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While tracking down rare weather vanes, Helen Shandy stumbles on a case of arson The weather vanes of the famous craftsman Praxiteles Lumpkin are one of the great cultural treasures of rural Massachusetts. Helen Shandy, librarian at Balaclava Agricultural College, is roaming the countryside, camera in hand, capturing images of these lovely copper sculptures, trying to give them the attention they deserve. But each time she takes a picture, the featured vane vanishes. Could there be a gang of show more breezy-minded burglars on her tail? The night after Helen photographs the vane atop the famous Lumpkin soap works, the building burns to the ground. With the help of her husband, Peter, she tries to track the thieves-turned-arsonists. But when the things take a dangerous turn, Helen doesn't need a weather vane to see that a deadly wind is blowing. show lessTags
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Librarian Helen Shandy, rather than her husband Peter, proves the hero of Vane Pursuit, the seventh entry in this irresistible series. Helen and her beautiful, zaftig friend, Iduna Stott, head off to Maine to photograph one of the few remaining weather vanes crafted by a long-dead primitive folk artist from Balaclava County, Massachusetts. While Helen and Iduna are investigating in Maine, Peter and “demon reporter” Cronkite Swope work the case back home. With its clever plot, picturesque characters, and shocking denouement, Vane Pursuit will satisfy any cozy lover. And those new to the series can start with No. 7 without missing a beat.
Ms. MacLeod was known for her screwball mysteries and Vane Pursuit is definitely screwy. This is also the book that introduces mystery writer Catriona McBogle. I don't know if it's true that Catriona was based upon the author, but it is an amusing idea.
Helen Marsh Shandy, curator for the Buggins Collection of the Balaclava Agricultural College library, is photographing the unique weather vanes of Praxiteles Lumpkin, great-nephew of the Fortitude Lumpkin who married Balaclava Buggins' older sister, Druella. As our story starts, she's taking a snapshot of the Lumpkin Soap Works weather vane. Enter Wilber J. Olson, Lumpkinton Chief of Police. Unlike Balaclava Junction's police chief, Olson has not improved since his first appearance. He's show more still a big jerk.
The soap works is mysteriously burned to the ground the same day that Helen photographed the vane. It's not the only Praxiteles Lumpkin vane-bearing building to burn down with no trace of the weather vane afterward. There's a market for those vanes -- is someone stealing them?
Helen and her old friend, Iduna Stott, drive up to Maine to visit another old friend, Catriona. If McBogle is an alter-ego of MacLeod, she certainly wasn't taking herself too seriously. Reporter Cronkite Swopes hears her name and asks if she isn't the woman who writes all those goofy books. (Mystery lovers who love cats will probably be pleased to know that McBogle is kept by two Maine Coon kitties.)
Both Shandys face danger in different locales. Helen, Iduna, and Catriona's peril comes by sea. Peter Shandy and Cronkite Swope's peril comes by land -- Woeful Ridge, to be precise. While running for their lives Peter and Cronkite meet Winifred Binks, destined to be yet another eccentric member of the supporting cast.
Sure, there are plenty of coincidences, such as Helen just happening to have read about something that provides a big clue, but who cares? This series is for people looking for some fun, especially people who love the skillful use of words.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with weather vane of an old-fashioned stereotypical robber carrying a blackjack in his right hand and a bag for the swag in his left. There's a whale leaping out of the water, near a boat, in the water in the background. There are buildings, trees, and a lighthouse in the background, too. They all look small. The foreground has trees. The vane is on top of what appears to be a cupola.
My copy is a book club edition (it says so at the bottom of the front dustjacket flap). If your copy's dustjacket is missing and you're wondering if it's a BCE or not, here are the dimensions of my copy: 8 & 7/16ths inches high by 5 & 9/16ths wide by 5/8ths of an inch thick.
For my fellow Shandy fans who like character facts and who, as also do I, have trouble remembering in which book they appeared:
Ch.1: Peter has a cousin named Gordy. Back when Peter was a kid, a pan of grease caught fire at the family farm and Gordy tried to put it out with water. Peter's grandmother had to use up her pickling salt putting the fire out.
Ch.3: Way back on the front dustjacket flap of book four, Something the Cat Dragged In, the Shandys' housekeeper was referred to as 'Martha Lomax'. That was a puzzler because Mrs. Lomax's name is Betsy. Here Induna refers to her as 'Martha Betsy Lomax'. Heh - shades of why the Incredible Hulk's real name is Robert Bruce Banner.
Cat McBogle reads two books a day. She stocks up when she goes to a bookstore and orders books by mail.
Ch.4: Cat's hair is still red because she dyes it.
Catriona's sweatshirt bearing a big paw pint and the words "footprints of a gigantic hound," may not be just a reference to the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery. There was a mystery bookstore by that name in Tucson, though now it's called Clues Unlimited. My mother took me to a Charlotte MacLeod signing there back in the 1990s.
