Things are rarely quiet at Hillside Manor, a pleasant bed and breakfast located in a cul-de-sac on Heraldsgate Hill in Seattle. Judith Flynn, the B&B's owner, has a penchant for stumbling over dead bodies, and then getting involved in solving the mysteries. Judith and her husband, Joe, are both distraught when Joe's ex-wife, Vivian, moves into a house across the street from them. Viv's newest spouse, Billy Buss, is much younger, but evidently filthy rich. The couple intends to buy up several houses and tear them down to build condos right there on Heraldsgate Hill. They throw a big block party for the neighbors to announce their intentions, and wouldn't you know it -- a dead body shows up in their back yard. Even though Judith didn't discover this one, she is in up to her neck trying to discover his identity.
VI AGRA FALLS is Mary Daheim's twenty-fourth Bed-and- Breakfast entry, but the series is still as fresh and clever as ever. All of Judith's friends and relatives are present and accounted for, including her very unlikable mother, Gertrude. All of the new characters are fully developed, and most of them are high on the list of suspects for the killing of the unknown victim. Fans of Ms. Daheim will surely enjoy this bright, amusing tale.
Tucked away in a cozy cul-de-sac on Heraldsgate Hill, Judith McMonigle Flynn hopes for smooth sailing in her longtime role as an innkeeper. But Judith's skill in dealing with guests is matched only by her knack for coming across corpses.
Mystery lovers who enjoy madcap mayhem will have no reservations about returning to Hillside Manor in the twenty-fourth Bed-and-Breakfast book from USA Today bestselling author Mary Daheim.
Judith's worst nightmare comes true when Vivian Flynnβhusband Joe's first wifeβmoves back into the neighborhood, bringing along her newest spouse, Billy "Blunder" Buss, a former minor-league baseball player who is many years younger than his shop-worn bride. Still, the B&B business is going well and the newlyweds don't seem to be causing problems for the Flynns. That seemingly calm summer idyll is broken when Vivian, who has become mysteriously wealthy, announces plans to tear down her own house and the recently vacated bungalow next door so she can build a big, bad condo. Judith, along with the rest of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac, is up in arms, vowing to fight the project to the death.
Vivian's past catches up with her when Frankie Buss comes to town. Billy and Frankie's late father, elderly Oklahoma rancher Potsy Buss, was married to Vivian for nine months before dying and bequeathing her his vast wealth. Frankie Buss intends to stir the pot of gold that Potsy left his widow, and he's trying to cut a deal with Vivian and her most recent mate, Billy. Naturally, where else would Frankie and his wife, Marva Lou, stay but at Hillside Manor?
And naturally, somebody checks out . . . permanently. The "somebody" isn't a Buss family member, and turns out to be a "nobody" because the body can't be identified. To save the B&B as well as her sanity, Judith must figure out not only who did it, but who it was who was found dead in Vivian's backyard.
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