Charlotte MacLeod had been a well-established cozy author in the '90s, when I got this Advance. It's sad to learn, now, that she only published two more books before falling victim to Alzheimer's and dying in 2005. Given that she published nearly 40 books and lived to the age of 83, though, I probably shouldn't feel too bad for her. I'm just not used to being introduced to an author's works so late in her career.The Odd Job is the penultimate of one of MacLeod's mystery series, this one starring Sarah Kelling and Max Bittersohn. I didn't get to "meet" Bittersohn, though, since he's off in Argentina throughout the novel. Kelling, on the other hand, is a fascinating lady who I hope to read more about. Set in Boston and its suburbs, Odd follows Kelling as she tries to settle the estate of an acquaintance she knew through the Wilkins Museum. Kelling soon realizes that Dolores didn't die of natural causes, and that the well-meaning woman may have gotten involved in matters going far deeper than she'd known.Despite walking into an already well-developed series, I never felt lost -- either in the plot or about Kelling's life. Odd was well written and well paced, truly a joy to read. I hadn't expected much when I picked the book up -- a cozy set among Boston's upper crust hadn't sounded all that appealing -- but I'm glad I did. Apparently MacLeod won all those awards for a good reason! I'm definitely going to be reading more of her books.