Iduna and Daniel Stott performed an exhibition tango at the alumni ball the month before.
Ch.7:
Peter and Cronkite were either very lucky or the dogs used by the guys chasing them weren't bloodhounds. As I learned from watching "Mythbusters," none of the tricks our heroes and Miss Binks used would throw a bloodhound off the scent.
This is the chapter that contains the description of Miss Bink's unusual home.
Remember the case of the man found dead in a refrigerator that was shot full of holes and his death was declared a suicide that was mentioned in an earlier book? Ch.7 is where we find out who it was and why it was hushed up.
Ch.9: It's Edna's Diner in Squamasas that serves fried clam tacos.
One of Catriona's Maine coon cats is orange with russett markings and the other is black, gray, and white striped. The description doesn't give the cats' names, let alone which one is Carlyle and which is Emerson, but we learn which is Carlyle in chapter 18.
Ch. 10: One of Iduna's boarders in South Dakota was a sweet, deaf old man named Mr. Bjornstern. He's the reason Iduna can read lips.
Iduna used to be a soloist in her church choir in S.D. She's a mezzo-soprano.
Ch. 11 is where Eustace Tilkey tells about saxaphone-playing cousin Tramwell, his vaudville-mad Aunt Penelope, and what his Uncle Brockley did to her dream.
Ch. 12: Miss Bink's tandem bicycle is named Daisy Belle.
The Porbles' daughter and the Goulsons' son are engaged.
Tim Ames' daughter, Jemmy, and her husband, Dave Marsh, have another baby.
Ch. 13: Miss Binks' idea of light summer reading is The Brothers Karamazov or books by Henry James.
Ch.15: Officer-in-Charge Ensign Blaise of chapter 14 has suddenly been promoted to lieutenant in the third paragraph, but he's back to being an ensign by the ninth paragraph.
This is also the chapter where Helen remembers the story of a 19th century woman whose husband somehow managed to divorce himself from her although she was not divorced from him.
Ch. 16: Helen explains that Cat McBogle was born somewhere around Sasquamahoc. Cat claims it was in a smelt shack during the February freeze, but Helen suspects that part.
Cat's fields have black-eye Susans, white ox-eye daisies, and blue-purple cow vetch growing on them.
Ch. 17: The president's house at Guthrie's college is a two-story frame house painted a peculiar shade of yellow. Peter estimates it was built in the 1920s.
Ch. 18: Guthrie has a Lincolnesque jaw.
It was the orange/marmalade coon cat that Peter found on his chest when he woke up. Cat says he's Thomas Carlyle.
Ch. 19: Jane Austen is described as not a cat to hold a grudge beyond reasonable limits.
According to Cronkite Swope [when talking about the National Guard], the commandant of the Clavaton Armory is cousin to Mrs. Olson.
Ch. 22: District Attorney Wetzel's daughter, Abigail, is 8 years old and goes to day camp. It was her birthday cake that Iduna decorated with a sunbonnet baby with yellow ruffles and a bunch of daffodils. show less
Helen Marsh Shandy, curator for the Buggins Collection of the Balaclava Agricultural College library, is photographing the unique weather vanes of Praxiteles Lumpkin, great-nephew of the Fortitude Lumpkin who married Balaclava Buggins' older sister, Druella. As our story starts, she's taking a snapshot of the Lumpkin Soap Works weather vane. Enter Wilber J. Olson, Lumpkinton Chief of Police. Unlike Balaclava Junction's police chief, Olson has not improved since his first appearance. He's show more still a big jerk.
The soap works is mysteriously burned to the ground the same day that Helen photographed the vane. It's not the only Praxiteles Lumpkin vane-bearing building to burn down with no trace of the weather vane afterward. There's a market for those vanes -- is someone stealing them?
Helen and her old friend, Iduna Stott, drive up to Maine to visit another old friend, Catriona. If McBogle is an alter-ego of MacLeod, she certainly wasn't taking herself too seriously. Reporter Cronkite Swopes hears her name and asks if she isn't the woman who writes all those goofy books. (Mystery lovers who love cats will probably be pleased to know that McBogle is kept by two Maine Coon kitties.)
Both Shandys face danger in different locales. Helen, Iduna, and Catriona's peril comes by sea. Peter Shandy and Cronkite Swope's peril comes by land -- Woeful Ridge, to be precise. While running for their lives Peter and Cronkite meet Winifred Binks, destined to be yet another eccentric member of the supporting cast.
Sure, there are plenty of coincidences, such as Helen just happening to have read about something that provides a big clue, but who cares? This series is for people looking for some fun, especially people who love the skillful use of words.
