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By Michael Chabon

Michael Chabon is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and his writing talent far exceeds any talent 90% of the people on this planet may possess so please Mary, don’t think I’m trying to disrespect your B&B series when I say……. Ahhh, I feel better now. In “The Final Solution” we meet Linus, a sad, possibly orphaned, definitely mute boy and his loyal, highly intelligent parrot. He lives with the local Vicar and his wife along with a few other boarders and their grown son in well washed poverty. When the newest boarder is murdered and the parrot disappears the local constabulary suspect the vicar’s iniquitous son. With few clues to go on they are forced to turn to an old man for help. The old man, “once known all over the world for his skills in detection”, is never referred to as Sherlock Holms but within a few pages of meeting him you understand that he could be no other person. The story’s narration jumps person to person and even, for one small chapter, to the missing parrot himself. The final effect leaves the reader satisfied with the conclusion though the characters may never know the whole story. A novella worth reading if you like Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Chabon’s previous work, or German speaking parrots.

By Mary Daheim

Apparently I am a HUGE Mary Daheim fan because I can’t seem to get this cast of characters out of my head. I don’t think these are particularly great books but they are comfortable. You know what you’re getting into when you borrow one from the library, which is what I did. Only, I borrowed several at a time and I can’t stop reading them now. Anyway, “Auntie Mayhem” seems to be the point at which I draw the fourth curtain and go “um, no. I don’t think so.” The set-up to the mystery in this episode is interesting in that Judith and Renie are now in ENGLAND! (Husbands Joe and Bill have been neatly dispatched from the story on a fishing trip in Scotland) I say Old Chap – What are they doing outside of the PNW? Well, I’ll tell ya- Judith has been invited by her pen-pal from high school to visit the old family Manor house and give some advice as to how they can turn it into a profitable B&B. Okay, believable…kinda. Anywhoo, they show up to meet the prim and not-so-proper English family with their English morals and their English ways and their English hatred of dear old English Aunt Petulia who is the crusty old English Matriarch Money bags whom everyone wants to off but no one seems to have done it. Oh, and did I mention that they’re all English? Well, I’m not ruining anything when I say Aunt Pet bites it (the front cover says “The Grand Dame is Doomed!” so there you go) and all the family has their own little breakdowns about the will and who got what in the end. Of course there are the obligatory skeletons that are paraded out of the closet by everyone in town mixed with the occasional zinger about how bad the English cook. *SPOILER* but when the bad guy finally corners Judith and Cousin Renie with the only gun in the entire English countryside, in the middle of the night, next to the scene of the crime and spills his guts about how if it weren’t for those meddling American women wearing PANTS, then it would have been the perfect crime and Pip, Pip Bob’s your uncle, say your prayers because Bang Bang you’re dea..WAIT A MINUTE!! The bad guy’s dead because, and I’m not kidding here, husband Retired Detective Joe was asked by Scotland yard to help out with a murder investigation they just couldn’t figure out and wouldn’t ya know it? It’s the SAME DAMN MURDER investigation that Super-Sleuth Judith was in the middle of!?!? And, Hoo-boy, here’s the kicker…husband Retired Detective Joe was at that crime scene, in the middle of the night with the only OTHER gun in the entire English countryside and he shot that Limey SOB dead before his wife was next up to the plate. That is when I decided that I needed to put the addiction away and read something more engaging. Mary, you’re a fun writer but that plot was B A D.

By Mary Daheim

These books just get sillier and sillier. In Hocus Croakus, Judith and Cousin Renie go on vacation (with husbands and mothers in tow) to the StillaSNOWamish casino on tribal lands (near Mount Nugget) After watching the headlining Magic show, Judith finds *gasp* another dead body. Her husband, Retired Detective Joe now PI, is enlisted by the casino staff to help solve the mystery. Judith tries to find out whodunit while Joe, Renie, Bill, Gertrude, aunt Deb and an assorted cast of stereotypical native Americans play keep-away with all the clues. Silly, and only recommended if you are a big fan.

By Mary Daheim

The second book in the B&B murder mystery series. Daheim is getting better at putting a mystery together without too much confusion. The relationship development between Joe Flynn and Judith McGonigal is a little awkward as it only fills in the perimeter of the story and it seems as if it deserves more spotlight than that. However, the main characters, Judith and Renie are given more life and depth as they together solve their second murder in less than a year. It’s interesting the way Daheim makes little excuses about her characters landing in the middle of so many murder mysteries – a trick I have not seen used by many other authors. Basically it’s as if she’s saying “Yep, it’s ridiculous that she’s in the middle of yet ANOTHER murder mystery – but there you have it.” And somehow that makes it all the more fun to read. Recommended if you are a fan of M. Daheim (or just fun, “travel” fiction).

By Mary Daheim

Mary Daheim’s first B&B mystery novel. Her freshman effort is a little confusing but worth a read if you are interested in her characters at all. We meet Judith, Renie, and Gertrude for the first time and are introduced to Joe once the murder takes place. The mystery itself is full of intolerable people and the intricate connections between them. A little confusing since not everything is explained well but for a first book it’s fairly well written and well thought out. Recommended if you are a fan.

By Mary Daheim

The *gulp* eighteenth book in the B&B series from Mary Daheim. The characters, by this point, are relatively well developed. In “Silver Scream” we meet a pack of ill-mannered Hollywood types and watch them slowly implode as one of their pack is murdered and they are unable to brush it aside. Chock full of stereotypical A-listers and Cousin Renie’s ever-present quest for food. A fun read.

By Alison McGhee

An intriguing story between a girl, her mother and an old man that the girl has decided will be her friend. The story revolves around the mystery of the girl’s missing twin sister and her questionable parentage. A loving look at what mom’s will do for their children and what children will do for the truth.

By Mary Daheim

Another of Mary Daheim’s Bed and Breakfast Mysteries. I like this author because she is local to Seattle. And, although her books are obviously set in Seattle, she gives all the familiar landmarks of Seattle another “disguised” name. For instance, “Starbuck’s” becomes “Moonbeam’s” the Mariners are now the Seafarers etc… It’s fun to puzzle out what she’s talking about. That said, the characters are overly developed to the point of Caricatures and the fact that her heroine keeps landing herself smack dab in the middle of murder mysteries is hard to justify. However, her characters are lovable and her mysteries are pretty hard to figure out. All in all, a good, fun mystery to pick up when in need of something light to read.

By Alexander McCall Smith

McCall Smith has rapidly become one of my favorite authors. His sequel to the best-selling “No. 1 Lady’s Detective Agency” is just as deserving of the credit it has received. McCall Smith shows us again just how much he loves and respects Botswana. Mma Romotswe is again on the trail of some interesting mysteries. and some interesting situations with Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni and his evil maid. If you enjoyed the first book this book is a must-read. If you haven’t read the first book I still highly recommend the second one!

By Robert Graves

After reading this book it’s hard to imagine how there were any Romans left to become leader of the Roman Empire. And very easy to see how it stagnated and fell apart from the inside. This book follows the life of Tiberius Claudius, the lame and stuttering brother son of Augustus Tiberius and grandson of the omnipotent and evil Livia. He survives the ruling of Augustus, his son Tiberius and the insane Caligula. The book ends with the unlikely but foretold crowning of Claudius as the Emperor of Rome. A wonderfully written historic fiction, Robert Graves gives the ancient Romans life and intrigue enough to be glad we don’t live in their times. Highly recommended.