Charlotte MacLeod, writing here as Alisa Craig, is one of my take-to-a-desert island authors so you can expect a gushing review from me for this book and you'll get it. It's warm, it's witty, it's fun, it extremely well-written, it's cozy but my favorite word to describe her writing is gentle. This is a gentle mystery.

Dittany Henbit is a member of the Lobelia Falls Grub-and-Stakers as is everyone else in town. Archery is the main interest of the club but they do all kinds of civic duties when called up. Dittany, a professional typist, is up on a mountain which has been donated to the city as a preserve when she encounters a new employee of the water department, very strange since there is no water run up onto the mountain, and then the manager of the water department, very dead.

As the mystery develops, we meet a lot of the town folk and they are of the wacky yet lovable variety. I appreciate that even when presented as slightly weird, they are still treated with respect. We all have odd-ball friends and that's who some of these people feel like. Alisa Craig loves to use an interesting vocabulary. It comes across as almost Victorian at times but in a way that's fun, not old-fashioned. And very easy to read. I particularly love the Scottish police chief and his phraseology.

For me, this book and anything by Alisa Craig or Charlotte MacLeod is like getting home after a hard day and putting on your warm fuzzy pajamas to watch your favorite old movie. Just comfort and relaxation. Everything's going to be all right in the end and you're going to have a good time getting there.

It's really hard for me to describe how much I love Charlotte MacLeod. Her gentle manner of writing, her wonderful command of the most obscure use of the English language, her ability to plot a mystery, the way she draws characters, the way she uses humour. It's as good as it gets for me. She ranks with Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Peters on my list of mystery writers who's works would accompany me to a desert island.

If you've never been to Balaclava Agricultural College, you've missed a great treat. This is the second visit we can make there after the first in the series "Rest You Merry." Peter Shandy and his new wife Helen have settle down to a pleasant life in the brick house on the Crescent when a terrible omen appears. An upside-down horseshoe is found in the barns. Nothing good can come of this. And, of course, the terrible omen is followed by a series of tragic events, not the least of which is the kidnapping of the college's prize pig.

Peter and Helen become embroiled in the mysteries invading their comfy little world and great fun for the reader ensues. This is as far away from hard-boiled as a mystery can get. This is clever and witty. It's as cozy and comfortable as my warm fuzzy fleece socks. It's pure pleasure for those who like their mysteries without blood and gore. Pure pleasure, pure silliness and, in my opinion, pure genius.