Mark Hess is the artist for the cover with weather vane of an old-fashioned stereotypical robber carrying a blackjack in his right hand and a bag for the swag in his left. There's a whale leaping out of the water, near a boat, in the water in the background. There are buildings, trees, and a lighthouse in the background, too. They all look small. The foreground has trees. The vane is on top of what appears to be a cupola.
My copy is a book club edition (it says so at the bottom of the front dustjacket flap). If your copy's dustjacket is missing and you're wondering if it's a BCE or not, here are the dimensions of my copy: 8 & 7/16ths inches high by 5 & 9/16ths wide by 5/8ths of an inch thick.
For my fellow Shandy fans who like character facts and who, as also do I, have trouble remembering in which book they appeared:
Ch.1: Peter has a cousin named Gordy. Back when Peter was a kid, a pan of grease caught fire at the family farm and Gordy tried to put it out with water. Peter's grandmother had to use up her pickling salt putting the fire out.
Ch.3: Way back on the front dustjacket flap of book four, Something the Cat Dragged In, the Shandys' housekeeper was referred to as 'Martha Lomax'. That was a puzzler because Mrs. Lomax's name is Betsy. Here Induna refers to her as 'Martha Betsy Lomax'. Heh - shades of why the Incredible Hulk's real name is Robert Bruce Banner.
Cat McBogle reads two books a day. She stocks up when she goes to a bookstore and orders books by mail.
Ch.4: Cat's hair is still red because she dyes it.
Catriona's sweatshirt bearing a big paw pint and the words "footprints of a gigantic hound," may not be just a reference to the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery. There was a mystery bookstore by that name in Tucson, though now it's called Clues Unlimited. My mother took me to a Charlotte MacLeod signing there back in the 1990s.
Iduna and Daniel Stott performed an exhibition tango at the alumni ball the month before.
Ch.7:
Peter and Cronkite were either very lucky or the dogs used by the guys chasing them weren't bloodhounds. As I learned from watching "Mythbusters," none of the tricks our heroes and Miss Binks used would throw a bloodhound off the scent.
This is the chapter that contains the description of Miss Bink's unusual home.
Remember the case of the man found dead in a refrigerator that was shot full of holes and his death was declared a suicide that was mentioned in an earlier book? Ch.7 is where we find out who it was and why it was hushed up.
Ch.9: It's Edna's Diner in Squamasas that serves fried clam tacos.
One of Catriona's Maine coon cats is orange with russett markings and the other is black, gray, and white striped. The description doesn't give the cats' names, let alone which one is Carlyle and which is Emerson, but we learn which is Carlyle in chapter 18.
Ch. 10: One of Iduna's boarders in South Dakota was a sweet, deaf old man named Mr. Bjornstern. He's the reason Iduna can read lips.
Iduna used to be a soloist in her church choir in S.D. She's a mezzo-soprano.
Ch. 11 is where Eustace Tilkey tells about saxaphone-playing cousin Tramwell, his vaudville-mad Aunt Penelope, and what his Uncle Brockley did to her dream.
Ch. 12: Miss Bink's tandem bicycle is named Daisy Belle.
The Porbles' daughter and the Goulsons' son are engaged.
Tim Ames' daughter, Jemmy, and her husband, Dave Marsh, have another baby.
Ch. 13: Miss Binks' idea of light summer reading is The Brothers Karamazov or books by Henry James.
Ch.15: Officer-in-Charge Ensign Blaise of chapter 14 has suddenly been promoted to lieutenant in the third paragraph, but he's back to being an ensign by the ninth paragraph.
This is also the chapter where Helen remembers the story of a 19th century woman whose husband somehow managed to divorce himself from her although she was not divorced from him.
Ch. 16: Helen explains that Cat McBogle was born somewhere around Sasquamahoc. Cat claims it was in a smelt shack during the February freeze, but Helen suspects that part.
Cat's fields have black-eye Susans, white ox-eye daisies, and blue-purple cow vetch growing on them.
Ch. 17: The president's house at Guthrie's college is a two-story frame house painted a peculiar shade of yellow. Peter estimates it was built in the 1920s.
Ch. 18: Guthrie has a Lincolnesque jaw.
It was the orange/marmalade coon cat that Peter found on his chest when he woke up. Cat says he's Thomas Carlyle.
Ch. 19: Jane Austen is described as not a cat to hold a grudge beyond reasonable limits.
According to Cronkite Swope [when talking about the National Guard], the commandant of the Clavaton Armory is cousin to Mrs. Olson.
