Charlotte MacLeod (1922 - 2005)

Genre: Mystery

aka Alisa Craig (her Canadian nom de plume), McLeod was originally Canadian (born in Bath, New Brunswick) but lived for years in rural Maine. Her many mysteries are imbued with a sense of humor, including the 12 featuring sleuth Sarah Kelling and the 10 that star sleuth Peter Shandy. MacLeod was co-founder of American Crime Writers League and she was nominated in 1988 for an Edgar Award for The Corpse in Oozak's Pond. Malice Domestic honoured her in 1998 with a lifetime achievement award. Mysterious Press offers a biographical paragraph on MacLeod as well as extensive information on some of her books. An excellent overview of MacLeod's series (under both names) is written by Terry Frey Weingart.

Peter Shandy Series (in order):

• Rest You Merry (1978)
• The Luck Runs Out (1979)
• Wrack and Rune (1982)
• Something the Cat Dragged In (1983)
• The Curse of the Giant Hogweed (1985)
• The Corpse in Oozak's Pond (1987; reviews of The Corpse)
• Vane Pursuit (1989)
• An Owl Too Many (1991)
• Something in the Water (1994)
• Exit the Milkman (1996)

This series features agronomist Professor Peter Shandy and his librarian wife, Helen, and take place at Balaclava Agricultural College in a Maine-like setting.

Sarah Kelling Series (in order):

• The Family Vault (1979)
• The Withdrawing Room (1980)
• The Palace Guard (1981)
• The Bilbao Looking Glass (1983)
• The Convivial Codfish (1984)
• The Plain Old Man (1985)
• The Recycled Citizen (1988)
• The Silver Ghost (1988)
• The Gladstone Bag (1989)
• The Resurrection Man (1992)
• The Odd Job (1995)
• The Balloon Man (1998/2000)

Short Story Collections

• Grab Bag
• Mistletoe Mysteries (1989; editor)
• Christmas Stalkings: Tales of Yuletide Murder (1994; editor)
• It Was an Awful Shame and Other Stories (2002), nineteen short stories, including some featuring Detective Max Bittersohn and Professor Peter Shandy.

Alisa Craig's Madoc & Janet Rhys series:

• A Pint of Murder (1980)
• Murder Goes Mumming (1981)
• The Terrible Tide (1983)
• A Dismal Thing to Do (1986/1988)
• Trouble in the Brasses (1989/1991)
• The Wrong Rite (1992)

Madoc Rhys is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer. He and his wife, Janet, live in New Brunswick, Canada.

Alisa Craig's Grub-and-Stakers series:

• The Grub-and-Stakers Move a Mountain (1981)
• The Grub-and-Stakers Quilt A Bee
• The Grub-and-Stakers Pinch A Poke (1988)
• The Grub-and-Stakers Spin A Yarn (1990)
• The Grub-and-Stakers House A Haunt (1993)

These books feature Dittany Henbit Monk and her husband, Osbert, a writer of westerns, and are set in Lobelia Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Children's Books:

• The Fat Lady's Ghost (1968)
• Mouse's Vineyard (1968)
• Brass Pounder (1971): This is the story of Phil MacLeod, the author's father. He was a brass pounder, the youngest telegraph operator in the Canadian Maritimes.
• We Dare Not Go A-Hunting (1980): Young adult. When Molly is hired to care for a child on Netaquid Island, she uncovers the truth about a kidnapping, of the previous summer and becomes involved in an even more diastrous kidnapping.
• Maid of Honor (1984)

Non-Series Books:

Ask Me No Questions (1971): A college student, invited to spend the summer with an uncle she has not seen since childhood, soon suspects he may be an impostor.

King Devil (1978): Set in 1908. A young woman goes to live with her hated cousin, finds a job with some architects, and becomes embroiled in a mystery that threatens her life.

Cirak's Daughter (1982): Young adult? Mystery and intrigue surrond the inheritance Jenn Cirak inherits from a father who deserted her in infancy, causing her to make many decisions about whom to trust and how she will live her life.

Non-Fiction: Had She But Known: A Biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart (1994)


Last Update: 05/31/2007

(Return to List)