"A well written amateur sleuth tale"

In San Francisco Serene "Renie" Jones of Cajones Graphic Design tells her cousin Judith McGonicle Flynn that she is going to get her Uncle Bob to sue Cruz Cruises for breech of contract. Not long afterward, Renie informs her cuz that CEO Magglio Cruz settled rather than face a court case. To sweeten the settlement Renie and her spouse psychiatrist Dr. Bill will go on a cruise trip for free. Coincidently, Judith mentions that she and her spouse Joe were thinking of taking a week off from their B&B.

However, Bill becomes tied up with a patient threatening to jump from a ledge so Renie persuades Judith to accompany her. Before they can leave town, someone murders Magglio. Unable to resist the investigating of the homicide over the objections of their spouses and the cops, Renie and Judith make inquiries as two more people are killed and the two cousins could be at the top of the list if they continue to sleuth.

The latest Bed and Breakfast mystery is a well written amateur sleuth tale in which the cousins begin their inquiries towards the middle of the plot, but once they start nothing including their concerned spouses can stop these resolute obstinate detectives. The 1930s décor to the cruise vessel adds a feel of suspense to the investigation. As usual Renie and Judith behave in their typical fashion with the former charging into situations where only fools dare go while the latter follows praying that the next escapade will not occur for quite awhile. Mary Daheim serves up another charming B&B who-done-it.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 17, 2005

Who in her right mind would turn down a free cruise to the idyllic isles of the South Pacific aboard an ultra- luxurious luxury liner? Certainly not Judith McMonigle Flynn -- which is why she and her closer-than-a-sibling cousin Renie Jones are leaving behind the stress of Hillside Manor B&B and hightailing it down to the San Francisco Bay to board the magnificent San Rafael, the pride of the Cruz Cruises fleet. The cousins sail into the pre-launch party on a wave of happy enthusiasm ... which, unfortunately, is about as far out to sea as they will get. The problem is the piano -- or rather, the corpse stuffed in the piano: the body of their awol host, Cruz Cruises CEO Magglio Cruz. So the boat trip is postponed, leaving Judith and Renie footloose in Frisco -- except for the fact that they're both murder suspects -- and free to gad about with the other marooned, disappointed landlubbers, including one who is a homicidal loose cannon. Among the almost-shipmates, the cousins are inevitably drawn to Rick and Rhoda St. George -- a picture-perfect team of glamorous, martini-quaffing, would-be crime- solvers. And since no one has anything better to do, they all decide to work together to solve the crime. When other stranded San Rafael-ites inexplicably begin turning up dead all over the City by the Bay, Judith, Renie, and the St. Georges realize that if they're not careful, they, too, may end up leaving not only their hearts in San Francisco but the rest of their mortal remains as well!

Summary

Nobody does it like Daheim -- the USA Today bestselling "Reigning Queen of the Cozies" (Portland Oregonian) whose delightfully zany Bed-and-Breakfast mysteries set the genre's gold standard. Now get ready to cruise along with the incomparable Judith and Renie as a well-earned vacation is beached by mystery, mayhem, and hilarious homicide.