The Memorial Hall Murder (Homer Kelly, #3) by Jane Langton

The Memorial Hall Murder (Homer Kelly, #3) Reviews

• 
  Alicia Farmer

  More "cozy" than "mystery." And more quirky or even goofy than cozy. This reads like a '70s sitcom with its larger-than-life characters careening around the Harvard campus. Entertaining and harmless.
  
  My favorite part of the book were Langton's own line drawings that appeared every few pages.
• 
  Jane

  Can't help singing the excerpts at the opening of each chapter.
• 
  V. Briceland

  The only real anachronistic note in Langton's third Homer Kelly mystery—in which she daringly sets off a bomb that destroys one of Harvard's landmarks—is the reaction of the university community to the event. I suspect a modern reader new to the series and sensitized to terrorism in the post-9/11 era would be horrified at how the students and faculty tsk, shrug their shoulders, and go about their business as if nothing's happened...and then let an amateur detective clean up the mess. As someone who grew up around university campuses in the early nineteen-seventies when violent student activism was something of the norm, I can say yeah, the apathy is entirely plausible for its time.
  
  Otherwise, The Memorial Hall Murder manages skillfully to weave its many intricate patterns—the author's love of both Harvard's architecture and Handel's Messiah—with a real corker of a ticking timebomb to heighten its tension. There's not much of a true mystery here as Langton begins to transition into a number of inverted murder mysteries, in which how Homer Kelly discovers his culprit is more the point than whodunnit. With its taut construction, however, and truly lovable characters, this third installment marks the start of Langton's most confident sequence of novels.
• 
  Cindy

  A Homer Kelly book. Set in Harvard. I really like this one, maybe because I am a fan of Handel as well as a mystery lover. Many of her books have academic settings.
• 
  Eugene Lee

  All my Harvard choir (especially HRCM) friends - this is a really fun book to read - set in Mem Hall and the subject of the murder mystery is the conductor of the Collegium Musicum!
• 
  Katie Fitzgerald

  I really enjoyed this mystery set at Harvard University. Each chapter begins with a snippet of music from Handel's Messiah (a performance of which figures heavily into the plot) and every so often there is a chapter from the supposed murder victim whom only the reader knows is not the one who died. Seeing how Homer Kelly, his wife, and a few Harvard students figure out what actually happened while also uncovering some other Harvard secrets is really entertaining and suspenseful. I didn't love this quite as much as Langton's children's books, but having read this book, I am curious about the others in the series and would like to read them at some point.
• 
  Marie

  After enjoying the first and second books in the series so much, this one was so disappointing!
  
  The first half of this book is just terrible and only by half listening to it while doing other things was I able to get through it. Mercifully, the second half was better.
  
  JL decided to write a book with an obvious villain, a ridiculous reason for murder, and a slew of details about Harvard university governance that no one cares about. This was definitely NOT the way to continue such a good series. Hopefully book #4 will recover the charm of books 1 & 2!
• 
  Irene B.

  Read this mystery many years ago. Then someone gave me a copy for Christmas--we were exchanging used books. I've been carrying it around in my bag for emergencies when I'm stuck somewhere, so it's taken me five months to finish. Homer does tend to wander in his thoughts, but I thought the characters were amusing and the novel a bit droll--about a music director who ends up trapped in the basement of an exploded building for an extended duration while his choir is rehearsing above him. Each chapter begins with the musical notation for an appropriate part of the "Hallelujah" chorus, and the many drawings of places around Harvard make for an unusual mystery novel. Four stars not so much for the plot as for the amusement factor.
• 
  Zarina

  This book was written in 1978. If I'm not mistaken, this book was brought over from England when my younger brother did his A-levels. I noticed that the price tag at the book of the books is a Malaysian distributor. Not sure if I was the one who bought it.
  
  The condition of the book is good but the outer margin is so small that the letters are near the edge. But I love how each chapter begins with a short musical phase(?). Plus, there are a few illustrations which are missing in modern books.
  
  For a change, its nice to step back in time. To the age of footwork detecting but then this book was a bit off hook. There were certain points where Homer could have solved the mystery but then, we needed to get the whole characters in and reaching the climax.
  
  Good writing overall.
• 
  Katherine Rowland

  The pros: engaging characterizations, switching points of view that actually helped the narrative, interesting mechanics, and plenty of intrigue. The cons: the book tried to think important thoughts and tell a good story, and the two goals didn't work in tandem. And--like other "literary" novels--it was just so verbose, as though many words make a book great or important or literate. Instead, it was just pretentious and tedious, thoughts percolated over and over until they're bitter.
• 
  Alton Motobu

  Harvard music professor is killed during a terrorist bombing - his head was blown off but the body was intact - so it was assumed to be him. Prof Homer Kelly investigates and discovers the body was not the professor; it was the bomber's. The professor was trapped in a room below the rubble. He survived 6 weeks down there! Lots of descriptions of Harvard campus and surroundings. Takes place in late Oct to early Dec with 2 short references to Christmas.
• 
  Francis

  I guess what I like about Jane Langton is she tells a good yarn and her illustrations/pen drawings are superb.
  
  However, I often struggle with her dialogue and her characters which are both one dimensional and too Pollyannish for my liking. Sort of like a good natured murder mysteries series- yeah, kinda ..oxymoronish ..in a pleasant kind of way.
  
  
• 
  Gloria Mccracken

  I really like the continuing characters in this series, including the dry sense of humor of the protagonist. The only unsatisfying issue with this particular book is that one of the minor evil doers did not get an appropriate comeuppance, in my opinion.
• 
  Vicki

  Second reading...because we vacationed in Boston. Although not the primary reason for going, it was fun to visit the sites mentioned in the story. Not much character development of Homer; would be better for new readers to start at the beginning of the series.
• 
  Terrie

  A good "who dun it" with a Columbo-like investigator. Keeps you guessing until the end, which is unusual for me. These were written in the late 70's, so are dated, but she writes well, so worth the read.
• 
  Jill

  It was OK - seemed a little dated, which I guess it is. I do like the detective, Homer Kelly, so I may try one of the more recent titles in the series.
• 
  Cece

  Not very mysterious, actually...she gives it all away. But Homer Kelly is a likable character and I always like academic skullduggery.
• 
  Alejandrina

  Gave up. It seems more a travelogue about Harvard than anything else. Yes, someone dies promptly after the book starts, but then it's boring.
• 
  Christy

  Cute and sometimes corny, sometimes clever. Each chap is headed by an excerpt from Handel's Messiah. Fun for someone interested in Harvard in the 70s or Messiah.
• 
  Debbie Maclellan

  It was a slow starter and I almost quit reading it half way through. I am glad that I kept reading because it starts to get interesting half way through.