September Mourn: A Bed-And-Breakfast Mystery

The eleventh installment of Daheim's Bed-and-Breakfast-Mystery series is an unremarkable work set on a Pacific Northwest coastal island. Daheim's heroine, Judith McMonigle Flynn, and her sidekick cousin Renie play amateur sleuths when a murder takes place while they guest-host the only B&B on scenic Chavez Island (population seven by the author's account, eight if you do the math yourself). Opposite the cousins are a skeptical female sheriff and a handful of secretive residents. The dialogue between the cousins is rather stiffly deliberate and Renie's penchant for food as a distinguishing characteristic grows annoying. Other characters, such as the prim school marm and the commandeering businessman are painfully one-dimensional. Daheim represents her picturesque backdrop well, but her lack of character development leaves the reader apathetic, even when Flynn's detective skills lead to the murderer after some inventive plot twists. (Aug.)