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Death pays a visit to Sarah Kelling's Boston boardinghouse in this cozy mystery from the bestselling author of the Peter Shandy series. Though the inheritance from her dearly departed Alexander was meant to set Sarah Kelling up for life, it vanishes quickly in the face of hounding from charitable organizations and the IRS. Facing the loss of her stately Back Bay brownstone, Sarah opens her home to lodgers-deciding she prefers a boardinghouse to the poorhouse. Soon she's cooking meals and show more serving tea for a cast of quirky residents, a cozy little family that would be quite happy were it not for the unpleasant presence of a certain Barnwell Augustus Quiffen-a man so rude that no one really minds when he's squashed beneath a subway car. Sarah replaces her lost boarder quickly, and the family dynamic is restored. But when another lodger dies suddenly, the boardinghouse appears to be cursed. Now it'll take more than a glass of sherry to soothe Sarah's panicked residents, and she must turn to detective Max Bittersohn for help before her boarders bolt. "The epitome of the 'cozy' mystery" (Mostly Murder), award-winning author Charlotte MacLeod's Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn Mysteries have charmed readers the world over. show lessTags
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Newly widowed Sarah Kelling is determined to make ends meet despite the depredations in her fortunes and the possibility of foreclosure on her Beacon Hill house and vacation home outside of Boston. In order to avoid financial ruin, she has decided to turn her home into a boarding house - but one of the highest quality, only the wealthy need apply. Unfortunately, one of her very first boarders, an exceedingly unpleasant man, manages to fall under a subway train within a week of his moving in, and his replacement, while much more personable, is problematic in his own way. Sarah begins to wonder if it was a good idea to turn the house’s “withdrawing room” into that particular suite, given the bad luck that seems to dog its show more inhabitants…. This book, set in 1980s Boston, is the second in the Sarah Kelling series, which I have only now begun to read. It is a delightful take on a certain place and time, that of upper-echelon Boston society and the early 1980s; Sarah herself is an engaging character, determined to make her own way in the world despite the fact that her numerous relatives would be very happy to direct her life for her. The other characters, including Max Bittersohn, a private detective operating in the art world, several boarders in the home and Sarah’s trusty friend/maid Mariposa and her boyfriend, actor and sometime butler Charles, are all eccentric in their own ways, but not annoyingly so. There are some twelve books in the series and I intend to read them all, if not back-to-back then in very short order; highly recommended! show less
cozy-mystery, reread
After finding out that she is deep in debt following the murders of her beloved older husband and detestable mother in law, young Mrs Kelling determines to turn the contested house into a higher class boarding house with her being both landlady and cook. Good thing she was used to pinchpenny ways even when everyone believed that her family was wealthy! Applicants were many, but she thought she did well until she not only had two awful tenants in a row, but each of them got murdered. Nicely done and with plenty of humor. First published in 1980, there are landlines and other things unusual today.
After finding out that she is deep in debt following the murders of her beloved older husband and detestable mother in law, young Mrs Kelling determines to turn the contested house into a higher class boarding house with her being both landlady and cook. Good thing she was used to pinchpenny ways even when everyone believed that her family was wealthy! Applicants were many, but she thought she did well until she not only had two awful tenants in a row, but each of them got murdered. Nicely done and with plenty of humor. First published in 1980, there are landlines and other things unusual today.
Substance: Entertaining cast and dialogue, but there is absolutely no preparation for the solution.
Style: Fun to read.
Style: Fun to read.
The friend who introduced me to this series said it was best to start with book two because book one was too sad. Well, The Family Vault has yet to be unpacked, although I've found the rest of the series.
The events of that first book have left Sarah Kelling widowed, hard up for money, and uncertain whether she or the High Street Bank owns the Tulip Street Boston brownstone townhouse and the Victorian clapboard house at Ireson's Landing on the North Shore. In order to raise the money for taxes and interest she's turning the townhouse into a classy boarding house. The best room she'll have to offer is being made from the old [with]drawing room.
I'm a nobody from a long line of nobodies. The old soap opera, Dark Shadows, taught me that show more there are such things as drawing rooms. (Wow! Imagine having enough rooms so you could keep one ready for guests all the time instead of having Mom order you to make sure the living room was super-tidy!) This book taught me the longer name and their original purpose. It also taught me about Boston Brahmins, Ms. MacLeod having been a former resident of Beacon Hill.
