Mary DaheimRecensioni
Autore di Just Desserts
Recensioni
The alpine Christmas di Mary Daheim
There's a lot of setting up happening in the first half of this book. We're learning about Emma Lord, her son, her town, her former lovers, the eccentric staff of her newspaper, the equally eccentric population of the rest of the town, and a murder. At first I feared that it would all turn out to be too cloying and contrived to be tolerable. But the plot finally settled down into some reasonably intelligent sleuthing and the hints and allegations started mounting up.
This is a good example of this sort of fiction. I couldn't settle for only 3 stars, so it gets 4.
I just couldn't get into the characters or the storyline.
I was really looking forward to this one. It's set in my home country of Canada, a location I haven't seen too often in cozies before, and it's supposed to be set in Vancouver, a city I've visited before. It's not set in Vancouver. Instead, it's set in the fictional town of Port Royal, which appears to be somewhat modelled off of the Canadian city of Victoria.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that for much of the book, I thought it was actually a historical cozy mystery set in some indeterminate period in the past. It is not. In my defense, there were heavy references to British culture in this Canadian town and the dialogue often seemed unnatural and a bit dated. I admit that I may have missed some context having not read the first book in the series, but still: I wouldn't expect the time period to be a major source of confusion.
On top of that, I found the mystery to be difficult to follow. There are many characters and suspects to follow. Key clues pointing to the murderer were difficult to pick up on, leading to a surprise ending.
That being said though, the plot has a lot of potential! A travel cozy combined with glitzy and eccentric celebrity suspects in the Sacred Eight, a who's who of theatre people who are staying at the same hotel as Judith and Renie, could make for a very fun read. Unfortunately, the confusing nature of the book dampened my enjoyment.
Readers should know that there is an animal murder in this book. In general however, the book has little violence.
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If that's not enough, there's FBI Agent Bruce Dunleavy comes to investige Judith's mother, the cantankerous Gertrude, claiming she was a Nazi in her youth. Of course it's not true, but Gertrude is enjoying herself egging him on.
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a. Renie is smoking instead of eating messily. Her husband, Bill, retired from the university and has also taken up smoking.
b. Sweetums the cat has his own way of telling Judith it's lunchtime. (At least he's a good mouser.)
c. Joe Flynn plans to retire from being a homicide detective at the end of the year. It's June.
d. We meet the Schwartzes. (Minerva Schwartz reminds Judith of her piano teacher, Mrs. Grindstein.)
e. The preschool school teachers, Perl and Williams, have arrived. (Pam and Sandi)
f. Here come Pete and Marie Santori, the probable honeymooners. (Their pet names for each other are gag-worthy.)
Chapter 2:
a. Roland de Turque of Kansas City, Missouri, the only African-American guest, has arrived.
b. Room 2 is decorated with daguerreotypes taken in Cincinnati (removed from a family album). One group is of Gertrude's Hoffman ancestors.
c. Renie's kids are currently 29, 28, and 26 years old.
d. Mr. and Mrs. John Smith have arrived.
e. Well, the cancellation last chapter is taken care of by the arrival of Mal and Bea Malone, from Chicago, Illinois.
f. When Judith asked Auntie Vance for a Thelonius Monk record for her birthday back in the 1950s, her aunt was unable to find a 'Loneliest Monk' record.
g. We learn about three cases of Judith dealing with rude guests in the first three months of her B&B. (My favorite was what she did to the woman who attacked Sweetums with a butter knife.)
Chapter 3:
a. Judith finds a piece of paper that puzzles her.
b. Among things guests have mislaid over the years was a baby.
c. The Jones live on the north slope of Heraldsgate Hill. (Their living room is green, blue, and off-white.)
d. Bill is still a consultant to the university psychology department.
e. It's been two years since Mike McMonigle married Kristen Kristen Rundberg (see book 12, Wed and Buried). Their first baby's due date is July 2nd. The couple are currently working in a national park about an hour away from Judith's neighborhood.
f. Judith's safe is behind a false panel in the cherrywood cupboard in the family sitting room on the third floor.
Chapter 4:
a. The disc jockey named John Smith appeared in Wed and Buried.
b. Three of the jigsaw puzzles Judith keeps around are described.
c. Joe broke his leg during their honeymoon in book four, Dune to Death. Their first fight, described here, involved Gertrude.
d. Sweetums' pet door has been broken since Auntie Vance got her foot stuck in it on Memorial Day (she was trying to kick the cat).
Chapter 5:
a. Armenian war refugees came to the USA after World War II.
b. Joe directly addresses Gertrude Grover as "Mrs. G". The author says he's never felt up to calling her anything more intimate.
c. That fortune teller died at the B & B in book one, Just Desserts.
d. The divan in the more expensive room 3 is the one Grandma Grover used to nap on when it was in the front parlor.
e. I do not remember in which book Gertrude started a fire.
Chapter 6:
a. Judith is taken aback when Renie tells her that she and Bill are part of something called the key club.
b. Neighbors Carl and Arlene are away, so they can't help.
c. Phyllis blames Sweetums for what has happened.
Chapter 7:
a. Pity Jesus Jorge Martinez as you read his attempt to interview Gertrude about the murder.
b. Grandma Grover braided rugs that are so thick, Judith had to have a sixteenth of an inch removed from the bottom of room 4's door so it would clear the rug.
c. Aunt Deb once broke three sewing machines in two weeks.
d. When her English class was supposed to write a term paper on legendary American heroes, Judith wrote about Al Capone. Her paper was titled, 'Scar-Face: Robin Hood or Robbing Hood'. (She got a C-. We don't learn what she got for her paper on Ma Barker for her Modern Family course.)
e. Mal mourns the loss of Tagliavini, Albanese, McCormack, and Corelli.
f. Joe's ex-wife, Vivian Flynn, enters the book. Judith's cup of troubles runneth over.
Chapter 8:
a. Vivian has a guest named DeeDee. They sang together in Panama City as the 'V. D. Girls'. [If you're too young to remember, the initialism 'VD' was short for 'venereal disease,' the old name for sexually transmitted diseases/infections.]
b. Renie's current project for Boring Airplane Company is called 'Planes, Trains, and Pedophiles'.
c. FBI Agent Bruce Dunleavy shows up, His interview with Gertrude doesn't go as planned, either,
d. Gertrude was born in Boppard, Germany. Her Hoffman parents brought her to the USA when she was 18 months old.
e. What's stored in Hillside Manor's basement is described, including a rusty lawn mower Grandpa Grover used (Judith is sentimental).
Chapter 9:
a. Once the IRS thought Deborah Grover, Renie's mom, was a taxidermist.
b. Judith is ill.
Chapter 10:
a. Renie and Judith discuss opera and classic killers.
b. Judith and Arlene Rankers are no longer caterers.
