped off. Her husband, show more Professor Jim Feldster, can hardly be blamed for spending most nights at some lodge meeting or other. Now we finally find out why Jim ever married the self-centered gossipmonger: her good looks and to spite his mother. Why didn't he divorce her when he found out what Mirelle was like? That's explained, too.
Jim Feldster has never been a big member of the Shandy supporting cast. Turns out this bit player has been keeping a king-size secret for decades, a secret that mystery writer Catriona McBogle uncovers. Who tried to kill Jim? The secret certainly is a motive some might consider worth a murder. Can our heroes keep Jim alive until the would-be murderer is unmasked?
Until I started cataloging this series, I had no idea that Charlotte MacLeod had died in 2005 -- or why she'd stopped writing. Now that I know, I'm glad that she was able to close her two biggest series. This book has a climax right out of an old horror movie.
The author photo is credited to 'Bonnie Scott Connoly', but it's obviously the same photo as in the last book, just a bit different in the cropping, so I'm sticking with the 'Connolly' spelling.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with an outline of a suprised person uncovering some of the bricks of an ivy-covered building. There's a small pail of spilled cream on the ground, to the left. A gray tabby with a white patch on the neck and white paws is looking at the outline. Yes! We finally get to find out what color the Shandy's little tiger cat is. I'm so glad that Jane Austen made the cover.
For my fellow Shandy fans who like learning tidbits about the cast and share my difficulty in remembering in which book a tidbit appeared:
Ch.1: Jim Feldster has been teaching Fundamentals of Dairy Management for 37 years.
All the Shandys' neighbors, except for cat-hating Mirelle Feldstar, consider a visit from Jane an honor.
Jane has Jim trained to pause long enough for her to climb him and find out which lodge regalia is making him clank this time.
Mirelle likes to duck under the spruce trees between her house and the Shandys and look through her binoculars.
Ch.2: Balaclava Junction's only police car has died for good and Chief Fred Ottermole is making his rounds on his oldest son's bicycle.
Ms. MacLeod was nice to Edmund the cat and let him share some of the whipped cream from Fred's whoopie pie.
Ch.3: Edna Mae Ottermole embroidered little blue handcuffs on at least two of her husband's handkerchiefs.
Edmund sometimes rides with Fred.. The bike's basket contains a cushion with blue handcuffs embroidered on it.
Cat McBogle is desperate for a plot for a new book.
Helen has every book or pamphlet in the Shandy house shelved or filed. They also have a faculty picnic photo of slender Prof. Feldster and portly Prof. Stott together that Helen cherishes for the contrast.
Ch.4 Here is where Cat McBogle's thought processes are described, down to the stagnant water with a tadpole. Given that Peter jokingly claimed to have lunched on a moldy crust and sip of brackish water with tadpoles in chapter 9 of An Owl Too Many , I wonder if Ms. MacLeod had either been stuck with one or more tadpoles in stagnant water or knew someone who had.
This chapter also has the obituary for the CEO of International Dairies. I loved the way the nepotism there is described. Ditto the description of reference books and tidbits [of information] a few pages later.
The way International Dairies employees are treated would be nice if it were emulated by more big businesses.
McBogle's latest book is The Corpse in the Coalbin.
Why Guthrie Fingal has been boarding at Catriona's house is explained.
Ch.5: It's September and the Shandys' 10th anniversary will be the next April. Also, Peter gave Helen pearls for a wedding present.
At Balaclava College President Receptions, Coralee Melchett usually joins Mirelle Feldster and together they make nasty remarks about the other guests.
The Feldsters' closest neighbors are the Porbles to the north and the Shandys to the south.
Ch. 6: Here's where we'll find the list of what Guthrie Fingal thinks are essentials to keep in the trunk of one's car. The same page yields a description of the regalia for the Scarlet Runners.
Ch.7: The Feldsters' front parlor is described. A klutz such as yours truly wouldn't dare set foot in it.
Ch.8: Catronia and Guthrie are descended from Highland Scots. They both speak Canadian French as well as a private patois described here.
Peter has a tie rack that someone once gave to him at Christmas.
This is the chapter where Helen and Peter discuss Mirelle's possessions and her lack of children.
Ch.9: There's more about what Cat keeps in her car, not to mention the author's little remark about writers and fertile imaginations.
Emerson and Caryle often fight over a sweater in Cat's car.
