Funny, one tangential mention of Charlotte MacLeod a few entries back and I got all kinds of response here. I think I know some of the reasons her books are so comforting. For one thing, the books are more about the characters than the mystery, so they can be read as mind candy, but they're not just that. They're sprinkled with quotations from Shakespeare and other poets, just little takeaways that you can notice or miss, and references to great authors - and her definition of "great" seems to be close to mine.
There are wonderful little tangential scenes, like when Dittany Monk reads her way through the Anne of Green Gables books as positive prenatal influences for her unborn twins. There are women of all ages, shapes, and descriptions who arouse the ardor of every man they meet, and it's noticeable that some of the biggest femmes fatale are also the biggest women physically, like Theonia Kelling and Iduna Stott. There are romances at all ages, from Janet and Madoc Rhys in their early twenties on up to Aunt Hilda Horsefall and Uncle Sven Svenson in their eighties (at least). There are happy marriages in which both participants get to contribute emotions and intellect.
I mean, really, if it weren't for all those corpses forever popping up and the getting marooned on tiny islets (which occurs in two of two of the last books of hers I've read), who wouldn't want to live in a MacLeod novel?
Posted by dichroic at May 6, 2005 01:03 PMExactly -- they're my favorite kind of mystery.
Posted by: l-empress at May 6, 2005 03:53 PM
Are you talking about those very descriptive "bodice rippers," I have dipped into a time or two ? A nice break from the blood and guts type of thing that I am prone to read.