Chapter 11:
a. "Quinsy" is an old name for throat inflammation, especially if one has an abscess near the tonsils. Current term: "peritonsillar abscess".
b. "Headcrusher" is defined. (Ick)
c. Renie cries only when her favorite baseball team doesn't make it into the postseason.
Chapter 12:
a. Joe learned to cook before he was married.
b. In chapter six of book 12, Wed and Buried, we learned that Joe's mother died young. Here we learn he was in his teens.
c. Agent Dunleavy is interviewing Gertrude again.
d. Sweetums eats from a can of Feline Feast.
Chapter 13:
a. Once Judith had a couple from Iowa as guests in Room three. They sneaked in their pot-bellied pig, Gustav into their room.
b. Room six has a hooked rug Gertrude made before her eyes got bad.
c. According to the cousins' steward (when they were single and took a trip to Europe), their cabin has set a transatlantic disorder record.
d. Pamela Perl's address is 309 Parker Street, Newark, New Jersey. Cassandra Williams (Sandi) has the same address.
e. This chapter has some biographical information about Legs Benedict.
f. Blanche Rexford, head librarian at the Heraldsgate Hill Library, trained with former librarian Judith 20 years ago.
Chapter 14:
a. White brick Central Hospital is where Grovers have gone for almost 50 years. Mike and two of his Jones cousins were born there. Judith's father, Donald, died in the since-demolished old wing.
b. Renie and Bill bought a Toyota Camry they call 'Cammy" after Renie totaled their blue Chevrolet on a mountain pass two winters ago. The Jones are about as attached to Cammy as they are their bunny, Clarence.
c. Renie and Judith have an argument over Sweetums sneaking into Cammy that grows to include Renie tucking in and singing a bedtime song to her bunny, Clarence.
d. Mike and Kristin have named their red-haired newborn 'Dan McMonigle II'. He weighs 8 pounds, 9 ounces.
e. None of Vivian's children have had had children, not even the two older ones who have been married twice.
f. Blanche calls back with more information.
Chapter 15:
a. Judith has to ask the unpleasant Ingrid Heffleman of the state B&B association for help.
b. We learn why Renie won't go to the Heraldsgate Library. (That's a hefty amount of fines owed!)
Chapter 16:
a. Judith stayed in the hospital for two weeks when Mike was born, according to Gertrude, who says she stayed even longer because she had some problems. (Judith said it was five days.)
b. Here the three remaining trees of what had been the Grover orchard are said to be cherry. Judith's garden currently has foxglove, rose bushes, oriental poppies; with dahlias, Peruvian lilies, and gladiola coming up by the back fence.
c. Joe has decided he'll call little Dan 'Mac".
Chapter 17:
a. Athens Pizza has a similar no-nonsense approach to business as Cal the cobbler.
b. Joe tells Judith that every so often it occurs to him that she could have been a detective.
c. Judith was born, two months to the day, before the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Donald was an air raid warden because a rheumatic heart kept him out of active duty. Gertrude volunteered.)
d. Judith tells Dunleavy about Aunt Deb and Gertrude's trouble with Hannah and Esther Greenberg in their Bridge club.
e. Grandma Grover's nickname was Cora Fat Tail. Neither Judith nor Renie know why.
f. Judith remembers her father and Uncle Cliff arguing about the best way to kill slugs. (Donald's pans of beer never got as many as Uncle Cliff with his flashlight and sharp shovel.)
g. The Dooleys' dog is named Venerable Bede.
Chapter 18:
a. Judith remembers when Mike, now carrying a carton of baby stuff, was carrying a G. I. Joe doll, then a football, then the Blonde du Jour.[of the day, if you weren't forced to take French in school].
b. Renie finally explains about the Key Club.
c. Judith has been an innkeeper, caterer, bartender, librarian, and she sold roller skates while she was in college.
d. The white wicker bassinet that served Renie and Judith, and then their children, is in the garage, along with the stand Uncle Cliff made. He also built the loft in the garage to store a small rowboat he and Grandpa Grover eventually had to abandon. (He built it 60 years ago.)
Chapter 20:
a. Cammy is champagne colored.
b. Judith and Renie look at some photographs of the Malones.
c. Gertrude tells Sweetums she tried to teach him cribbage [and failed].
d. Gertrude hoards worn-out girdles. She has special candy b0oxes in that same middle drawer, under the girdles.
Chapter 21:
a. Gertrude manages to smile when she meets her great-grandson for the first time.
b. Judith and Dan had a black lab named Oliver (badly behaved) when they lived on Thurlow Street (which is in Seattle's south end).
c. The Rankers had a pesky dog named Farky who met a suspicious end many years ago.
d. We find out how the mobster "Fewer Fingers" lost some of his.
e. Mike notices something during the family picture taking.
I've read almost all of the Bed-and-Breakfast mysteries and Legs Benedict is a very good entry. I enjoyed what Judith learned about her guests along the way as well as the interactions between Judith and Agent Dunleavy regarding Gertrude. The birth of her first grandchild prompts memories of our heroine's dismal life with her first husband. Cousin Renie is as rude as ever. Definitely read this one!
Dog lovers will not be happy.
Cat lovers will get the antics of Sweetums (quite amusing since he's not OUR cat).
Judith is the only witness to a strange and violent scene next door to the hotel where Mike and Kristen's rehearsal dinner takes place. NO ONE believes her, and it's driving her nuts. She's sure that what she saw ties in to her homicide detective husband, Lt. Joe Flynn's, latest murder case. Joe keeps trying to convince her otherwise. Judith and Renie do their usual amateur sleuthing while Judith has to deal with guests, including the most troublesome of Mike's new in-laws. Gertrude, Judith's mother, is being her usual nasty self. So is their cat, Sweetums.
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a. Aunt Ellen & Uncle Win of Beatrice, Nebraska, have sent a wedding present that neither Joe nor Judith can figure out.
b. It's been four years since Joe and Judith's wedding.
c. Cousin Renie is wrong. Her sons (and daughter) will get married. (See 'Dial M for Mom' in the Motherhood is Murder anthology)
d. Sweetums the cat is part Persian.
e. Judith is a Libra and Renie is a Scorpio.
f. Mike is now 28 years old.
g. Kristen's Aunt Leah and Uncle Tank are from Deep Denial, Idaho.
h. 'Moon River" was one of Judith's favorite songs when she and Joe were dating over 30 years ago.
i. See book five, Bantam of the Opera, for the toolshed conversion. I believe it was in book ten, Nutty as a Fruitcake, that Vivian Flynn bought a house two doors from Hillside Manor.
Chapter 2:
a. We meet some of Kristen's relatives: Her father, Sig, her mother, Merle, Uncle Gurd, Uncle Tank and Aunt Leah, Aunt Tilda (one of Sig's widowed sisters), Aunt Leota (the other widowed sister -- her Marv died in an unpleasant fashion).
b. Phyllis Rackley, Judith's cleaning woman, keeps a small Bible in her apron pocket.
c. Mike and Kristen's rehearsal dinner is being held in the penthouse dining room of the Naples Hotel.
d. Kristen's Cousin Thorald and his wife, Gitti, have their RV [recreational vehicle] parked near the zoo.
e. The roof of the Belmont Hotel is below. Judith witnesses something there.
