Creeps Suzette

Seattle B&B owner Judith McMonigle Flynn and her ill-tempered cousin, Renie, leave behind their recently retired husbands to look after the elderly mother of an indisposed friend in this chatty mystery. Convinced someone is trying to kill her, and undeterred by her relatives' strong opposition to outside interference, wealthy widow Leota Burgess welcomes the middle-aged sleuths into the prisonlike confines of her aptly named estate, Creepers. When they find the family doctor's bludgeoned body at the bottom of the stairs, Judith and Renie quickly set about snooping into the reticent clan's sordid past. More than once, their probing unearths references to a mysterious past employee named Suzette, who some say still haunts the house. Daheim (Legs Benedict, etc.) pokes fun at Burgess's dysfunctional, WASPy family, whose skeletons include suicide, adultery, racism, mental illness and murder. Her acerbic wit and sarcasm propel the dialogue, but sadly, Daheim leaves few clues to the killer's true identity. 5-city author tour. (Jan.)