The Balloon Man by Charlotte MacLeod

In ten words or less: Body found beneath hot air balloon; Max and Sarah investigate.

Review: Sarah Kelling Bittersohn is planning a huge wedding for her husband's nephew at their North Shore estate. The wedding goes off without a hitch--except for the hot air balloon landing on the caterer's tent, and the squashed corpse found beneath it.

The balloon belongs to the neighbors across the road, and nobody knows who the corpse was. When the long lost--and extremely valuable--Kelling rubies appear during the wedding, Max Bittersohn leaves to investigate, but doesn't return.

Why bother? When Max disappears, it's up to Sarah to recruit family members to search for him, and to identify the body found on their lawn. More action than usual in a MacLeod mystery, but still delightful, as both the Kelling and Bittersohn families united to save one of their own.