Vi Agra Falls: A Bed-And-Breakfast Mystery
by: Mary Daheim
Published by: William Morrow
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Reviewed by Leslie Frederick
Hillside Manor is beginning to get a reputation. Not the one that Judith McGonigle Flynn has hoped for–a bed and breakfast that guests will flock to because of its unparallel service and delicious cuisine. Nope…this reputation is that the corpse drops here! If a body is to be found on Heraldsgate Hill, Judith and her cousin Renie are the people most likely to stumble over the deceased.
In Vi Agra Falls, this knack for discovering the dead is enhanced by the appearance of Judith’s nemesis and her husband Joe’s ex-wife, Vivian Flynn. Vivian’s disruptive presence includes a favorable acceptance from Judith’s antagonistic mother, Gertrude; a tendency to lean on Joe for more then just a bit of good advice; and a plan to change the landscape of Heraldsgate Hill forever. The bain of Judith’s existence brings with her a new husband, assorted relatives by marriage and a murder.
Joe leaving town on a business trip seems a fortunate opportunity to act out Operation Oust Vivian, but Fate intervenes with the arrival of Vivian’s entire brood of stepchildren who alternately think of Judith as mother confessor, bartender and emergency room nurse. The murder victim’s identity is leading to more questions then answers, guests are hospitalized with mysterious illnesses and Joe’s daughter shows up on the doorstep. Just an ordinary week at Hillside Manor!
The wacky cast of characters that move in and out of the narrative is reminiscent of a Marx Brother’s movie, but Daheim’s skilled writing keeps the dialogue witty and the plot moving. This is the twenty-fourth Bed and Breakfast mystery, but there is no sense that Ms. Daheim is tiring of these characters in the least. On the contrary she seems to enjoy Judith, Renie, Arlene and the gang on Heraldsgate Hill.
Armchair Interviews says: It will be to our benefit that Mary Daheim continues writing for a long time to come.
Author’s Web site: http://www.AuthorMaryDaheim.com
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