Dark Nantucket Noon (Homer Kelly, #2) by Jane Langton

Dark Nantucket Noon (Homer Kelly, #2) Reviews

• 
  Leslie

  3.5*
  
  During the few minutes of darkness during a total eclipse of the sun, a young woman is murdered on Nantucket Island. Discovered standing over her is the poet & college professor Kitty Clark, spurned lover of the dead woman's husband. Will Homer Kelly be able to convince a jury of Kitty's innocence?
  
  Probably this mystery only deserves 3* but being from Massachusetts, I loved all the details and the line drawings about Nantucket in the book.
• 
  V. Briceland

  Are there many mystery writers as good at word crafting as Jane Langton? The first two chapters of the second Homer Kelly mystery, Dark Nantucket Noon, are as dark and rapturous a portrait of romantic solipsism as anything from Shirley Jackson. When Langton rhapsodizes over her much-beloved New England landscapes and wildlife, whether Nantucket's shores and hidden forests, or wounded swans trying to fly, her prose elevates her material beyond genre.
  
  I feel there's a wide-open plot hole in this particular volume, however, in which a poetess is accused of murder simply because she discovers a body bleeding from the chest, and because she happens to have a knife in her purse. Weapon forensics have been around for centuries, and I'm pretty sure even in the mid-nineteen-seventies the Nantucket Police Department would have had the capability of distinguishing a narrow slit made up close by a small and ladylike knife versus, say, the gaping chest wound made by a spear gun shot at high velocity from a distance. But nope. No one remarks on discrepancy. The poetess was in possession of something pointy, and I guess that's good enough for the Massachusetts Attorney General for the purposes of this story.
  
  It's something that nagged at me throughout the entire story, but honestly, I don't much care. The story's still exciting, Homer Kelly is still charming and amusing, and Langton knows how to write.
• 
  Jazz

  This mystery was a must-read before the Total Eclipse occurs across the U.S. on August 21. I finished just in time. A murder occurs during the eclipse's totality on a beach outside a lighthouse on Nantucket Island, where a number of people have gathered to best view the eclipse. When the moon reveals the sun once again, poet Kitty Clark is discovered with a bloody knife and standing over the dead body of a woman who had married her ex-lover. Kitty is arrested, but former policeman turned professor, Homer Kelly, does not believe she's guilty. What did happen when the earth went dark and who killed environmentalist Helen Green? Much of the book is taken up with descriptions of the fauna and flora of Nantucket, so unless you like nature writing as I do, you may be put off somewhat by the writing. The background on whaling and Kelly's research on Herman Melville adds flavor to the novel also. But the mystery is intriguing enough to wade through it, even if the descriptive writing slows the narrative a bit. It's never boring and the solution to the mystery is well worth reading. As always Jane Langton's drawings add charm and a sense of place to the book.
• 
  Susan

  This was rather fascinating. I've read several Homer Kelly books in the past, but they have all been later in the series. In this one he was much more excitable and, frankly, bumbling, than I remembered him. But is has been a while. Kitty, a poet and college teacher, visits Nantucket to see a total eclipse of the sun. She heads for a deserted beach and a lighthouse, but finds several people are there before her - and after the totality, she finds one of them dead. In attempting to help, she ends up covered in blood, and when the others emerge from the lighthouse, they think she is the murderer. The eclipse, the appearance of a former lover and a former student, and the dead body send her into pretty much of a daze. But Homer believes in her innocence and sets out to find what really happened. Between real estate shenanigans, battles between the 'progressives' and the 'preservers', and lies all around, Homer has his hands full. And Kitty's head is still a little screwed up.... A very good read. I only gave it 4 stars because I probably won't re-read it any time soon, but I enjoyed it very much!
• 
  Ronald Wilcox

  Kitty, a poet, comes to Nantucket Island to witness a rare total eclipse. She goes to a part of the island where a lighthouse stands and finds a group of people who have gone to the top of the lighthouse to see the eclipse. A woman comes down to greet her and the eclipse occurs. When she can see again, the woman is at her feet and she has blood on her and she insists it is the moon that murdered her. The dead woman? The wife of a previous love of Kitty! Homer Kelly is asked via a note to help defend her when she is arrested for murder. The plot centers around the environment of the island so it adds to the suspense although the solution to the mystery is a little far fetched. Still a very enjoyable read.
• 
  Pythia

  Insolito giallo d'annata, tutto sommato divertente anche se i palati più fini potrebbero non gradirlo. Peccato per la pessima traduzione.
• 
  Leslie Ross

  The mystery was fine, of course. But it was the language that lifted it up.
• 
  BookSweetie

  A sometimes humorous mystery (published in 1981) set in Nantucket # 2 in author Jane Langton’s Homer Kelly series.
• 
  Sally Trabulsi

  An oldie but goodie. Great story, even though writing was a little tedious at times.
  