Chapter 3:
a. It's the wedding.
b. On their honeymoon, Carl Rankers accidentally called his wife Arlene 'Darlene,' and she tried to kill him. (The Rankers sometimes chase each
other with large rubber spatulas.)
c. Interesting that Merle thinks that Mike looks like Joe. According to chapter 5 of book five, aside from his red hair, Mike is image of Judith's dad.
d. In chapter 1 we were told that it's been four years since Judith and Joe wed, but Joe is saying five years ago (since they met again?). They have a short second honeymoon.
e. Phyllis thinks Sweetums is a limb of Satan.
f. St. Fabiola's Hospital is on the opposite corner from the Naples Hotel. [Saint Fabiola lived in the 4th century A.D. She was a nurse/doctor and founded a hospital in Rome. She's the patron saint of 'divorced people, difficult marriages, victims of abuse; adultery; unfaithfulness, widows; [and the] Hospice Movement'. Her first husband was a nasty piece of work.]
Chapter 4:
a. Mike and Kristen are having a 10-day honeymoon in Mexico.
b. Uncle Gurd's method of taking a shower is not the usual one.
Chapter 5:
a. Phyllis Rackley likes to listen to fundamentalist programs on the radio. She's a fan of a Reverend Crump on TV.
b. Judith hears Kip Sherman, a nephew of Bill Jones, on the radio.
c. Judith tries on the Lavender Dreams evening gown at I. Magnifique.
Chapter 6:
a. Gertrude, addressing her daughter as 'Judith Anne,' is either forgetting things or faking it.
b. Joe's mother died young. He says his father was impossible.
c. Judith tries to explain to Phyllis that Catholics don't worship statues. (True.)
d. We get a list of some persons who would have liked to have gotten rid of the murder victim.
e. We meet Esperanza Highcastle, the Highcastle Hot Dogs heiress.
Chapter 7:
a. Judith has had the honeysuckle vine that Joe has pruned since she was a girl.
b. Judith has a phone conversation with Merle regarding the wedding bills.
c. Uncle Gurd is Sig's uncle.
Chapter 8:
a. Dan McMonigle had been a bartender when Judith met him.
b. We meet TNT Tenino.
c. The Grover family lawyer's name is mentioned as William Ewart Gladstone Whiffel. Is he related to the Ewart Gladstone Whiffel who had been Judith's last family lawyer who had died around the same time as Dan, as mentioned in chapter 8 of book three, Holy Terrors?
Chapter 9:
a. Arlene Rankers & two other SOTS (Our Lady, Star of the Sea Catholic Church parishioners) are in charge of making sure there's food for funerals. Rotation is alphabetical. Judith, as a Flynn, won't be on call until the first week of September. Renie is contributing to the freezer now.
b. John Smith was born blind and abandoned by his unwed mother.
c. TNT meets Gertrude.
d. Aunt Deb still mends her nylon stockings.
e. Sorry, I don't recall in which book Judith rescued a guest from the bar at Foozle's.
f. Renie has an accident with her car. Too bad about who was in the white sedan she hit.
Chapter 10:
a. Renie's gossip about a couple of upcoming operas upsets Woody. (I once saw 'Romeo and Juliet' staged as if they were modern Mob families, so I don't find Renie's gossip farfetched.)
b. Melissa Bargroom, the local music critic, whose name Renie is dropping, appeared in book 5, Bantam of the Opera.
c. Joe, Judith, Woody, and Renie look around the Belmont.
d. Judith and Arlene look at a vacant condo in Belgravia Gardens. (Is Cathy the real name of the Rankers daughter called 'Mugs'?)
Chapter 11:
a. Phyllis has a cousin Klepto.
b. Dooley (Aloysius Gonzaga Dooley, the Dooley's eldest son) may be off to college, but his younger brother, O. P. (Oliver Plunkett) still has Dooley's telescope. O.P., now 13 years old, helped out in Nutty as a Fruitcake. [Saint Oliver Plunkett was the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland in the 17th century. He was executed for promoting Catholicism. He's the patron saint for peace & reconciliation in Ireland.]
c. Dooley is home at the moment. He describes the time he saw Harley Davidson live at a rock concert downtown.
d. One of the Dooley brothers' nephews is a little boy named Pius X, 'Pix' for short. [Pope 1903-1914. He's the patron saint of emigrants from Treviso, Italy. He's also known as the 'Pope of the Blessed Sacrament'.] I'm not sure if the nude little girl riding the dog is a Dooley child or grandchild.
Chapter 12:
a. Because Judith goes to Renie's house, we have a scene with of the Jones' Holland dwarf lop, Clarence.
b. Judith meets someone at the emergency pet clinic. (Clarence likes his Fat Boy food and drinks only Evian water.)
c. Mike has been working at the Idaho panhandle Nez Perce National Park. Kristen is hoping to be transferred there from the Craters of the Moon National Monument.
d. The late Dan McMonigle loved the Bulkbusters warehouse.
Chapter 13:
a. There's trouble at the radio station.
b. It's a rainy 4th of July. Still, Gertrude says she prefers the days when Uncle Cliff (Renie's late dad) put cherry bombs in Aunt Deb's oven and Uncle Al's Roman candles set fire to a neighbor's garage.
c. Phyllis gives an interesting, if implausible, reason that Satan is in hell.
d. Harley Davidson was seen with some people from the Red Fog recording label (one of their rock groups is called 'Mud Bath').
Chapter 14:
a. Judith thought she'd given Mike the birds & the bees talk when he was in 6th grade, but it was Dan when Mike was in 4th grade.
b. Mike has 'Daniel Neal McMonigle 1937-1986' tattooed inside his left upper arm. (He had it done in Mexico.)
c. Once Dan let Judith go to Thanksgiving dinner with her family if she made him a meal before she left. He put the turkey in the mailbox.
d. Here it's said that Vivian has two sons. In chapter 6 of Holy Terrors, Joe said his stepchildren are Doug and Terri.
Chapter 15:
a. Besides the KRAS and KORN radio stations, the Heraldsgate 400 building has the Highcastle Hot Dogs administrative offices, as well as other businesses.
b. Apparently, the mascot for Highcastle Hot Dogs is, or was, Willie, the Winking Wienie.
c. Renie talks about problems with political correctness arguments at work.
d. Donna and husband Arnold Weick of the Gem Shop has been serving various members of the Grover family for almost 20 years.
Chapter 16:
a. Bill Jones once gave Billy Big Horn $20 after he played 'Danny Boy' on his harmonica for Bill's mother.
b. Uncle Gurd has Judith's bathrobe. (She probably won't want it back.)
