Judith Flynn is feeling a bit of strain after Wee Willie
Weevil, stuntman and guest at her B&B throws himself from
the roof, missing the Lily of the Valley bush and landing
in the Pyracantha, breaking his leg. Even though his less-
than-polite girlfriend threatens to sue, it's a relief when
Willie is taken away in an ambulance. When Judith's cousin
Renie, who can't stand to fly, invites Judith to make the
cross-country train trip to Boston with her, it sounds like
a welcome break from the day-to-day running of Hillside
Manor.
Unfortunately, Wee Willie and his entourage are passengers
on the Empire Builder with Judith and Renie, and being
confined to a wheelchair does little to tone down his
personality. Discovering Willie is traveling on the same
train is only the beginning of the cousins' troubles. They
find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere (Montana)
after the train collides with a load of sugar beets and to
add insult to injury, their train attendant is suddenly
missing. Attention focuses on Judith when Willie turns up
dead and she becomes a suspect. The cousins must work
together to prove Judith's innocence and discover the
identity of the real killer before he, or she, strikes
again.
Mary Daheim's LOCO MOTIVE is the 25th book in the
Bed and Breakfast Mystery series. It starts off at top
speed and doesn't slow down until the last page. This is
the first I've read by this author, and I must admit at
times I felt as though I'd fallen down the rabbit hole. Ms.
Daheim's quirky sense of humor is obvious throughout, as is
her gift for tying seemingly unrelated events together in a
cleverly crafted whodunit. Judith and her cousin Renie play
off one another beautifully, though at times I felt Judith
was a bit snarky with Renie. LOCO MOTIVE stands
independently as a well-written mystery, just be prepared
for a few moments of confusion as you figure out
personalities and relationships if it is your first Bed and
Breakfast mystery.
From USA Today bestselling author
Mary Daheim comes her latest Bed-and-Breakfast book
featuring innkeeper Judith McMonigle Flynn and her
irrepressible cousin Renie in a mystery that takes them on
the wrong side of the tracks. . . . Loco Motive
It's autumn at Hillside Manor B&B, and
with the changing leaves come some unexpected guests.
There's Judith's son and daughter-in-law, with their two
children in tow, a couple with an impossible (and
unbelievable?) last name who show up from nowhere, and a
pair of giggly young women who don't seem to know where
they're going.
As Halloween draws nigh, Judith can
barely cope with her gala of guests, but at least the worst
guest from the first part of the week checks out—almost
permanently. Wee Willie Weevil, infamous daredevil and
martial-arts movie icon, insisted on performing his
dangerous stunts from Judith's roof and left the B&B via
an ambulance.
Hoping to escape the domestic mayhem,
Judith agrees to accompany Renie on a cross-country train
trip to Boston with first-class accommodations on the Empire
Builder. Judith's bubble bursts when she discovers that Wee
Willie and his entourage are fellow travelers. Although
confined to a wheelchair, the diminutive stunt man seems
capable of derailing the cousins' vacation.
Cousin
Renie does her best to ease Judith's mind until the train
collides with a truckload of sugar beets. Forced to wait for
a new engine in a small Montana town in the middle of
nowhere, the passengers can do nothing but watch and wait.
Even before the train can get back on track, the cousins
discover that their sleeper attendant has gone missing.
Worse yet, another passenger's final destination is the
nearest morgue.
Judith and Renie have to move full
speed ahead if they want to blow the whistle on the killer
before death strikes again. Can the train continue its
journey? Will the cousins ever get to Boston? Stay aboard!
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