The Kelling clan, or at least those members we see or hear about, are quite a bunch. Naturally there's an uproar that one of their own would even think of turning her home into a boarding house. That's where the book opens, and Sarah will learn a lot before it closes, such as how much work being a landlady is, and how very unlucky one might be with a tenant.
Even though I hadn't reread this one in almost 10 years, I remembered whodunnit. It didn't matter. The charm of Ms. MacLeod's mysteries are in the characters and dialog. Now that the internet makes it easy, I recommend looking up any reference one doesn't know, as I just did with the boy who stood on the burning deck. I find it adds to my enjoyment.
Sara Kelling series tidbits for fans who share my difficulty in remembering in which book they appear:
Chapter 1:
Jem Kelling is only 5 years older than his nephew, Dolph.
Sarah will soon be 27.
A couple of Jem's disreputable souvenirs are mentioned.
Alexander Kelling was Sarah's 5th cousin once removed.
Charles C. Charles looks like Leslie Howard.
Aunt Bodie's name is Boadicea.
Chapter 2:
Sarah's car is a 1950 Studebaker Starlite Coupe.
Mrs. Theonia Sorpende rents Sarah's old bedroom.
Miss Jennifer LaValliere rents Alexander's old room.
Mr. Eugene Porter-Smith rents one of the attic rooms.
Prof. Oscar Ormsby rents the other attic room.
Chapter 3:
Sarah had Christmas dinner with Aunt Appie and Uncle Samuel in Cambridge.
Dolph can recite some of 'Gunga Din'.
Chapter 4:
Sarah serves the after-dinner coffee in Export China brought back by a seafaring ancestor.
Jem's Old Barflies Reunion had trouble finding a disreputable saloon.
Sarah's original telephone is in the front hall.
George Protheroe is likened to Alice's dormouse.
The law firm with Dickensian names is mentioned.
Chapter 6:
The limerick about the gentleman dining at Crewe is mentioned
Where Mariposa's dog went is revealed.
Chapter 7:
Why Sarah never got to travel.
Sarah and Alexander donated a royal Hawaiian peacock feather fan to the Iolani Palace people.
Why Mariposa isn't that sure about the validity of her last two divorces.
Max has a genuine hand-carved teakwood back-scratcher.
Chapter 8:
Description of the apartment made from Edith's old room in the basement
How Sarah established her bona fides as an illustrator to her boarders.
Chapter 9:
Dolph's parents died when he was young and he was reared by Great-uncle Frederick and Great-aunt
Matilda Kelling.
Great-Uncle Fred's frog scheme and Dolph's part in it are described.
Great-Uncle Fred overheard a teasing about submarine races and what happened after that is also described.
Why Dolph had to buy a new topcoat last year and how he feels about it.
Chapter 10:
Why Great-uncle Fred set aside his natty brown Homburg during the Hoover campaign of 1928
Anora Protheroe's cook had a nice cat named Percival that Sarah loved when she was little. (Sorry, but if Cousin Percy ever knew about the cat and, if so, how he felt about it having the same name isn't mentioned)
Cook taught Sarah how to make carrot pudding and why Sarah hasn't made it in years
Chapter 12:
Sarah has her Great-grandmother Kelling's Coalport vases in her china cupboard.
Chapter 13:
Cousin Mabel wound up with the lion's share of Aunt Caroline's clothes when Sarah gave most of them away.
Chapter 17:
There's an unflattering reference about what Cousin Mabel would do even if the whole Kelling tribe had died.
Cousin Mabel adores tearooms.
Chapter 18:
Sarah describes what the Ireson's Landing house would be like to stay in at this time of year.
The old loo downstairs is now reachable only through the front bedroom. Sara's personal loo is the first door on the left at the head of the stairs.
Charles has a broken tooth he wants capped.
Chapter 19:
Sarah thinks Alexander must have had that boy-stood-on-a-burning-deck streak in him. (If you've read the first book, you'll know why Alexander had no chance to develop a normal adult independence.)
Chapter 20:
Mrs. Sorpende tells Sarah her life's story.
Chapter 21:
Jeremy is wearing a massive chain and emblem from one of the disreputable chowder and marching societies to which he belongs.
Mary Smith's idea about recycling centers is described.
Dolph has recently learned the expression 'know-how' and is using it too frequently.
Chapter 23:
We learn what drove Dolph to have Great-uncle Frederick declared mentally incompetent.
Miss LaValliere doesn't know who the Dashwoods were and Sarah fears she doesn't know who Jane Austen was.