Chapter 17:
a. We see Judith's list of suspects and what she has to write about them.
b. Judith gets a letter from the Internal Revenue Service.
c. Gertrude likes Granny Goodness chewy caramels. [If you've ever read about the "Granny Goodness" comic book character, the name should give you pause.]
Chapter 18: Judith gets a call from Vivian.
Chapter 19:
a. Judith has Grandma Grover's silver tray.
b. O. P. Dooley, described as 13 in chapter 11, is here stated to be 12 years old.
There's plenty going on besides a wedding in this entry. How do a right-wing relatives, a hot dog heiress, a boxer, radio stations, a fashion designer, and his models come together in a case of murder and other crimes? With humor, of course. Come along for the ride and be grateful you don't have to deal with any of the relatives or suspects.
Rabbit lovers: Renie and Bill's Holland dwarf lop, Clarence, has some action in ch. 12.
Dog lovers: There's the well-mannered Dooley dog (see ch. 11), Darrell Mims' black and white mutt, Sound Bite (see ch. 12), and a glimpse of a Dandie Dinmont (see ch. 10).
Cat lovers: Sweetums gets into mischief, of course. I laughed at his role in the climax, particularly the last sentence describing it.
Judith and her cousin Renie have the opportunity to go on a cruise, for free. They board ship and soon the host is found dead, stuffed inside of a piano. As they wander about shore side, the killer is at large. Judith and Renie investigate to solve this crime before anyone else ends up dead.
The story moves at a fast pace, with well developed characters, engaging dialog and suspense. The list of suspects is growing, as new discoveries emerge. Dead Man Docking is a good who-done-it that had me hooked from the first page. I recommend to those who like cozy murder/mysteries.
Judith and her cousin Renie are both schedule for elective surgery at Good Cheer Hospital. Judith is a bit leery due to the fact that a seemingly healthy celebrity and Athlete died after surgery. Once admitted another healthy live is lost, will she and/or her cousin be next? Judith begins investigating before anyone else dies.
A fast paced mystery with an engaging plot and well developed characters. Judith is very likable, she has some family issues she is facing as well as solving (probable) murders. Renie is out-spoken and likable too. A great mix of suspense, secrets, danger and humor. Overall I enjoyed Suture Self, and recommend to those who enjoy a good who-done-it.
Our main plot is that famous opera singers Mario Pucetti and Inez Garcia-Green will be playing opposite each other in 'Traviata' at the opera house only a five minute drive from Hillside Manor Bed-and-Breakfast. The manor has been rented for the two weeks of the engagement to Mario Pucetti and his entourage. Mario is egotistical, short-tempered, accident-prone, and superstitious -- not the best combination for one of Judith's guests.
Something goes wrong on the opening night. If Judith wanted her current guests out of her hair before, she has even more reason now. What a time for Seattle's Homicide Division's Joe Flynn to be in New Orleans for a conference!
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a. Judith's son, Mike McMonigle, spent the summer in his old room at Hillside Manor, while his girlfriend, Kristen, spent the summer in Gertrude's old room.
b. Hillside Manor, an Edwardian saltbox, sits among maple trees and two very tall conifers.
c. Gertrude had lived in the house since she married Donald Grover in 1936.
d. Joe Flynn and Bill Jones will be attending "It Starts With Hamsters," a conference about the social and criminal sociopathic personality. It's going to be held in New Orleans, (this book came out in 1993, well before Hurricane Katrina hit the city).
e. The only reason Judith is letting the famous tenor, Mario Pacetti and his company stay at Hillside Manor for two weeks is that the local opera company is paying triple her normal rates. (Maestro Dunkowitz, the conductor, refuses to host him after his last visit six years ago.)
f. Tomorrow night Judith's cousin, Renie Jones, is having a birthday party for her son, Tom (22). Tom appears to still be dating the young woman his mother refers to as 'Rich Beth' (see book three, Holy Terrors).
Chapter 2:
a. During her phone conversation with her mother, Judith is reminded about when she used to sit inside the fireplace so her smoke would go up the chimney almost 30 years ago (Judith quit years ago, Gertrude still smokes). Aunt Deb wants a new parakeet, but Gertrude still has evil cat Sweetums with her. Gertrude gets annoyed enough during the call to address her daughter as 'Judith Anne'.
b. Judith got a permanent [wave] at Chez Steve, the same salon where she got her gray hair colored in chapter 2 of Holy Terrors.
c. The guests have arrived in Mario Pacetti's mauve RV [recreational vehicle) with its California vanity license plates 'TEN-OR-ONE'.
d. Judith visited Italy in 1964. She uses a phrase from back then when she greets the first of her not-very-welcome guests.
e. Arlene Rankers brings over something that came from a window at Hillside Manor. It certainly isn't Judith's.
Chapter 3:
a. The only windows on the side of Hillside Manor that faces the Rankers' clothesline are in the hallway.
b. The Rankers moved next to the Grovers almost 30 years ago. (Arlene has red-gold curls.)
c. Judith mentions previous guests -- an engineer with a windup dog and a woman whose friends turned out to be inflatable dolls.
.
d. Mugs is one of Arlene and Carl's two daughters.
e. Winston Plunkett, Mario Pacetti's business manager, tells Judith about some of his boss' previous accidents.
f. Judith's grandmother was from Baden-Baden, Germany. Herr Schuzendorf is from Hamburg (Judith was briefly there). Schuzendorf says his great-uncle was Emil Fischer.
g. Inez Garcia-Green, almost as famous as Pacetti, will also be singing in Traviata.
h. A rock is left on Judith's porch.
Chapter 4:
a. Some of the changes to Judith's bedroom since she married Joe are described.
b. Judith has a small safe in the basement. (Joe's gun is a .38 special)
c. Mario Pacetti has an accident.
d. Judith finds a note under her welcome mat. Bill Jones gives his opinion on it.
e. One of Grandma Grover's sayings was "You look like the pigs ate your little brother".
Chapter 5:
a. Renie explains who Emil Fischer was.
b. A phone call to the mothers reveals their latest quarrel (Aunt Deb was right) and their dipsomaniac friend, Alice Wilinski (Gus' widow) settled it.
c. The family photos on the living room fireplace mantel are described.
d. Mike looks like Donald Grover except for his red hair, and Dan McMonigle's mother had red hair.
e. Dr. Feldman, Renie's orthodontist, doesn't have as good a seat at the opera than Renie. Look here for why.
Chapter 6:
a. Inez Garcia-Green remarks on the Spanish galleon wallpaper in the front bedroom's bathroom she asked to use. (She and Justin Kerr visit the manor.) Renie explains where the "Green" in the soprano's name comes from.
b. Something is missing from Judith's refrigerator.
