"No matter where they go, Judith always seems to find a dead body"

Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin Renie have solved lots of crimes in the past. In this book Judith and her husband Joe have to move out of Hillside Manor, Judith's Seattle B&B, due to post-fire renovations. They join Renie and her husband Bill and head for the Stillasnowamish Resort Casino. Renie has a conference to attend there. Both Renie and Judith had to bring their mothers along. These two women constantly fight but end up sharing a room.

Judith discovers Salome, the resort magician's beautiful assistant, stabbed multiple times after the show. Pancho Green, the casino manager, recruits Joe, an ex-cop, to help investigate. Judith can't help but snoop. Joe allows Judith to question people regarding the murder but he doesn't make it easy for her. Still, she finds a way to interrogate just about everyone. Renie tries to ignore all of it and gamble. That's tough to do with a cousin like Judith.

Add to this the fact that Judith's contractor for the renovations at the B&B is constantly calling with problems, and Judith ends up driving back into town trying to resolve those problems. Also, Judith is having a B&B built on nearby family land. There appear to be problems with the site and she has to try to resolve them too.

Once again Judith is on the trail of a killer. Renie is assisting, but only when Judith insists. These two are great together. They are very well constructed characters, and I enjoy reading about their many escapades. I also liked the setting of this resort casino. Daheim describes the area so well, I felt as though I'd been there.

The plot in this book is terrific. I wasn't able to figure it out ahead -- a real plus. I never feel Judith is overlooking clues. I hate books where I am yelling at the protagonist to pay attention. I don't have to do that in this series.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book, and that you read the whole series. I know there are books I've missed and I plan to go back and read them. Mary Daheim and her Bed and Breakfast series are terrific!

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted July 31, 2003

Summary

A fire that gutted Hillside Manor has left Judith McMonigle Flynn depressed, frustrated, and in need of a place to stay while the workers complete their extensive renovation. Luckily, cousin Renie has the solution: the Stillasnowamish Casino on Native American land, where Judith can forget her woes amidst the slots and dazzle, spend some quality vacation time with ex-cop husband Joe -- as well as with the battling moms, Gertrude and Aunt Deb -- and distract Renie herself from the deathly dull conference she's expected to attend. But all their gamboling and gambling come to an abrupt halt when the Reaper gets into the act. The magic dies abruptly for The Great Mandolini when one of his attractive aides is discovered skewered on one of the master illusionist's props. Judith's Joe, who is recruited into the investigation by Tribal Police Detective Jack Jackrabbit, wants his snooping spouse and her cantankerous coz to steer clear for their own safety. But all bets are off when corpse number two materializes from among Mandolini's adoring entourage of oddball relatives, relatives' relatives, friends, lovers, and business associates. Someone is causing murderous confusion that is no illusion, and it's going to take some serious sleight of hand by Judith and Renie to unravel this tangled rope trick -- or, if the cousins aren't careful, they could end up being the encore.