Dead as a Dodo

by Jane Langton

Book Overview

Eccentric Harvard philosophy professor Homer Kelly and his sharp wife Mary are like a literary Nick and Nora Charles of The Thin Man fame. Jane Langston has put the frumpy professor through a series... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670862215
• ISBN13: 9780670862214
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 339 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Do do read it!

This story really grew on me, taking me longer to read and ponder than I had expected. It is a leisurely story told in crisply short chapters. It begins as a rather fusty sabbatical visit to Oxford, England, by Harvard professors Homer and Mary Kelly (Langton's series characters), and turns into an enthusiastical meld of Alice in Wonderland and Darwinian evolution, especially in a climactic dream sequence! There are hidden depths to the situations and academic theories juxtaposed here. The eventual murders are almost beside the point. The joy in intellectual disputation herein made me not really worried for anyone. For a professor of English, Homer is quite a scientist, an experimenter, and not in the least PC and post-modern like his ilk. While rarely laugh-out-loud funny, Langton definitely has an amusingly light touch and a bit of satire. The book is illustrated with the author's jaunty sketches of Oxford places. I suspect that any knowledge of Lewis Carroll, Darwin, and Oxford will increase the pleasure of the reader still further.

An erudite mystery in the British Tradition

As if to take on the style of the British mysteries, Ms. Langton paces the plot fairly slowly, picking up speed toward the middle of the book. Less formulaic than Agatha Christie, Ms. Langton's book is more along the lines of P.D. James. Her references to Darwinian fact and fiction are formidable, and makes several pages more than simply "light reading." However, the scientific references and theological postulations never become tedious and in fact provide a lovely intellectual backdrop for a somewhat boring set of murders. For those who enjoy something more than plot, this mystery is highly recommended. Anyone who has been to Oxford will most definitely enjoy Ms. Langton's thorough and fanciful descriptions. Homer Kelly is as eccentric as he is brilliant, making for an excellent protagonist. However, some of the other characters are lacking in development which leads to a miniscule disappointment in reading the book. Otherwise, a delightfully well-written work.