Chapter 7:
a. Renie recounts another argument between their mothers, this time over which year Aunt Opal had a boil on her backside. Judith's dad had the three-day measles in 1947, by the way. Mrs. Parker and Ignatz (her poodle), mentioned several times in Dune to Death, were there.
b. Woody Price's wife, Sondra, has two weeks left in her pregnancy. It's their first.
c. Judith's front parlor is described. Among other decorations, there's a silver crucifix that Judith bought at the Vatican in 1964.
d. Renie's dad, Uncle Cliff, was over 70 when he died of a massive heart attack.
Chapter 8:
a. Mrs. Pacetti says she worked in a flower shop when she was young. That was where she met Mario.
b. During her discussion with carpenter Skjoval Tolvang about renovations to the shed, Judith notices something that leads to mention of a gully on the northeast side of Heraldsgate Hill, over a mile from Judith's, but only 3 blocks from Renie and Bill. Raccoons live in the gully and go through the Jones' yard.
c. A call from Mike brings no joy.
Chapter 9:
a. When Judith drops in to visit Aunt Deb and her mother, they are having their weekly truce because lay Eucharistic ministers Mr. & Mrs. Ringo have brought them Holy Communion.
b. Inez Garcia-Green visits Amina Pacetti.
Chapter 10:
a. See book one, Just Desserts, for when a fortune-teller was murdered at Hillside Manor.
b. Plunkett lists Mario Pucetti's rituals before a performance.
.
Chapter 11:
a. Judith and Renie have been fans of Cheers To You café since their college days.
b. Music critic Melissa Bargroom dishes the dirt on Pacetti and Garcia-Green, etc..
c. "Armistice Day" is the old name for "Veterans Day" (it changed in 1954).
d. Dan McMonigle once upended their mattress, sending Judith sliding feet first. (She landed in the basket of dirty laundry at the end of the bed.)
Chapter 12:
a. The outside space by the living room is where Judith has six rosebushes, lupines, two clumps of lavender, and lilies of the valley.
b. Judith visits her mother and Aunt Deb. Sweetums shows up. (Here is said to be orange instead of orange and white striped.)
c. Joe calls and chats about what he and Bill have been doing in New Orleans.
Chapter 13:
a. One of the guest rooms has a 100-year-old wedding ring quilt covering it.
b. The cousins visit the Hotel Plymouth.
Chapter 14:
a. Woody gives Judith some background info on Justin Kerr.
b. Uncle Cliff had a truly impressive collection of fishing tackle.
c. Edna Fiske gives Judith some information.
d. Dooley assisted with the investigation in Just Desserts and Holy Terrors. He's about 6 feet tall and has a crush on 15-year-old Brianna Stein, daughter of the neighbors at the end of their cul-de-sac.
e. Melissa Bargroom passes on a tidbit about Justin Kerr.
f. Mr. Plunkett addresses Judith as "Mrs. McMonigle" instead of "Mrs. Flynn".
g. When Dan died and was being taken out of their Thurlow Street rental house to the hearse, his body went through the rotting floor in the kitchen.
Chapter 15:
a. Judith has an unsettling dream about her mother.
b. Judith visits her optometrist, who is in the same building as the Doctors Feldman.
c. The cousins go to the Cascadia Hotel, where Inez Garcia-Green is staying.
d. The cousins meet the Prices' newborn.
Chapter 16:
a. Judith and Renie's Cousin Marty had an ex-girlfriend send him two ostriches by UPS (odd revenge).
b. Skjoval Tolvang shows the cousins how the toolshed renovation is going. We get a description. (Pity about the problem the Dooleys' willow tree caused.)
c. The cousins discuss the family cabin, where Dan wanted his ashes spread.
d. There's a bit about Judith's former career as a librarian.
It's pretty easy to understand why Judith considers the Pacettis and their entourage her worst guests so far. There are red herrings aplenty and some coincidences (but not too far-fetched). The Gertrude and Aunt Deb situation is solved before one manages to kill the other. It's a pretty good entry in the series.
DOG LOVERS: You'll have to be content with some name-dropping of Ignatz the poodle.
CAT LOVERS: Sweetums is his very not-sweet self. I enjoyed his role in the last chapter.
The honeymoon does not go as planned, with Joe landing in the local hospital after an accident. (Poor Joe is so out of it when Judith first visits him that he imagines she is his alcoholic ex-wife and shouts embarrassing things at her.) Judith talks her cousin Renie into coming and staying with her.
Of course there's a murder and the cousins find the body. The local law enforcement, headed by Police Chief Neil Clooney and Sheriff Josh Eldritch, are not cooperating with each other. Judith is also dealing with Alice Hoke, her son Augie and his wife Amy, and Alice's daughter Larissa and her husband Donn Bobb Lima, and Alice's sister Leona Ogilvie, a former missionary. There will be other characters and events to vex her, of course. (You try investigating a murder while the town is holding a treasure hunt on the beach below your rental cottage!)
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a. Joe is 52.
b. Father Francis Xavier Hoyle officiated at the wedding. Relatives present who were named: Judith's mother, Gertrude Grover, Aunt Deborah Grover, Auntie Vance [Vanessa] & Uncle Vince, Uncle Al, Uncle Corky, Aunt Ellen & Uncle Win, and Cousin Marty; on Joe's side: diplomat brother Paul from London, Andrew the oil rig engineer from Houston, and the eldest Flynn, Tom the soldier of fortune [claims to be in from Burundi]. Neighbors present who were named: the youngest Dooley baby, and the Rankers' grandchildren [so probably the Dooleys and the Rankers].
c. Renie's Uncle Fred, mentioned in chapter 10 of book three, was not allowed to attend. Who he thinks he is at the moment influenced his wedding gift.
d. LOVED what Auntie Vance did to prevent Gertrude from objecting at the wedding.
e. See book three, Holy Terrors, for the mystery involving Our Lady, Star of the Sea Catholic Church.
f. We learn about a misadventure Joe and Judith had 25 years ago when they were sort of drunk.
g. Joe recites from the local tourist brochure. Their Fourth of July Freebooters' Festival is mentioned.
h. Renie's father, Cliff Grover, the merchant seaman, used to come home with a growth of beard and a new jade figurine.
i. Read about Joe's accident, which has landed him in the Buccaneer Beach Community Hospital for five days.
Chapter 2:
a. We hear about how having Gertrude live with Aunt Deb is going.
b. Mrs. Hoke shows up an insists on giving Judith her receipt. She also tells Judith about the creamery her parents built, Ogilvie's Cheese, which is no longer in business. Mrs. Hoke is vague about why.
c. Pirate's Lair cottage is between the We See Sea Resort and the Best Ever Over the Waves Motel.
d. Judith visits Joe at the hospital. This is where he mistakes her for his ex-wife.
Chapter 4:
a. We meet Neil Clooney, Pirate Beach police chief, and Josh Eldritch, Juniper County Sheriff. They don't get along.
b. Chief Clooney is dating Alice Hoke.
