Remembering Charlotte MacLeod: A Tribute on the Anniversary of Her Passing (January 14, 2026 – 21 years since her departure on January 14, 2005)

Today marks the solemn anniversary of the passing of one of the most delightful voices in cozy mystery fiction: Charlotte MacLeod. I first discovered her brilliance back in the 1990s with Rest You Merry, a charming book expanded from a short story that launched the unforgettable Peter Shandy series (I reviewed it recently on my food and lifestyle blog, Olla-Podrida, you can read it here), and it remains a favorite that sparked my lifelong love for her work.

Though I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, I set myself a personal challenge for 2026: to read (or reread) every book MacLeod ever wrote. It’s an ambitious goal—she penned over 30 novels across multiple series, each quirky, humorous, and utterly unique. Just finishing The Luck Runs Out (the second in the Peter Shandy series) reminded me why her writing captivates so deeply. Her descriptions are pure magic, like this vivid portrait of the secondary character Iduna Bjorklund—a larger-than-life figure painted with such wit and warmth that she leaps off the page.

  "...his wife appeared at the appointed spot, looking smaller and daintier than ever beside a woman in a rose-colored coat and hat, whose contours were reminiscent of the Goodyear Blimp's. Spent and beleaguered as he was, Shandy felt a surge of fury. How dare this human zeppelin inflict herself and all her folderols on them after all they'd been through. His lips formed a terse word. Before he could utter it, Iduna moved toward him, smiling, and he had to smile back. It would have been impossible not to. To begin with, Iduna didn't move, she floated, buoyant and merry as a pink balloon in the hand of a child at a Fourth of July parade. Nor did she merely smile, she glowed with inner goodness that made him think of the vast iron cook stove in his grandmother's kitchen back on the farm. Here, he knew by certain instinct, was a woman who made wonderful cookies and would give you some."

 MacLeod had an extraordinary gift for creating eccentric, memorable characters from wildly diverse backgrounds—people you won’t encounter in any other mysteries. Her books are literate yet light, filled with gentle humor, clever plots, and zero gore or gratuitous violence.

Charlotte Matilda MacLeod was born on November 12, 1922, in Bath, New Brunswick, Canada. Her family emigrated to the United States in 1923, and she became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1951. After attending the Art Institute of Boston, she worked as a copywriter for Stop & Shop Supermarkets in the late 1940s and early 1950s, later rising to vice president at the advertising agency N. H. Miller & Company before retiring in 1982. 

By day she crafted ads; by early morning (starting at 6 a.m.) she wrote mysteries, only beginning new books on Sundays and often working in her bathrobe to resist errands. Her cozy style—humorous, literate, with likable protagonists and delightfully odd secondary characters—sold over a million copies in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. She co-founded the American Crime Writers League and served as its president. Among her honors: the Nero Award for The Corpse in Oozak's Pond (1987, also Edgar-nominated), the Malice Domestic Lifetime Achievement Award (1998), and multiple American Mystery Awards.

 MacLeod’s series include:

 

Peter Shandy (my personal favorite): Set at the fictional Balaclava Agricultural College, starring the agronomy professor Peter Shandy and his wife Helen. Start with Rest You Merry (1979) and continue through gems like The Luck Runs Out (1981), Wrack and Rune (1982), and more—up to Exit the Milkman (1996).

 

Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn: Witty Boston upper-crust adventures. 

 

Canadian-set mysteries under the pen name Alisa Craig (RCMP officer Madoc Rhys and the Grub-and-Stakers gardening club series).

  

She also wrote stand-alone novels, short stories, anthologies (like Christmas Stalkings and Mistletoe Mysteries), and non-fiction, including a biography of Mary Roberts Rinehart.

MacLeod spent her later years in Maine, where she battled Alzheimer's before passing at a nursing home in Lewiston on January 14, 2005. I still mourn her loss—her voice was one of kindness, cleverness, and joy in the everyday absurdities of life.

If you love cozy mysteries with heart, humor, and unforgettable characters, do yourself a favor: pick up the Peter Shandy series. Start with Rest You Merry during the holidays or dive into The Luck Runs Out for pure delight. These are timeless gems that deserve rediscovery. Thank you, Charlotte MacLeod, for the laughter, the cleverness, and the cozy escapes. You are deeply missed.

Happy reading—and may your mysteries always be merry!
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