The Transcendental Murder (1964)

by Jane Langton

Series: Homer Kelly Mysteries (1)

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284	6	99,076	(3.38)	29
The citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, never tire of their heritage. For decades, the intellectuals of this little hamlet have continued endless debates about Concord's favorite sons: Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and their contemporaries. Concord's latter-day transcendental scholars are a strange bunch, but none is more peculiar than Homer Kelly, an expert on Emerson and on homicide. An old-fashioned murder is about to put both skills to the test. At a meeting of the town's intellectuals, Ernest Goss produces a cache of saucy love letters written by the men and women of the transcendentalist sect. Although Homer chortles at the idea that Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson might have had a fling, Goss insists the letters are real. He never gets a chance to prove it. Soon after he is found killed by a musket ball. The past may not be dead, but Goss certainly is. The Transcendental Murder marks the first appearance for Langston's amateur sleuth Homer Kelly.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 6 (next | show all)

I discovered this series from a conversation I had with someone on a trail in Lincoln, MA. She had actually met the author, Jane Langton, who I wish I'd been able to meet.

This is the first in the Homer Kelly series, where Homer is working for the DA's office in Cambridge, after having worked as a detective.

Homer is in Concord because of his interest in Henry Thoreau and the Transcendentalists. He gets involved with the townspeople over the murder of one of the important people in town who is also a jerk and a bully. By the end of the story, Homer's life will be changed. I enjoyed reading about the Concord of 60 years ago, what has changed, and what has remained the same.

I've decided to read all of the books in the series that are set in New England. (

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fromthecomfychair | May 18, 2024 |

Started pretty slow but by the time the crime was committed I was hooked, it's the first book in the series and I'll be reading more of them. (

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kevn57 | Dec 8, 2021 |

I'm surprised (given how much I loved the Langton family series) that these books should be so "meh" for me. I read a later one, and reviewers mentioned it had lost some of its earlier sparkle, so I went back to the beginning, and still, "meh." (Less than "meh," really). None of the characters engaged, there seemed to be no plot to speak of (in the first 1/5 of the book, which ought to be enough to get things going), and it only came alive in one sequence when a gullible dupe began quoting forged letters from literary luminaries--not enough to save it for me.

On to other books--there's no shortage of them!

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! (

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ashleytylerjohn | Oct 13, 2020 |

Orig. published as The transcendental murder (

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ME_Dictionary | Mar 19, 2020 |

I loved all the quirky characters and all the history that was added in. There is a great sense of what it was like to be in 1960s Concord Massachusetts. (

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BonnieJune54 | Aug 23, 2013 |

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Homer Kelly Mysteries (1)

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Dell's A Murder Ink Mystery Series (9)

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The Transcendental Murder

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Concord, Massachusetts, USA

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There was a big man sitting at the other end of the table in the reference room of the Concord Library when Mary came in and put down her file.

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▾Book descriptions

The citizens of Concord, Massachusetts, never tire of their heritage. For decades, the intellectuals of this little hamlet have continued endless debates about Concord's favorite sons: Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and their contemporaries. Concord's latter-day transcendental scholars are a strange bunch, but none is more peculiar than Homer Kelly, an expert on Emerson and on homicide. An old-fashioned murder is about to put both skills to the test. At a meeting of the town's intellectuals, Ernest Goss produces a cache of saucy love letters written by the men and women of the transcendentalist sect. Although Homer chortles at the idea that Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson might have had a fling, Goss insists the letters are real. He never gets a chance to prove it. Soon after he is found killed by a musket ball. The past may not be dead, but Goss certainly is. The Transcendental Murder marks the first appearance for Langston's amateur sleuth Homer Kelly.

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