This December the Whitman PL's Mystery Book Group discussed Jane Langton's The Shortest Day. When deciding on this month's title, I wanted to pick a read that was seasonal. Several options were considered, but in the end I decided that Langton's work would be most interesting since the setting for the mystery was none other than Cambridge, MA. Unfortunately, both for me and most of the other members of our group, this book fell flat. Not only did many of us find the book tedious, but we all found it to be off-putting that the murderer--and the reason for the mystery--were revealed from the very beginning! Another factor that many of us found disconcerting was the sheer amount of characters brought forth by the author. It was hard to keep track of who was who, let alone who we should really be paying attention to!
Two of our book group members asked that we show Ms. Langton clemency for this book's shortcomings, and mentioned that others in the same serious had been much better reads. I do love to read a book in a local setting, so perhaps one day I'll give this author another chance!
For those who might still be persuaded to give this title a try, The Shortest Day focused on Harvard's yearly "Christmas Revels", a celebration of the winter solstice through music and dance from medieval times. The main mystery solvers are Homer Kelly and his wife Mary, who have appeared in numerous other Langton mysteries. The mystery begins when a star of the show is murdered. Several other murders are committed by the same killer, and all of this takes place amidst the hallowed halls of Harvard. Even more drama ensues when the local homeless community rebels against the institution and demands housing, going so far as to set up camp on the institution's property and siphoning power from them.
-Jessi
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