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Between 1978 and 1996, Charlotte MacLeod published ten Peter Shandy novels, all of them wild, crazy and witty. Her characters range from the straight to the totally insane. Her plots are often laugh-out-loud funny. If you like unconventional mysteries that are well written, I suggest you give this series a try.

In the first book “Rest you Merry” we meet Peter Shandy, professor at Balaclava Agricultural College and co-propagator of the Balaclava Buster kohlrabi. It’s Christmas, which means it’s time for the university’s main fundraiser, The Grand Illumination. For years, Peter’s neighbor, Jemima Ames, has hounded him into decorating his house in the crescent. This year she decides that she has had enough. After nearly burying his house under garish decorations, he escapes Balaclava for a sea voyage only to be shipwrecked. Sneaking back home to confront his angry neighbors, he finds Jemima’s body behind her sofa. Is it an accident or a murder? Thorkjeld Svenson, president of the university, champion of the straight groove, and Viking berserker, assigns Peter to find out, without screwing up the lighting.

The second book is “Luck runs out.” Strange things are happening in Balaclava County. First, a prankster turns over all the horseshoes nailed to the college barns, letting the luck run out, figuratively speaking. Second, the silversmith’s vault is emptied in a daring robbery while newlyweds Peter and Helen Shandy are there choosing their cutlery. Third, Belinda de Balaclava, the university’s prize pig, is kidnapped and the local farrier is found dead in the pigsty’s mash trough. Peter is once again assigned to solve the mysteries.

The third is “Wrack and Rune”. Professor Timothy Ames is visiting Horsefalls Farm in Lumpkin Corners when his employee dies in a very ugly way. After calling the police and the doctor, his next call is to Peter Shandy. Now Peter must find out why someone has been harassing the Horsefalls. Is the death another prank gone wrong or a cold-blooded murder? How does the property’s ancient Viking runestone fit into the mystery? To find the answers, Peter must deal with pranksters, large crowds of tourists, and the 102-year-old Uncle Sven’s search for an older woman from the university president.

Number four on the list is “Something the cat dragged.” Retired Professor Ungley rents Mrs. Lomax’s downstairs apartment. When his cat Edmund appears with his toupee in his mouth, his only thought is to return it before the professor loses it. When he discovers that he is not home and has not slept in his bed, he goes looking for him and finds him impaled on a harrow peg behind the Balaclava Society clubhouse. Police Chief Ottermole calls the death an accident, but Mrs. Lomax doesn’t believe it and when Edmund finds another clue, she takes him straight to the university. Overnight, Balaclava County is the scene of a power struggle between the city and the dress that could destroy the Balaclava Agricultural College. Naturally, President Svenson assigns Peter Shandy, the Hercule Poirot of turnip fields, the task of discovering the murderer.

“The Curse of the Giant Hogweed” is the fifth book in the series. In this book, Professors Shandy, Ames, and Stott have traveled to England to help with problems caused by growing Giant Hogweed. When they set out to do field work, they crossed the border into Wales and found a world they didn’t expect. Trapped in the hogweed and confronted by a giant searching for the King’s pet griffin, it doesn’t take long for them to realize that life has gotten even stranger than usual.

Number six is ​​”The Corpse in Oozak’s Pond.” It’s Groundhog Day and all of Balaclava has turned out to see if the college groundhog sees her shadow. They get more of a show than they bargain for when a dead body appears through the ice in the pond. When two more deaths follow, it’s up to Peter to find some answers.

In the seventh book, Vane Pursuit, Peter’s wife Helen is photographing vintage weather vanes for the historical society. It seems that as soon as she takes a photo of herself, the weather vanes disappear. When someone fires bombs at the Lumpkin Soap Factory shortly after its weather vane is photographed and someone is killed in the fire, Peter begins to investigate. Before he finds the answers, he’ll tangle with a motley crew of survivors, help an heiress in hiding, and fear for the life of his beloved Helen.

The eighth in the series is An Owl Too Many. When Emory Emmerick, a site engineer for the university’s new television station, is stabbed to death during the annual owl count, Peter Shandy is back on the case. A dead man who isn’t who he claimed to be, a secretary who won’t stop tying herself to trees, and a wild ride down a raging river in a tugboat make this a rolling adventure as well as a good mystery.

Number nine is Something in the water. Peter has gone to see reports of lush, beautiful lupines growing where they shouldn’t be able to grow at all. Staying at an old inn, he’s waiting for his desert when the town’s most hated citizen falls face-first into his restaurant. He is suspected of foul play, but Peter is much more interested in lupines. Interested or not, Peter soon finds himself trying to solve three mysteries. Who killed Jaspar Flodge, how do such lush plants grow in such poor soil, and who is the unknown artist who refuses to admit having painted such beautiful canvases.

Number ten, the last but not least in the series is Exit the Milkman. Professor Feldster, Balaclava dairy expert and Shandy’s neighbor has disappeared. Last seen on his way to one of his many lodge meetings, he is seen getting into a large car with tinted windows and then nothing. He never shows up at the shelter, doesn’t come home, and doesn’t show up for his morning class. Before they find him, his hateful wife dies in a strange mansion. Once again, Peter must leave his turnip fields and his classroom to play Sherlock Holmes.