Chapter 5:
a. Judith's son, Mike, called from Whitefish, Montana. He'd spent Monday with his girlfriend, Kristen, and her family on their wheat farm in the hills of the Palouse.
b. Terrance O'Toole, reporter from the 'Buccaneer Beach Bugler' comes calling. (Loved Renie's response when Judith promises the eager young man to divulge their deepest horrors if he'll tell them who was murdered.
c. Judith and Renie enter the boathouse that came with the cottage rental.
d. Grandma Grover used to make all the cousins corduroy jumpers [pinafores, if you're British] every fall. When Cousin Sue said she was too old for one when she started high school, Grandma made her one with the school mascot on the back. She also made corduroy party dresses with pearl buttons from collar to hem (not flattering). We learn other things about Grandma as well.
e. We meet Titus Teacher.
f. We also meet Alice Hoke's blond daughter, Larissa, and her husband, Donn Bobb Lima. Larissa talks about her aunt Leona Ogilvie, the missionary.
Chapter 6:
a. The late Dan McMonigle used to buy lottery tickets. Judith recalls what happened the time he matched 5 of the 6 numbers.
b. We meet Alice Hoke's blond son, Augie (August) and his wife, Amy. They give some background information.
c. 'Growing like Topsy' is an expression that is mangled from a remark by Topsy in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
d. We also meet Brent Doyle, the current Hoke family lawyer.
e. The cousins get to read Terrance O'Toole's write-up of his interview regarding the murder. (Oh, dear.)
Chapter 7:
a. Joe's hospital roommate, Jake, dishes the dirt on Alice Hoke's presumed dead husband, Bernie, and Race Doyle, the bungler who ran the Ogilvie Cheese Factory into the ground.
b. Judith calls Arlene and learns what happened to the toolshed when neighbor Dooley and friends were having fun. (This will lead to something permanent in the series so far.) Also, Sweetums hasn't been seen since Sunday.
c. The three-month tour of Europe Judith and Renie took before they got married included Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
Chapter 8: The call to Aunt Deb includes hearing about the woes of neighbor Mrs. Parker and her poodle, Ignatz. That's nothing compared to what Gertrude is doing to drive Deb crazy. (Also, Aunt Deb resents Renie's career because it takes time she could be spending with her mother.)
Gertrude is rude to Judith when the daughters and mothers switch the phones, of course.
Chapter 9:
a. Renie and Judith buy souvenirs, some rather tacky,.
b. Barnacle Bill is the subject of a vulgar drinking song, apparently adapted from an older song. I recognized the name from the version that was in an old "Popeye" cartoon, "Beware of Barnacle Bill". (If Olive Oyl's fickleness irritates you, look it up.) .
Chapter 10:
a. Old Jake likes Mrs. Wampole, the elderly patient in room D-208. Renie borrows her magnifying glass.
b. Renie's minor in college was history. She's an anglophile
Chapter 11:
a. It's Friday, June 30th, and the funeral for the murder victim is being held at Buccaneer Beach All Souls Are Us First Covenant Church. The pastor's eulogy includes some topics that might not be considered proper to the occasion. Donn Bobb sings 'Throw Out the Anchor, Someone's Floating Away,' which apparently isn't a real song.
b. The cousins visit the Ogilvie-Hoke Victorian home..
Chapter 12:
a. The cousins go to the Best Ever Over the Waves Motor Inn (which has 'Motel' in its name in chapter two)
b. Renie talks about a trip she once took to San Francisco. (Renie can't swim, by the way.)
c. The cousins chat with Darren Fleetwood before they visit Mrs. Wampole (Jewish) at the hospital. She gives them plenty of gossip, including the fact that Mrs. Angus Ogilvie, née Dorothy Metz, was the daughter of a country doctor. The story of the New Year's Eve incident is very interesting.
Chapter 13:
a. See Book two, Fowl Prey, for the Canadian mystery.
b. It's another phone call to their mothers. Aunt Deb chats about Mrs. Parker's poodle, Uncle Al, and I don't buy Cousin Marty's excuse for his motorcycle accident, either. We know that Gertrude is annoyed because she calls her daughter "Judith Anne".
c. It's another body and the cousins didn't discover it!
d. Uncle Corky was at the battle of Anzio in World War II.
e. Is the motor inn a motel again?
Chapter 14:
a. The treasure hunt part of the Freebooter Festival has started.
b. The cousins talk to Bart Doyle's widow.. Here Renie makes up a cousin Oswald in Portland.
Chapter 15:
a. We find out what Larissa's job is.
b. In case you were wondering if there really was a St. Ethelburga of Barking, yes. She was the first abbess of Barking Abbey in Essex, England, as well as being the sister of St. Earconwald, Bishop of London.
Chapter 17:
a. Judith did cut off Holofernes' head, but that was in HIS tent (see the Book of Judith in the Catholic Bible). The woman who suckered some poor sap into her tent didn't cut off his head, Jael drove a tent peg into it while Sisera was sleeping. (See the section on Judge Deborah in the Book of Judges.)
b. Judith's phone call with Gertrude solves another mystery.
c. Judith and Joe discuss Mike, who will be 23 in August. (Mike and Joe have the same birthday.)
It may not be the best honeymoon a mystery series couple ever had, but the mystery itself wasn't bad. I particularly enjoyed the phone conversations Renie and Judith had with their mothers. Young reporter Terrance O'Toole reminded me a little of Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen, for his eagerness and ability to be in the wrong place at the right time and vice versa.
Dog lovers: Alas, he's only mentioned in phone calls, but do enjoy the misadventures of Ignatz the poodle.
Cat lovers: Sweetums adventures are described in phone calls. He's as bad a kitty as in the earlier books.
Our Lady, Star of the Sea Catholic Church ('SOTS' for short) is where Judith's family goes to worship.
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a. Kurt and Eve Kramer's nickname among their fellow SOTS is 'the prickly pair'.
b. Arlene and Carl Ranker's grown offspring are: Meagan, Mugs (female), C. J. [Carl, Jr.], Matt, and Kevin.
c. Part of Judith's backyard is described: a gnarled old lilac tree, a blush-pink rhododendron, and the trees that are all that's left of the Grover apple orchard. (According to book one, Just Desserts, chapter 3, there are 3 apple trees left.)
d. Judith keeps the ashes of her first husband, Dan, in a boot box in the shed. (The shed is where Sweetums got the mouse he gave Judith.)
Chapter 2:
a. Judith is described.
b. Judith gets part of her gray hair dyed sable satin at Chez Steve (by Steve himself). See later in the chapter for Gertrude's reaction.
c. Norma Paine has a wire-haired terrier.
d. The funeral of Lucille Tresvant Frizzell, younger sister of the recently deceased rich Emily Tresvant, had to be scheduled around Judith's wedding to Dan. (Emily and Judith's mother had different reactions to that.)
e. Here it's stated that Judith bought Hillside Manor from her mother, her aunt Deb (Renie's mom), and Uncle Al Grover.