Peter Rauch did the cover with the blue sky, multi-story house drawn in black and white, a reddish-brown flag with a skull and crossbones on it flying from the house's flagpole, and the title & author's name appearing on a cloud in the upper right corner. show less
The events of that first book have left Sarah Kelling widowed, hard up for money, and uncertain whether she or the High Street Bank owns the Tulip Street Boston brownstone townhouse and the Victorian clapboard house at Ireson's Landing on the North Shore. In order to raise the money for taxes and interest she's turning the townhouse into a classy boarding house. The best room she'll have to offer is being made from the old [with]drawing room.
I'm a nobody from a long line of nobodies. The old soap opera, Dark Shadows, taught me that show more there are such things as drawing rooms. (Wow! Imagine having enough rooms so you could keep one ready for guests all the time instead of having Mom order you to make sure the living room was super-tidy!) This book taught me the longer name and their original purpose. It also taught me about Boston Brahmins, Ms. MacLeod having been a former resident of Beacon Hill.
The Kelling clan, or at least those members we see or hear about, are quite a bunch. Naturally there's an uproar that one of their own would even think of turning her home into a boarding house. That's where the book opens, and Sarah will learn a lot before it closes, such as how much work being a landlady is, and how very unlucky one might be with a tenant.
Even though I hadn't reread this one in almost 10 years, I remembered whodunnit. It didn't matter. The charm of Ms. MacLeod's mysteries are in the characters and dialog. Now that the internet makes it easy, I recommend looking up any reference one doesn't know, as I just did with the boy who stood on the burning deck. I find it adds to my enjoyment.
Sara Kelling series tidbits for fans who share my difficulty in remembering in which book they appear:
Chapter 1:
Jem Kelling is only 5 years older than his nephew, Dolph.
Sarah will soon be 27.
A couple of Jem's disreputable souvenirs are mentioned.
Alexander Kelling was Sarah's 5th cousin once removed.
Charles C. Charles looks like Leslie Howard.
Aunt Bodie's name is Boadicea.
Chapter 2:
Sarah's car is a 1950 Studebaker Starlite Coupe.
Mrs. Theonia Sorpende rents Sarah's old bedroom.
Miss Jennifer LaValliere rents Alexander's old room.
Mr. Eugene Porter-Smith rents one of the attic rooms.
Prof. Oscar Ormsby rents the other attic room.
Chapter 3:
Sarah had Christmas dinner with Aunt Appie and Uncle Samuel in Cambridge.
Dolph can recite some of 'Gunga Din'.
Chapter 4:
Sarah serves the after-dinner coffee in Export China brought back by a seafaring ancestor.
Jem's Old Barflies Reunion had trouble finding a disreputable saloon.
Sarah's original telephone is in the front hall.
George Protheroe is likened to Alice's dormouse.
The law firm with Dickensian names is mentioned.
Chapter 6:
The limerick about the gentleman dining at Crewe is mentioned
Where Mariposa's dog went is revealed.
Chapter 7:
Why Sarah never got to travel.
Sarah and Alexander donated a royal Hawaiian peacock feather fan to the Iolani Palace people.
Why Mariposa isn't that sure about the validity of her last two divorces.
Max has a genuine hand-carved teakwood back-scratcher.
Chapter 8:
Description of the apartment made from Edith's old room in the basement
How Sarah established her bona fides as an illustrator to her boarders.
Chapter 9:
Dolph's parents died when he was young and he was reared by Great-uncle Frederick and Great-aunt
Matilda Kelling.
Great-Uncle Fred's frog scheme and Dolph's part in it are described.
Great-Uncle Fred overheard a teasing about submarine races and what happened after that is also described.
Why Dolph had to buy a new topcoat last year and how he feels about it.
Chapter 10:
Why Great-uncle Fred set aside his natty brown Homburg during the Hoover campaign of 1928
Anora Protheroe's cook had a nice cat named Percival that Sarah loved when she was little. (Sorry, but if Cousin Percy ever knew about the cat and, if so, how he felt about it having the same name isn't mentioned)
Cook taught Sarah how to make carrot pudding and why Sarah hasn't made it in years
Chapter 12:
Sarah has her Great-grandmother Kelling's Coalport vases in her china cupboard.
Chapter 13:
Cousin Mabel wound up with the lion's share of Aunt Caroline's clothes when Sarah gave most of them away.
Chapter 17:
There's an unflattering reference about what Cousin Mabel would do even if the whole Kelling tribe had died.