Ch.13: Here we learn where the Balaclava Blacks workhorses rank in Thorkjeld Svenson's affections.
The college once had conjoined twins as students who now breed double blossoms and are doing very well at it.
Peter's celler has an old-fashioned jelly cupboard.
Ch.14: When Guthrie moved in he got Cat's second-best bedroom.
Cat lived in a Massachusetts suburb until her darling Ben died. Her house in Maine is one she used to bike pass when she was a child. Her Uncle Clewitt made up a ghost story about it and told it to her.
Mirelle Feldster had been a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen at some little college somewhere.
Ch. 16: Jim tells Peter about his childhood. His description of his mother makes it understandable why he would want to spite her in his choice of wife.
Ch.17: Peter has never seen a valet before, except in old Adophe Menjou movies.
Ch.19: Peter's grandparents sang old ballads. His mother played popular songs on the piano. One of the songs Peter sings that his mother wouldn't have is named.
Ch.22: Mrs. Melchett's father has seven dress shops. She helps out in them
Ch.24: There's a big continuity error in paragraph 14: Peter explains to Ms. Tripp that the Feldster's house is '...owned and leased but never sold by Balaclava Agricultural College to bona fide members of the faculty...' According to paragraph 17 of chapter 7 of Rest You Merry, 'Although these [the houses on the Crescent] were owned by the people who lived in them, the land they sat on belonged to the college and they couldn't be resold except to other faculty or staff.' ( I remembered that tidbit existed only because it hasn't been that long since I reread the first book and it still took me hours to find.)
Ch.25 has a description of the exterior of the Feldsters' house.
Peter's father used to read to him from Tales of a Wayside Inn. A lot of Whittier and Longfellow got quoted at their house.
Ch.26: Ellie June Freedom's inn doesn't allow cats.
Mrs. Mouzouka lives two miless off campus.
The Claverton newspaper is The Claverton Crier. show less
Ever since book one, Rest You Merry, Mirelle Feldster has been the kind of character a cozy fan wouldn't mind seeing bumped off. Her husband, show more Professor Jim Feldster, can hardly be blamed for spending most nights at some lodge meeting or other. Now we finally find out why Jim ever married the self-centered gossipmonger: her good looks and to spite his mother. Why didn't he divorce her when he found out what Mirelle was like? That's explained, too.
Jim Feldster has never been a big member of the Shandy supporting cast. Turns out this bit player has been keeping a king-size secret for decades, a secret that mystery writer Catriona McBogle uncovers. Who tried to kill Jim? The secret certainly is a motive some might consider worth a murder. Can our heroes keep Jim alive until the would-be murderer is unmasked?
Until I started cataloging this series, I had no idea that Charlotte MacLeod had died in 2005 -- or why she'd stopped writing. Now that I know, I'm glad that she was able to close her two biggest series. This book has a climax right out of an old horror movie.
The author photo is credited to 'Bonnie Scott Connoly', but it's obviously the same photo as in the last book, just a bit different in the cropping, so I'm sticking with the 'Connolly' spelling.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with an outline of a suprised person uncovering some of the bricks of an ivy-covered building. There's a small pail of spilled cream on the ground, to the left. A gray tabby with a white patch on the neck and white paws is looking at the outline. Yes! We finally get to find out what color the Shandy's little tiger cat is. I'm so glad that Jane Austen made the cover.
For my fellow Shandy fans who like learning tidbits about the cast and share my difficulty in remembering in which book a tidbit appeared:
Ch.1: Jim Feldster has been teaching Fundamentals of Dairy Management for 37 years.
All the Shandys' neighbors, except for cat-hating Mirelle Feldstar, consider a visit from Jane an honor.
Jane has Jim trained to pause long enough for her to climb him and find out which lodge regalia is making him clank this time.
Mirelle likes to duck under the spruce trees between her house and the Shandys and look through her binoculars.
Ch.2: Balaclava Junction's only police car has died for good and Chief Fred Ottermole is making his rounds on his oldest son's bicycle.
Ms. MacLeod was nice to Edmund the cat and let him share some of the whipped cream from Fred's whoopie pie.
Ch.3: Edna Mae Ottermole embroidered little blue handcuffs on at least two of her husband's handkerchiefs.
Edmund sometimes rides with Fred.. The bike's basket contains a cushion with blue handcuffs embroidered on it.
