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When a family friend dies of a strange asthma attack, Homer Kelly investigates John Hand visits the Heron house looking for a summer job. What he finds is a family in mourning. A few minutes after he is hired by Mrs. Heron and her daughter, Virginia, a neighbor, Buddy, finds Mr. Heron lying dead in the orchard, choked to death by asthma and bee stings. As Buddy comforts the grieving family, John feels out of place. But as he begins to suspect that Buddy knows more about Mr. Heron's death show more than he's letting on, he goes to the only person who can help: his uncle, Professor Homer Kelly. After years teaching students about Thoreau's famous sojourn at nearby Walden Pond, the famed transcendentalist scholar feels his memory beginning to slip. But nothing sharpens the mind better than murder, and Homer's nephew has stumbled on a fine one. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
One of my favorite Homer Kelly mysteries to date. It concerns the murder of a homeowner in Lincoln, who dies after an asthma attack, but is mysteriously found without his inhaler. Interesting twists in this story.
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Author Information
34+ Works 8,929 Members
Jane Langton was born Jane Gillson in Belmont, Massachusetts on December 30, 1922. She received a bachelor's degree in art history in 1944 and a master's degree in art history in 1945 from the University of Michigan. She received a second master's degree in art history from Radcliffe College in 1948. She studied at the Boston Museum School from show more 1958 to 1959. Her writing career began with children's books. Her first book, The Majesty of Grace, was published in 1961. She illustrated several of her children's books. She wrote a young adult series entitled the Hall Family Chronicles. The fourth book in the series, The Fledgling, was a Newbery Honor book. She also wrote an adult mystery series entitled the Homer Kelly mysteries. The fifth book in the series, Emily Dickinson Is Dead, received a Nero Wolfe Award and an Edgar Award. In 2017, she received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award for the series. She died from complications of a respiratory condition on December 22, 2018 at the age of 95. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Natural Enemy
- People/Characters
- Edward Heron; Homer Kelly; Buddy Whipple; Mary Kelly; Barbara Heron; Virginia Heron (show all 7); John Hand
- Important places
- Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA
- Epigraph
- Happily there are some to whom nothing in the majestic
riddle of the universe is little. They know of what
humble materials the bread of thought is kneaded...
--Jean Henri Fabre - First words
- Things were going on at different levels on that day in June.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 152
- Popularity
- 214,984
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.86)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 4