Ch. 22: District Attorney Wetzel's daughter, Abigail, is 8 years old and goes to day camp. It was her birthday cake that Iduna decorated with a sunbonnet baby with yellow ruffles and a bunch of daffodils. show less
weather vane thieves foiled by Peter Shandy and wife
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60+ Works 12,174 Members
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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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
DuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1063)
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Vane Pursuit
- Original title
- Vane Pursuit
- Original publication date
- 1989
- People/Characters
- Peter Shandy (agronomy professor, Balaclava College); Helen Marsh Shandy (curator, the college library's Buggins Collection); Wilbur J. Olson (Lumpkinton Chief of Police); Cronkite Swope ('Balaclava County Fane and Pennon' reporter); Henny Horsefall (Hengist, Lumpkin Corners farmer); Brinkley Swope (Cronkite's brother) (show all 40); Huntley Swope (Cronkite's brother); Iduna Bjorklund Stott (Cookery Dept. member, Prof. Stott's wife); Catriona McBogle (mystery writer, Helen Shandy's friend); Winifred Binks (the last Binks in the direct line of descent); Roland Childe (Miss Bink's distant cousin); Fred Ottermole (Frederick, Balaclava Junction police chief); Caspar Flum (Lumpkinton Soap Works employee); Cynthia Swope (Brinkley's wife); Ralph Horsefall (Henny's great-nephew); Ralph Horsefall, Jr.; Eddie Horsefall (Henny's great-nephew); Marie Horsefall (Ralph's wife); Jolene Horsefall (Eddie's wife); Hilary Horsefall ('Hilly', Ralph, Jr.'s sister); Jane Austen (the Shandys' cat); Mrs. Huntley Swope; Andrew (Cat McBogle's handyman); Guthrie Fingal (President, Sasquamahoc Forestry College, Peter's friend); Elisa Alicia Quatrefages (Guthrie's wife); Sam 'Soapy' Snell (owns the Lumpkinton Soap Works); six commando types; Mrs. Olson (Wilbur J.'s wife, neé Binks, not that closely related to Miss Binks); Eustace Tilkey (owns the Ethelbert Nevin, a Maine Coast lobster boat); a whale; Wedgewood Munce, Hoscasquam Cove harbor master; Royall Ames (biologst, Balaclava College teacher, Prof. Timothy Ames' son); Ensign Blaise (Coast Guard); Seaman Willett (Coast Guard); Higgins (Coast Guard); Pulsifer (Coast Guard); John Doe Buck (one of Guthrie's students); Mrs. Wetzel (Balaclava County district attorney); Munch (SWAT team member); Budge Dorkin (Balaclava Junction police officer)
- Important places
- Balaclava Agricultural College, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Balaclava Junction, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Lumpkin Corners, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Lumpkinton, Massachusetts, USA (fictional); Susquamahoc, Maine, USA (fictional); Woeful Ridge, Massachusetts, USA (fictional) (show all 7); Hocasquam, Maine, USA (fictional)
- Dedication
- For My Cousins of the Clan MacKay
and Their Families - First words
- "Hey, you!"
- Quotations
- [about Cat's house] 'I'm still gawking at this fantastic kitchen', said Helen. 'I assume that old wood-burning stove is piped into where the fireplace used to be. Imagine what it must have been like two hundred years ago with... (show all) black iron pots hanging over the fire on cranes and a haunch of bear meat turning on the spit.'
'And soot, and cinders and flying sparks, and your face scorching and your bum freezing. And kindling to split and logs to lug in and smoke getting in your eyes and all the food tasting like finnan haddie', Catriona finished.
'Do you use the stove for heating?' Iduna asked.
'Not unless the power goes off or Andrew happens to be in one of his wood-chopping moods. Do observe my picturesque Early American thermostat and the delightfully quaint baseboard radiation...'
'You'd die a mess of raw hamburger and your fellow thugs would spit on whatever bits and pieces they could find. Do you think they would waste any hero-worship on a fool who'd been stupid enough to destroy what they must have... (show all) gone to a great deal of trouble to steal?' (Peter Shandy)
[about Peter Shandy] Eighty feet was a long way up for a middle-aged man who'd been fleeing a looney tune with a machine gun for the past two hours. He gritted his teeth and kept on climbing.
Peter hadn't [just driven up from Boston], but he recognized the fact that, north of the Piscataqua, up and down acquired strange new meanings and Boston might be used as a portmanteau word for anywhere i... (show all)n Massachusetts. Some Mainers and a lot of New Brunswickers thought Massachusetts was actually in Boston.
[about Iduna] Peter himself was inured to those wheat-colored curls, those innocent blue eyes, those blush-suffused cheeks, that sweet-cream complexion, that cupid's-bow mouth with the dimples at the corners, those voluptuous... (show all) arms tapering into dainty hands and rose-tipped fingers. To men who had to cruise around day after day with nothing but an occasional whale to look at, though, the effect of that much woman all at once must naturally be fairly overwhelming. He hoped they wouldn't decide to shanghai her and spoil Dan Stott's homecoming banquet. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Now, gentlemen, give me five minutes to titivate, and we'll be off."
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