"A fun cosy"

Judith McMonigle Flynn and her beloved spouse Joe temporarily move out of their Hillside Manor bed and breakfast while the inn is renovated due to fire damage. Taking their feuding moms with them, the couple joins Judith's cousin and amateur sleuth partner Renie and her husband at the Stillasnowamish Resort Casino where Renie attends a conference.

However, where Judith goes homicide seems to also accompany her. This time she discovers the multiple stabbed corpse of magician assistant Salome. Casino manager Pancho Green asks his friend former cop Joe to investigate the homicide, but as usual Judith sticks her nose into the case. Meanwhile Renie desperately tries to stay out of it this time, but Judith knows whom to turn to when she needs help in uncovering the identity of a murderer.

The latest Judith tale is a strong amateur sleuth novel that has a shocker (for this series at least) ending. The story line is often amusing as the support cast from the recurring characters as well as the contractors working the B&B and a second inn exasperate the heroine. The who-done- it is cleverly designed so that readers along with Joe and Judith struggle to uncover the identity of the killer. HOCUS CROAKUS is an entertaining fun bed and breakfast mystery that will please most of Mary Daheim's fans and bring new readers to stay at the Hillside Manor.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 28, 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.