Cat McBogle is desperate for a plot for a new book.
Helen has every book or pamphlet in the Shandy house shelved or filed. They also have a faculty picnic photo of slender Prof. Feldster and portly Prof. Stott together that Helen cherishes for the contrast.
Ch.4 Here is where Cat McBogle's thought processes are described, down to the stagnant water with a tadpole. Given that Peter jokingly claimed to have lunched on a moldy crust and sip of brackish water with tadpoles in chapter 9 of An Owl Too Many , I wonder if Ms. MacLeod had either been stuck with one or more tadpoles in stagnant water or knew someone who had.
This chapter also has the obituary for the CEO of International Dairies. I loved the way the nepotism there is described. Ditto the description of reference books and tidbits [of information] a few pages later.
The way International Dairies employees are treated would be nice if it were emulated by more big businesses.
McBogle's latest book is The Corpse in the Coalbin.
Why Guthrie Fingal has been boarding at Catriona's house is explained.
Ch.5: It's September and the Shandys' 10th anniversary will be the next April. Also, Peter gave Helen pearls for a wedding present.
At Balaclava College President Receptions, Coralee Melchett usually joins Mirelle Feldster and together they make nasty remarks about the other guests.
The Feldsters' closest neighbors are the Porbles to the north and the Shandys to the south.
Ch. 6: Here's where we'll find the list of what Guthrie Fingal thinks are essentials to keep in the trunk of one's car. The same page yields a description of the regalia for the Scarlet Runners.
Ch.7: The Feldsters' front parlor is described. A klutz such as yours truly wouldn't dare set foot in it.
Ch.8: Catronia and Guthrie are descended from Highland Scots. They both speak Canadian French as well as a private patois described here.
Peter has a tie rack that someone once gave to him at Christmas.
This is the chapter where Helen and Peter discuss Mirelle's possessions and her lack of children.
Ch.9: There's more about what Cat keeps in her car, not to mention the author's little remark about writers and fertile imaginations.
Emerson and Caryle often fight over a sweater in Cat's car.
Ch.13: Here we learn where the Balaclava Blacks workhorses rank in Thorkjeld Svenson's affections.
The college once had conjoined twins as students who now breed double blossoms and are doing very well at it.
Peter's celler has an old-fashioned jelly cupboard.
Ch.14: When Guthrie moved in he got Cat's second-best bedroom.
Cat lived in a Massachusetts suburb until her darling Ben died. Her house in Maine is one she used to bike pass when she was a child. Her Uncle Clewitt made up a ghost story about it and told it to her.
Mirelle Feldster had been a cheerleader and Homecoming Queen at some little college somewhere.
Ch. 16: Jim tells Peter about his childhood. His description of his mother makes it understandable why he would want to spite her in his choice of wife.
Ch.17: Peter has never seen a valet before, except in old Adophe Menjou movies.
Ch.19: Peter's grandparents sang old ballads. His mother played popular songs on the piano. One of the songs Peter sings that his mother wouldn't have is named.
Ch.22: Mrs. Melchett's father has seven dress shops. She helps out in them
Ch.24: There's a big continuity error in paragraph 14: Peter explains to Ms. Tripp that the Feldster's house is '...owned and leased but never sold by Balaclava Agricultural College to bona fide members of the faculty...' According to paragraph 17 of chapter 7 of Rest You Merry, 'Although these [the houses on the Crescent] were owned by the people who lived in them, the land they sat on belonged to the college and they couldn't be resold except to other faculty or staff.' ( I remembered that tidbit existed only because it hasn't been that long since I reread the first book and it still took me hours to find.)
Ch.25 has a description of the exterior of the Feldsters' house.
Peter's father used to read to him from Tales of a Wayside Inn. A lot of Whittier and Longfellow got quoted at their house.
Ch.26: Ellie June Freedom's inn doesn't allow cats.
Mrs. Mouzouka lives two miless off campus.
The Claverton newspaper is The Claverton Crier. show less
Professor Peter shandy investigates the disappearance of his long-time neighbor and finds out that neighbor's great secret. Meanwhile, the neighbor's wife is murdered.
library book read 1/2/023.
library book read 1/2/023.