Chapter 3:
a. It's now Holy Saturday.
b. Read here for what Dan did with Renie's clam doodoo dish, which is why Mrs. Dooley didn't speak to Judith for 6 months.
c. Tony Jones' latest girlfriend is Rich Beth, as Renie calls her.. Renie may not like her much.
d. Our Lady, Star of the Sea, has a gothic eminence.
e. Father Tim Mills dated Arlene Ranker's daughter, Mugs, before he attended seminary.
f. This chapter contains some gossip and arguing among parish members. Only Arlene Ranker has ever gotten the better of Eve Kramer.
g. Sandy, who was in charge of the school nursery, tells Judith what the Raine grandson, the Paine's niece, and the Rankers kin were up to.
h. The church steeple looks crooked to Judith.
i. Mrs. Dooley's baby daughter was bitten in the nursery.
j. Dooley (known as that instead of Aloysius Gonzaga since kindergarten, is the Dooley's eldest son), joined the Explorers police auxiliary for kids last year. See book 1, Just Desserts, for the fortune-teller mystery. [St. Aloysius Gonzaga is the patron saint of Christian Youth, plague victims, and AIDS victims & their caregivers. Catholics usually are named for one or more saints, i.e., St. Judith is the patron saint of Prussia.]
Chapter 4:
a. See book 2, Fowl Prey for the mystery during Judith and Renie's vacation. It's been over a year since book one.
b. We learn what the youngest of the Rankers clan (from Omaha), did to the Pooh Bear in the nursery.
c. Lt. Joe Flynn has entered this novel.
d. Judith's small patio is bordered by the Ericson's laurel hedge and the Dooley's picket fence. Judith's birdbath has a stature of St. Francis.
e. Wilbur Paine is part of Hoover, Klontz, and Paine, an old established law firm based in the Evergreen Tower Building.
f. We learn who won the mortality pool for Dan McGonigle.
Chapter 5:
a. Before she got arthritis in her fingers, Gert made needlepoint covers for the dining room chairs.
b. Serena's middle name is 'Elizabeth'.
c. Bill Jones has come up with a psychological profile for the killer.
d. It's been 23 years, but Bill's ability to swear still amazes Judith.
e. Our Lady, Star of the Sea, has a side altar with a statue of St. Thérèse of Lisieux [patron saint of missions and florists].
f. Judith remembers some things from when she attended the SOTS parochial school.
g. See the last chapter of Fowl Prey for Gert's revelation about Joe's phone call.
h. Father Hoyle has a Siamese cat named Pope Urban IV. [That pope instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi.]
Chapter 6:
a. Renie recounts a funny incident involving Kevin Ranker as a child and a missionary pleading for starving Ethiopians.
b. The Paine's house's exterior, the Kramers' car, and Norma Paine's car are described.
c. Some of Judith's Easter decorations are described, including Gert's favorite of the Resurrection (the Lord's footwork resembles Fred Astaire's).
d. Joe's adult stepchildren are Doug (married) and Terri (living with a guy in San Francisco). His daughter, Caitlin, works for a chemical company in Switzerland. Joe and Judith discuss what it's like being parents.
e. Easter dinner includes Aunt Deb, Auntie Vance, Uncle Vince, Bill, Renie, Anne, Tom, Tony, Uncle Al, and Rich Beth.
Chapter 7: Joe's office is described, including his photo of Caitlin.
Chapter 8:
a. We learn about the time that Dooley was using his telescope and accidentally saw Gert in a condition she didn't like.
b. It's only a year or so ago since Grandpa Dooley had to give up being the church gardener because of a kite and lightning.
c. Judith's last family lawyer was Ewart Gladstone Whiffel, who died around the same time as Dan.
Chapter 9:
a. Phyllis Rackley is back at work. Her sister has a son named Randolph who is in Sioux City. She lives across the ship canal in the Rutherford District.
b. We learn about a few things Joe and Judith did for fun almost 25 years ago.
Chapter 10:
a. George Philip Sanderson was 44 years old when he died.
b. Judith has very strange dreams.
c. The SOTS rectory housekeeper is Mrs. Katzenheimer.
d. Arlene says Mugs was able to deck the future Father Tom Mills only once in the six months they dated. Gertrude reminisces about a Father Houlihan at St. Mary's-in-the-Pines.
e. Renie mentions Uncle Fred in Denver (who apparently is mentally ill). [According to chapter 1, book 4, Dune to Death, he's Renie's uncle, but not Judith's].
f. Dooley has an exchange with a dissatisfied customer on his paper route, Mrs. Dowzak.
g. SOTS has a grotto with St. Bernadette and the Virgin Mary in the rose garden. Why the Dooleys donated it 30 years ago was interesting.
Chapter 11:
a. Hilde Katzenheimer has been the SOTS housekeeper for 30 years.
b. Bill Jones was born and raised in Michigan.
c. Judith lies about her Uncle Corey, who was an elevator operator at an old hotel at Geary and Mason during the Great Depression.
d. Toot Sweet, Heraldsgate Hill's ice cream & confectionery parlor, was established in 1919 & has a cute phrase on its front door.
e. John Frizzell's middle name is 'Casper'.
Chapter 12:
a. Sweetums has a fight with the Ericson's Dandy Dinmont.
b. Look here for what Auntie Vance [Vanessa] said to Dan McMonigle, for which he never forgave her.
c. The local service station owner is Marvin Boggs, with whom Arlene went to high school.
d. Tim Mills' mother is a full-blooded Sioux named Squatting Frog.
e. Sweetums has nasty yellow eyes. He's orange and white striped.
Chapter 13:
a. There's an Episcopal church named St. Alban's.
b. Judith absentmindedly signs a check "Judith G. Flynn".
c. 20 years ago, Bill and Renie Jones moved back from Port Diablo.
d. 5 years ago Judith got a ticket for driving 50 mph in a 35 mph zone (Dan had sent her for a case of twinkies).
e. Woody Price is a Methodist.
f. Aunt Deb mentions a cousin Mabel Frable.
Chapter 15:
a. Judith hasn't been to Bayshore's restaurant since she was married to Dan.
b. Joe tells Judith the whole story of how he got married to Vivian and how their marriage went sour.
Chapter 16:
a. Dan pawned the baguette diamond set in platinum ring that Joe had have given Judith during the first year of their marriage.
b. Kitty Duggan is the SOTS parish secretary.
Chapter 18: Joe tells Judith the news about the annulment.
Holy Terrors is not my favorite book in this series, but it did have some interesting twists. No, I did not figure out the killer or the motive.
Cat Lovers: besides Sweetums' antics, there are a couple of cameos by a Siamese cat.
Once more, Judith winds up investigating murder with the help of her sister Renie. Not only because Judith has a knack for it, but also to keep the press from having a heyday and giving the B&B bad publicity.
