The Plain Old Man

Sarah Kelling Bittersohn is helping out her Aunt Emma while husband Max is chasing art thieves in Europe; Emma has been presenting the Pirates of Pleasaunce theater troupe in Gilbert and Sullivan productions for ages, but “The Sorcerer” is to be her swan song as her voice is no longer up to the task Sarah is happy to have her mind occupied in theatrical business, but when a huge painting of Emma’s, one worth a huge amount of money, somehow goes missing from Emma’s home, the matters distracting Sarah from Max’s absence take on a deadly tone….This is the sixth novel in the Sarah Kelling series, and this time around it’s all Sarah, with Max putting in an appearance only at the very end. The cast of characters, many of whom show more are Sarah’s relatives, is large and eccentric, and I must say that I didn’t catch on to the culprit until just before Sarah does, always gratifying in a mystery! I’m quite enjoying this series, set in 1980s Boston (for the most part), particularly because of the fun it pokes at the very rich, but also because Sarah is such a delightful character; recommended! show less

verbal-humor, situational-humor, family-dynamics, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths

The story is interspersed with lines from Gilbert and Sullivan because the play's the core of the plot. Aunt Emma is a grand managing widow known for her generosity and also for producing the operetta populated by Kellings and locals. Then a very valuable painting goes missing right off the dining room wall and a kindly old man gets dead under suspicious circumstances. Sarah has to organize the sleuthing by herself because husband Max is out of the country investigating a different art theft. Almost all comes out well in the end and a lot of laughs had by the reader.
Andi Arndt is the excellent narrator.

I wish more of these books were available on Audible. The reader is good, and I have gotten over my initial disappointment that she wasn't told to use a Boston accent. (There are too many rrrr's in her speech!) I blame the director.

I'd forgotten how good these little mysteries are. It's so nice that they are finally available on Kindle, too!

I recommend that you read them in order, of course....

an amateur operetta becomes the scene for murder and art theft with Sarah Kelling as Sleuth