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Charlotte MacLeod was born in Bath, New Brunswick, Canada on November 12, 1922. She immigrated to the United States in 1923 and became a naturalized citizen in 1951. She attended the School of Practical Art, now the Art Institute of Boston. She was a staff artist and copywriter at Stop and Shop supermarkets from 1945 to 1952. She also worked at show more N.H. Miller & Co. advertising firm from 1952 to 1982 starting as a copy chief and ending up as a Vice President. She wrote two series under her own name, a Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mystery series and the Peter Shandy Mystery series. She also wrote two series under the pseudonym Alisa Craig, the Madoc and Janet Rhys Mystery series and the Grub-and-Stakers series. She also wrote Had She But Known: A Biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart and a dozen juvenile books. She won five American Mystery awards and a Nero Wolfe award. She edited the anthologies Mistletoe Mysteries and Christmas Stalkings. She is the co-founder and past president of the American Crime Writers League. She died on January 14, 2005 at the age of 82. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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DuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1090)
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- Canonical title
- Exit the Milkman
- Original title
- Exit the Milkman
- Original publication date
- 1996
- People/Characters
- Peter Shandy; Jim Feldster; Mirelle Feldster; Helen Marsh Shandy; Catriona McBogle; Budge Dorkin (show all 37); Thorkjeld Svenson; Sieglinde Svenson; Dr. Phil Porble; John Enderble; Mary Enderble; Winifred Binks-Debenham; Coralee Melchett; Elver Butz; Daniel Augustus Stott; Fred Ottermole; Edna Mae Bugleford Ottermole; Belinda Beaker; Harry Goulson; Dr. Howland Melchett; Grace Buggins Porble; Knapweed Calthrop; Florian; Silvester Lomax; Clarence Lomax; Guthrie Fingal; Hubert; Mrs. Forster; Mrs. Franklin; Mrs. George; Mrs. Francis; Perlinda Tripp; Alonzo Bulfinch; Cronkite Swope; Purvis Mink; Mrs. Blanche Mouzouka; Iduna Bjorklund Stott
- Important places
- Balaclava Agricultural College, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Beamish, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA; Sasquamahoc, Maine, USA (fictional); Berkshires, Massachusetts, USA; Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, USA (show all 8); Wash Pond, Balaclava Agricultural College, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Oozak's Pond/Skunk Works Reservoir, Balaclava Agricultural College, Massachusetts, USA (fictional)
- Dedication
- For Sara Ann Freed
and the Wonder Workers - First words
- "Hi, Pete."
- Quotations
- [Mirelle Feldster's feelings about the Shandys] The woman's chief problem seemed to be that she could find so little about the Shandys to revile, though she was always ready to do what she could with what she could find. Late... (show all)ly she'd taken it as a personal affront that Helen Marsh Shandy was getting so much cheap notoriety out of a stupid book she'd written about the Buggins family who, Helen claimed, had founded not only the college but all Balaclava County. (As, in fact, they had, but that didn't cut any ice with Mirelle.) Not to mention the pack of lies she'd dreamed up about an old souse called Praxiteles Lumpkin and his so-called weather vanes. Worse of all was the brazen way Helen Marsh had managed to snare herself a husband practically the same day she'd set foot on campus. And look what she'd got for her trouble. Everybody knew Peter Shandy was crazy as a coot, and always had been.
And thus it went.
[Catriona's mind] Her customary procedure was simply to accept any bits and pieces of potentially interesting flotsam from that boundless sea of the universal subconsciousness into which a writer of mystery fiction might dip ... (show all)her ever ready bucket, and draw it out either brimming with whatever she might need to work her personal alchemy or else yielding her nothing more than half a cup or so of stagnant water and one disgruntled tadpole.
Jane was the first one up in the Shandy household. She had her little ways of making her humans aware that highly educated cats required to be compensated for their wake-up services with pats and gentle cooings. Cooings were ... (show all)not enough, however, when the inner cat announced to the outer cat that what was needed here was a tastefully served bowl of the cat food du jour, with a small saucer of low-fat milk for a chaser; both to be set on her special tray in a spot where well-meaning but bumblefooted humans were not likely to trip over it.
Usually Jane claimed and got some little extra such as a dab of scrambled egg or a lick of the cottage cheese that Helen and Peter liked on their morning toast. Jane had to ask for it more than once this morning; her humans were not up to their accustomed form. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Exit the milkman, on with the mulch.
- Original language*
- Amerikanisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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