The Convivial Codfish, 1984, by Charlotte MacLeod. 5th in the Sarah Kelling/Max Bittersohn series.Max plays the stronger role here, with his wife Sarah more in the background. Sarah’s relative Jem Kelling has just become Exalted Chowderhead of the Comrades of Convivial Codfish, and is honoured to wear the ornate, silver Great Chain of the Convivial Cod. However, no sooner has Jem adorned himself with this than it somehow disappears. As a result of trying to determine what’s happened to the Great Chain, Max gets embroiled with his new wife’s extremely odd family. He drives around a lot in the Massachusetts snow, interviewing people who are heavily into festive cocktails, even if they are hospitalized.Christmas hovers around here rather than taking centre stage. I think what made the book for me is simply how over-the-top all of the personalities are.
I think I'm done w the Kelling/Bittersohn series for now. Too much cozy & not enough Boston. Sarah and Max are finally married in this 5th book, and the book is from Max's point of view. I missed Sarah and once again the mystery just wasn't that intriguing. The only Bostonianish thing about the book was uncle Jem Kelling's silly group of Codfish. Of course they are all suspects once the murderer strikes. Of course it didn't matter whom the killer turned out to be. For now I think Max & Sarah will get along just fine without me.