  
• 
  Rae

  Wounded swan named Jupiter. Conservation. Herman Melville. Solar eclipse. Intriguing murder.
• 
  Kathryn

  I almost didn't keep going after the first chapter, but I was very glad I persevered. Homer Kelly alone is worth the read.
• 
  Regine

  Poetically atmospheric.
• 
  Kesla

  Dnf
• 
  Wendy Kendall

  Dark Nantucket Noon
  By Jane Langton
  
  Katherine, or Kitty as everyone calls her, returns to the island of Nantucket especially to view a spectacular, noon eclipse of the sun. She flies from her Boston home, time away from teaching, to experience nature’s show in the only place where the entire total eclipse will be visible. She’s certain she won’t run into her passionate love, Joe Green, or his wife while she’s there.
  
  Kitty runs far out along the beach, and ends up viewing the dramatic event by a lighthouse on a seemingly deserted spit on Nantucket Sound. When the daylight returns, the most beautiful woman on the island, Joe’s wife, lies dead in a pool of blood at Kitty’s feet. Joe and others who were viewing the eclipse from inside the lighthouse run out onto the murder scene.
  
  Homer Kelly, salt of the earth homicide detective turned Harvard professor, and occasional amateur sleuth, turns up at the jail believing in Kitty’s innocence. This mystery novel is one of a series featuring Homer Kelly. During his murder investigation, and defense of this capricious, creative, poet and teacher, Kelly learns a lot about the people living on the island. He discovers a passion to preserve the precious environment, and also a competing hunger to draw more people and development.
  
  This author treats us to a very detailed picture of this special place on earth. Jane Langton is now 93 years old living in Lincoln, Massachusetts. She was born and raised in Boston. Her passion for Nantucket shines through in her writing, and also in her wonderful line drawings that are scattered throughout the book. Langton said she also used her drawing skills to help with the writing itself. “Drawing comes in handy in moments of desperation when a plot refuses to get itself organized,” she said. So early on, she started using a writing technique she calls Plotting with Charts: “I make tiny drawings on Post-it notes and stick them on a long piece of shelf paper. Then, because the glue on the back is forgiving, I can move the episodes around, trying them in different combinations.”
  
  Besides her mystery series, she’s written about a dozen delightful children’s books. Then, in 1970 she witnessed a solar eclipse in Nantucket, and decided to combine the event with her astronomy studies at Wellesley College in this Homer Kelly novel which came out in 1975. No wonder her description of the eclipse and its impacts are so fascinating. If you like discovering beautiful natural environments and animals, if you like meeting interesting characters and suspects, and certainly if you like solving an intriguing cozy mystery that masterfully unfolds, then you’ll want to read a Dark Nantucket Noon.
  
  
  
• 
  Pat

  Book Two in the Homer Kelley Mysteries...this one set on the beautiful island of Nantucket. An eclipse of the son is expected drawing a cast of characters to the lighthouse for better viewing...but alas, it also lures a murderer to the beach and once the darkness passes the body of a young island socialite is revealed alongside the blood splattered Kitty Clark (former mistress of the deceased woman's husband). The plot unravels slowly under the steady hands of Homer Kelly giving the reader time to explore the island and become acquainted with some of its more colorful residents. Charmingly unpredictable!
• 
  Jo Oehrlein

  This was a business trip read -- a paperback I had acquired somehow that I could take with me and leave behind once finished.
  
  I never really liked Kitty, the main character. Homer got interesting, especially towards the end. The setting on Nantucket was cool, especially all the naturalist-type information.
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  Judy

  I really enjoyed this book. It was very well written, the author has a wonderful way with descriptions. The characters were unique and realistic. The author also illustrated the book. She does this very well. I had been to Nantucket the day before I started this book so I really appreciated the talent of illustrator. The story was very good and the plot had some interesting twists.
  
• 
  Amyem

  
  http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/9...
  
  I own a copy and I'm bookcrossing a copy.
  
  
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  Minrose

  I liked this book, the writing style included poetry and drawings. Interesting characters and great location.
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  Robyn

  Liked this one even better than the first, maybe because I like Melville better than Thoreau and Emerson.
• 
  Doris Smith

  Good mystery with one my favorite Langton characters, Homer along with a wonderful setting of Nantucket