Saks and Violins (Bed-And-Breakfast Mysteries)

Bestselling author Mary Daheim turns up the volume in her latest Bed-and-Breakfast mystery when indomitable heroine Judith McMonigle Flynn tries to extend a helping hand to a pesky new neighbor — and ends up with a corpse underfoot while she and cousin Renie cope with . . .

Hard times and sour notes have hit the cousins in both the B&B and the graphic design business. To make matters worse, Renie's up to her latest eyebrow wax in debt, due to overzealous spending on clothes on their recent trip to San Francisco. And in the house that Herself — Judith's nemesis and hubby Joe's ex-wife — has rented out, there dwells a symphony violinist whose practice of outdoor practicing au naturel is driving the neighbors out of the cozy cul-de-sac and into sound-proof rooms. In fact, they swear they'd like to kill the nude, rude Rudi.

No such luck. The only buffer zone from the in-the-buff violinist is the Rankerses' hedge. Instead of Rudi taking a final bow with his damnable bow, it's his larger-than-life mentor, Dolph Kluger, who meets death, not by getting entangled in the lethal laurel, but from ingesting ruthless rhubarb.

To add to the musical mess, Rudi's valuable violin bow goes missing, Renie's useless credit cards are stolen, a headless horseman rides through somebody's past, and several suspects seem to be on the brink of bonkersville. Judith has to be extra careful with these lyrical loonies or somebody will be playing her funeral march before the killer bows out.

When world renown musician Dolph Kluger shows up for a visit, Judith is coerced by her new neighbor Rudi Wittener into hosting a party at the Hillside Manor B and B. But hours later, Dolph collapses and it's discovered that he was poisoned with rhubarb leaves. No one can figure out who would kill this revered figure of the musical world. But there are numerous suspects.

Meanwhile, Renie has become the victim of credit card theft. And of far more value is the violin bow that has allegedly been stolen from Rudi. It had belonged to Fritz Kreisler, and is valued at three hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Judith sinks her teeth into the case at first, but becomes frustrated by the lunatic fringe and the lack of cooperation from the survivors. Joe and Bill solve all their problems by going salmon fishing. But Judith's kind heart finally gets her back on the case, despite its many sour notes.

Life has hit some sour notes as of late for B&B hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin Renie. Graphic design guru Renie's up to her eyebrows in debt after some seriously overzealous spending sprees. Meanwhile, Judith's got her hands full with her wacky new neighbor, Rudi, a virtuoso violinist whose daily—and usually unclothed—practices are unhinging her and other neighbors in the cul-de-sac.

But, though they'd all love to kill nude, rude Rudi, it's his larger-than-life mentor, Dolph Kluger, who takes his final bow after ingesting some ruthlessly poisoned rhubarb. To add to the musical mayhem, Rudi's priceless violin bow goes missing, Renie's useless credit cards are stolen, and each murder suspect seems loopier than the last. Once again, the cousins are going to need some fancy fingering to make a cold-blooded killer sing—but if they're not careful, the next music they hear will be their funeral march.

Mary Richardson Daheim is a Seattle native with a communications degree from the University of Washington. Realizing at an early age that getting published in books with real covers might elude her for years, she worked on daily newspapers and in public relations to help avoid her creditors. She lives in her hometown in a century­old house not unlike Hillside Manor, except for the body count. Daheim is also the author of the Alpine mystery series and the mother of three daughters and grandmother of two granddaughters, all of whom live within shrieking distance.