With a number of characters to keep track of, the plot moves quickly. The Hollywood types and the regular folk, some who turn out to be not that regular, have their own twists and turns to keep this plot moving.
I will say that I did not see the solution coming, but I wasn’t disappointed in it. This series is still an enjoyable cozy read for me.
When Pacetti drops dead during his performance in “Traviata,” and it is determined it was poison and not a heart attack that was the cause of death, everyone becomes a suspect, and secrets start to emerge for many. Liaisons, people who aren’t who they pretend to be and more. Judith and Renie, her sister, decide to find the murderer on their own as the murderer is probably staying at the B&B and this latest disaster is not doing any good PR for the B&B.
Judith’s husband Joe, a homicide cop, and Renie’s husband Bill, a psychologist, are in New Orleans at a conference on sociopathic personalities. With both men gone, Judith decides to remodel their tool shed that had suffered fire damage from one of the neighbourhood kids. She plans to install her mother in the newly designed MIL apartment. As her mother and her husband never have gotten along, she feels this is a solution to taking care of her mother and keeping her marriage intact. Hopefully it will be done before Joe gets back.
Judith, her husband Joe, her cousin Renie, and Renie's husband, Bill, are taking a vacation to scenic Banff, Canada. The cousins were there with their families decades ago. The place is as lovely as ever, but the ladies should never have let the men make the reservations. Joe and Bill don't have to suffer. They've gone fishing with a guide and won't be back for most of the book.
Judith and Renie go for a walk, which is how they meet the eccentric Stokes family, who are camping. The Stokes explain that their patriarch, Codger, wants to be sent down the Bow River on a bier when he dies. He hardly looks as if he's ready to drop dead, no matter what his kinfolk say about him. Adela Stokes Odell, her husband Norm, and their 18-year-old twins, Win and Winnie, are staying at the same motel as the cousins. The Odells appear to be the most normal members of the family.
The Mounties (and the cousins) have their hands full when a murder is announced, but the corpse vanishes. So do some of the living members of the Stokes family. Luckily for Judith, the main Mountie, Sergeant Brewster, has found out that Judith is FASTO (Female Amateur Sleuth Tracking Offenders). This helps since of course she's trying to solve the mysteries. Joe hates it when she does that. Can the cases be closed before Joe and Bill come back?
NOTES:
Chapter 1:
a, We meet Chad, the new mailman, whom Arlene prefers to call 'Charles'. He's from the Midwest, but his bride wants to stay in her native Pacific Northwest.
b. Here's where we get Cathy's cameo and Joe telling Judith what his ex-wife, Vivian, is thinking of doing.
c. There's no mention of gray when Sweetums is described as orange and white. His tail is plume-like, though.
Chapter 2:
a. The cab ride has an extreme example of Renie not being a morning person.
b. Renie and Judith talk about about their last trip to Banff. It doesn't seem as if the book Judith was reading then, Ten Million Delinquents, exists.
Mentions: Roman Colosseum, Best Western, Cranbrook, British Columbia;
Chapter 3:
a. The Banff Springs Motel is described. The couples were given the Rose and Yew suites.
b. The cousins meet the Stokes. Judith mentions their Aunt Ellen and Uncle Win in Beatrice.
Mentions: Marilyn Monroe, Robert Mitchum, 'River of No Return' (film)
Chapter 4:
a. We meet the Odells.
b. Arlene makes the first of the Phyllis Rackley subplot phone calls.
c. Renie talks about their Great-Aunt Rosie and her husband, Duane, whom she called 'Drano'.
Mentions: the Ku Klux Klan, the Communist Party, the Great Depression
Chapter 6: We meet Mounties Sergeant Brewster and Constable MacRae.
Chapter 9: Adela Odell knows that Judith is FASTO.
Chapter 10: Judith's call to her mother updates us on the Phyllis Rackley subplot. A few pages later, we get a bit of Phyllis' background.
Chapter 17:
a. Arlene calls about Gertrude and Deb, who went to Sophie Savory's condo to play bridge. (Sophie flosses her teeth at church???) Arlene has a cousin Avery in Winona, Montana. Avery gets up early to feed his monkey.
b. Here is where Judith makes up a weird story about a non-existent Uncle Alfr3ed, Aunt Opal, and cousin Archie. Renie plays along.
c. Judith mentions that Mike and family like Quoddy Head State Park, Maine.
Chapter 18: I'd say that Judith and Renie were in Edinburgh in Scots on the Rocks, but that book came out in 2007 and this one is set in 2006.
Chapter 20: Codger's first wife was Marcella Jane Draper Stokes. His second, Adela & Cornelius' mom, was librarian Athena Pappas of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Aside from giving readers some local color for Banff, Ms. Daheim has furnished her mystery with plenty of odd characters for Judith and Renie to interact with. Joe and Bill may not be around much, but it sounds as if they were having a better time than their wives.
Dog Lovers: Sorry, Varmint is only mentioned.
Cat Lovers: Sweetums has merely a cameo.
If you enjoy this series, you'll want to read this entry. If you prefer your mysteries to lack a sense of humor, give it a miss.
She is proud of hitting a full year as editor/publisher, but feels she needs to ramp things up. Maybe a big story or increase in advertising dollars?
Her hope is answered when Mark, the grandson of the patriarch of the Doukas family, is murdered. What really knocks it out of the park is the prime suspect is Chris, the other grandson, who has just returned to town after being gone 14 years.
Chris is considered the black sheep of the family due to his mother having married "beneath" her. When her husband disappeared, she packed up and left Alpine. Her father had disowned her when she married, so why not?
Emma relies on her assistant Vida, a virtual encyclopedia of Alpine's families and history, when she starts investigating. Scandal has always been part of the Doukas family and of interest to the town. Seems there is plenty to go around. Especially to a news woman.
Not only is Emma busy with running the weekly publishing schedule and trying to solve the murder, someone from her own past shows up and she has to deal with that and the town's curiosity.
This is the first in this series. I enjoyed it and will be looking for other books in the series.
This time out it is Easter and murder is on the menu. Did the Easter Bunny do the crime?
This book is the third in the series. Judith and Joe Flynn's romance is in the early stages, but Judith has shown, previously, that she is adept in finding clues and solving mysteries. Judith's mother, Gerturude, is living in the house with Judith and not in her own little flat, later built on the property. The mother is cantankerous and demanding. (A spoiled brat, in my opinion.)
During pre-Easter event at the church, the reclusive wife of one of the monied families is found stabbed to death in the church. Not one to pass up a mystery, Judith starts right in investigating. The suspect list seems to grow bigger and bigger and the secrets she finds are deeper and deeper.
I enjoyed it but like some of her later books better. All in all, a fun and quick read.
Collegamenti
Home page ufficiale (English)
Mary Daheim: Book Series in Order (English)
Wikipedia (English)
Facebook (English)
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