Cousin Mabel adores tearooms.
Chapter 18:
Sarah describes what the Ireson's Landing house would be like to stay in at this time of year.
The old loo downstairs is now reachable only through the front bedroom. Sara's personal loo is the first door on the left at the head of the stairs.
Charles has a broken tooth he wants capped.
Chapter 19:
Sarah thinks Alexander must have had that boy-stood-on-a-burning-deck streak in him. (If you've read the first book, you'll know why Alexander had no chance to develop a normal adult independence.)
Chapter 20:
Mrs. Sorpende tells Sarah her life's story.
Chapter 21:
Jeremy is wearing a massive chain and emblem from one of the disreputable chowder and marching societies to which he belongs.
Mary Smith's idea about recycling centers is described.
Dolph has recently learned the expression 'know-how' and is using it too frequently.
Chapter 23:
We learn what drove Dolph to have Great-uncle Frederick declared mentally incompetent.
Miss LaValliere doesn't know who the Dashwoods were and Sarah fears she doesn't know who Jane Austen was.
Peter Rauch did the cover with the blue sky, multi-story house drawn in black and white, a reddish-brown flag with a skull and crossbones on it flying from the house's flagpole, and the title & author's name appearing on a cloud in the upper right corner. show less
This is my first Charlotte MaCleod. Not too big on the mystery but, I really enjoyed the different characters. The plot being taken place among the Boston aristocrat it was hard to figure out when this was supposed to be taken place. Not that it really mattered.
A clever story with interesting characters. You should "The Family Vault" first to get a head start on half the characters.
The second and best in the Sarah Kelling series of mysteries, assuming your focus is on the characters not the mystery. Macleod's books are about the recurring characters, the setting and the humor, they are not about the puzzle.
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60+ Works 12,188 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
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
DuMont's Kriminal-Bibliothek (1022)
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Withdrawing Room
- Original title
- The Withdrawing Room
- Original publication date
- 1980
- People/Characters
- Sarah Kelling Kelling (widow, townhouse owner); Max Bittersohn (art detective); Jeremy Kelling (Sarah's Uncle Jem); Dolph Kelling (Sarah's cousin Adolphus); Barnwell Augustus Quiffen (star boarder); Mariposa Fergus (Sarah's maid) (show all 24); Charles Chelsea Charles (Sarah's actor butler); Mr. Lomax (Sarah's Ireson Landing house caretaker); Mrs. Theonia Sorpende (one of Sarah's boarders); Miss Jennifer LaValliere (one of Sarah's boarders); Mr. Eugene Porter-Smith (another boarder); Prof. Oscar Ormsby (boarder); Anora Protheroe (elderly friend in Chestnut Hill); George Protheroe (Anora's husband); Egbert Browne (Jem Kelling's gentleman's gentleman); William Hartler ('Wumps,' wants to rent); Joanna Hartler ('Bumps,' William's sister); Mary Smith (one-woman recycler); Aunt Marguerite (Sarah's late mother-in-law's sister); Iris Pendragon (Aunt Marguerite's acquaintance); George Saxe (active in the Iolani Palace project); Mrs. Saxe; Sergeant McNaughton (Boston Police); Mrs. Theresa Feeley (Miss Smith's old neighbor)
- Important places
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Dedication
- For Josephine Webster
- First words
- "Damn it, Sarah, you can't do a thing like that!"
- Quotations
- [Jeremy Kelling on the subject of drawing rooms] Idiotic antediluvian custom anyway, the ladies withdrawing to sit on their bustles and gossip while the men stayed at the dining table and drank themselves blotto. When I start... (show all) seeing double, I'd rather be sitting across from a daring decolletage than a red nose with a walrus mustache under it. (chapter one)
Mr. Quiffin was correct in black tie. His clothes were probably even older than Sarah's gown since he also was of a caste that didn't believe in discarding anything that still had good wear in it just because a garment happen... (show all)ed to be a few decades out of style. (chapter two)
Sarah saw a child of fourteen or so, who ought to be in school at this hour, slouching from the building in a pair of too-tight blue jeans, a fuzzy fake fur jacket so short that it might indeed lead to severe kidney disturban... (show all)ces, and backless mules with fantastically high heels she didn't have the remotest idea how to manage. The girl was puffing inexpertly at a cigarette and made Sarah want to cry out of pity for her. (chapter twelve) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"He's about to fall asleep in his plate."
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