Louisa and the Country Bachelor: A Louisa May Alcott Mystery

by Anna Maclean

Book Overview

Louisa May Alcott returns in this "historically accurate and entertaining mystery series." ( The New York Review of Books ) Louisa convinces her family to visit cousins in rural New Hampshire, only to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451234715
• ISBN13: 9780451234711
• Release Date: October 2011
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

a very enjoyable and entertaining read

The second installment in the Louisa May Alcott mystery series, "Louisa and the Country Bachelor" proved to be a very engaging and intriguing read, and should, if nothing else, inspire many readers to read Louisa May Alcott's biography, and perhaps even (re)read a few of her novels. Still feeling the aftereffects of having been involved in the murder investigation of her close friend, Dorothy Wortham, the previous winter, ("Louisa and the Missing Heiress"), Louisa May Alcott is pleased when her uncle, Benjamin Willis, invites the entire Alcott family to summer with him at his home in Walpole, New Hampshire. Of course, Louisa's best friend, Sylvia Shattuck, on the run from her mother's matchmaking schemes, tags along too. Succumbing to the beautiful weather and the green and golden countryside, everyone is soon pleasurably occupied with gardening, reading, writing and exploring the little town. But the pleasure is all to soon marred with tragedy when one of the townsmen, Ernest Noooteboom, is found dead in a ravine. Everyone believes that Ernest fell whilst hiking; but Ernest's sister, Lilli, believes that Ernset's death was no accident and firmly believes that someone murdered him. And having looked at the evidence, Louisa shares Lilli's suspicions. Realising that the sheriff is unlikely to listen to a mere girl, Louisa is determined, much to her concerned family's dismay, to discover how Ernest met with his death and why he was murdered... "Louisa and the Country Bachelor" proved to be a very engaging and wholly engrossing read. I thought that Anna Maclean had done a truly wonderful job of capturing Louisa May Alcott's voice and persona. Louisa May Aloctt comes across as an intelligent, warm, charming and very fascinating character, definitely inspired in me the desire to read Alcott's biography. Similarly, I also enjoyed the loving manner in which portrayed the entire Alcott family and Sylvia Shattuck. I particualrly liked the vividly colourful manner in which the author captured the countryside surrounding Walpole -- she definitely made the place seem very beautiful and vital. Also nicely done was the manner in which she allowed for the suspense to mount gradually and smoothly, so that the pace was not uneven or jarringly awkward. So that all in all, I'd say that "Louisa and the Country Bachelor" was a very well crafted, smoothly paced mystery novel, that was intriguing and engrossing, and that also possessed an easy and completely accessible prose style. In other words: a truly good and worthwhile read.