While witches fly and ghosts go by on a Halloween weekend, a Hollywood cast and crew descend upon Hillside Manor. Judith McMonigle Flynnะ ะะ โะ โ s worst nightmare is realised when yet another guest, mega-producer Bruno Zepf, drowns in the kitchen sink. When is a murder not a murder, but an accident that could cost Judith her beloved B&B? The police are baffled, so Judith and cousin Renie try to find a killer - any killer will do - to fend off a five-star lawsuit.
From Publishers Weekly
In her 18th cozy B&B mystery, Daheim offers more amusing action than in last year's Suture Self, now that her two sleuthing heroines, Judith Flynn and cousin Renie, have almost fully recovered from surgery and are no longer stuck in a hospital room. When a group of Hollywood hotshots arrives on Halloween weekend for a movie premiere and takes over Judith's beloved B&B, Hillside Manor, she's ready for anythingexcept the sudden death of famous producer Bruno Zepf, whose body she finds slumped into the standing water of her kitchen sink. Fearing she may be sued for negligence, Judith with Renie's help begins to investigate everyone involved with Zepf, in an effort to prove the accident was murder and exonerate Hillside Manor. Just as they've almost exhausted their leads among the stars, a new suspect appears on the scene and the plot hurtles to its surprising conclusion. The fog, mist and rain of a Pacific Northwest October add to the Halloween atmosphere, while the trick-or-treating ghosts and goblins aren't the only strange characters afoot. The neurotic producer, the egocentric actor, the blossoming starlet and the overzealous director, who literally looks at life through a camera that he keeps around his neck, are ghoulish enough for any Halloween. Also contributing to the holiday fun are the zany antics of Gertrude, Judith's aging mother, and the carryings-on of Renie's three children, plus the banter between the two irresistible cousins.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
A quaint bed-and-breakfast seems so cozy. Yes, but guests of the Hillside Manor in Seattle might think differently if they knew how many crimes had been committed there in the past. Now, it's Hollywood producer Bruno Zepf and members of the cast and crew of his latest picture who have reservations at the lethal inn, sight of several previous episodes in Daheim's Bad and Breakfast series. Bruno's film is set to premiere in Seattle, and he thinks it's good luck to spend the night before the festivities at a B and B. This time, Bruno's luck runs out. He's found drowned in a sink, and it's up to the inn's owner and series star, Judith Flynn, to find the killer, presumably among the backbiting Hollywoodites. Although this series sets up like a cozy, there's always a slightly over-the-top zaniness to the characters and their actions; this time is no exception, what with all those easy-to-parody L.A. types. A bit silly but bound to please series fans. Ilene Cooper
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