In her 18th cozy B&B mystery, Daheim offers more amusing action than in last year's Suture Self, now that her two sleuthing heroines, Judith Flynn and cousin Renie, have almost fully recovered from surgery and are no longer stuck in a hospital room. When a group of Hollywood hotshots arrives on Halloween weekend for a movie premiere and takes over Judith's beloved B&B, Hillside Manor, she's ready for anything—except the sudden death of famous producer Bruno Zepf, whose body she finds slumped into the standing water of her kitchen sink. Fearing she may be sued for negligence, Judith with Renie's help begins to investigate everyone involved with Zepf, in an effort to prove the "accident" was murder and exonerate Hillside Manor. Just as they've almost exhausted their leads among the stars, a new suspect appears on the scene and the plot hurtles to its surprising conclusion. The fog, mist and rain of a Pacific Northwest October add to the Halloween atmosphere, while the trick-or-treating ghosts and goblins aren't the only strange characters afoot. The neurotic producer, the egocentric actor, the blossoming starlet and the overzealous director, who literally looks at life through a camera that he keeps around his neck, are ghoulish enough for any Halloween. Also contributing to the holiday fun are the zany antics of Gertrude, Judith's aging mother, and the carryings-on of Renie's three children, plus the banter between the two irresistible cousins. Fans will be enthralled. (May 7)
