The Wurst Is Yet to Come (Bed-and-Breakfast Series #27)

by Mary Daheim

Overview

Bed-and-breakfast owner and amateur sleuth Judith McMonigle Flynn can't escape murder, even when she's out of town doing a good deed for the inn-keeping profession. But—oh, for the love of lederhosen—it gets complicated when, once again, Judith encounters a corpse in this latest delightful entry to the beloved series by USA Today bestselling author Mary Daheim

The Wurst Is Yet to Come

With its cozy atmosphere, delicious fare, and gracious hostess, Hillside Manor is the perfect B&B for a few days of R&R. Okay, so it also features the occasional corpse or two. But is a small (if growing) body count any reason for the state to yank Judith McMonigle Flynn's innkeeper's license?

Exhausted from being hassled by the state B&B association's meddling critics, Judith warily accepts the assignment of manning a booth during Oktoberfest in the mountain aerie of Little Bavaria. With a reluctant cousin Renie in tow, she hopes to win some allies, solicit new guests, and keep her inn not only open, but prosperous. The last thing she needs is another homicide to sully her reputation.

But before the beer begins flowing, Judith finds a body—right in the middle of an oompah band and a herd of German polka dancers. Fleeing the scene before the cops arrive, she vows that this time she will not get involved. Alas, her reputation has preceded her to the ersatz Bavarian village. The local police chief begs her to help solve the death of the beloved town patron, nonagenarian Dietrich Wessler. And, if she has a spare moment between her B&B duties and keeping Renie from stirring up trouble, the bumbling cop asks her to finger whoever killed the pancake palace owner the previous summer.

Caught between a wurst and a hard place, Judith hits on a brilliant idea: Renie will pose as the sleuth. What could possibly go wrong?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062089830
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/03/2012
Series:	Bed-and-Breakfast Series , #27
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mary Richardson Daheim is a Seattle native with a degree in communications 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 century­-old 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.

Editorial Reviews

Daheim’s cute 27th mystery featuring Seattle B&B owner Judith Flynn (after 2011’s All the Pretty Little Hearses) takes Judith and her cousin Renie Jones to Little Bavaria, Wash. for an Oktoberfest celebration. There elderly Dietrich Wessler, the town’s most respected and most productive citizen, is soon stabbed to death amid festivities at Wolfgang’s Gast Haus. The bumbling Little Bavaria police chief, “Fat Matt” Duomo, wants Judith not only to solve Wessler’s murder but also ferret out who killed another local months earlier. A few inquiries reveal Wessler’s abundant illegitimate progeny scattered throughout Little Bavaria. When a second town elder meets an untimely demise, Judith knows she’s on the right track and making a dangerous killer very nervous. Though readers may struggle to keep track of the numerous characters and connections, Judith’s investigative skills and Renie’s razor-sharp sarcasm make it worth the effort. Agent: Maureen Moran, Maureen Moran Agency. (July)

Publishers Weekly

Welcome to Little Bavaria, a town devoted to tourists, beer, oompah bands and murder. Leaving her husband home at Hillside Manor, innkeeper Judith Flynn drags her cousin Renie along on a 4-hour train ride to Little Bavaria, where Oktoberfest is in full swing and the state B&B association, egged on by Ingrid Heffelman, hopes that a hospitality booth manned by its members will fill up rooms left vacant in the economic downturn. It's a good idea that quickly turns nasty. A 91-year-old town patron keels over at the welcoming event. The autopsy reveals aconite poisoning. The police chief, an incompetent buffoon dubbed Fat Matt, is thoroughly baffled. He calls on amateur sleuth Judith to help him out, not only with this murder, but with that of the owner of the Pancake Schloss two months back. A couple of locals make false confessions. New evidence suggests that a past suicide may actually have been murder. There's another attempt at poisoning and a lot of gossip about the many, many illegitimate children of that town patron, plus a few rumors about the failed marriages of some of his progeny and the whereabouts of some of their children. Clues pile up, ditto red herrings. And the oompah bands play on until Judith sorts through old legal cases, divorce papers and documents concerning German immigrant resettlement after World War II and saints of the Catholic Church. Breezy and sardonic, with Judith and Renie (All the Pretty Hearses, 2011, etc.) in top form for their 26th adventure.

Kirkus Reviews