This Old Souse

The Barnes & Noble Review
Mary Daheim adds another clever cozy to her bestselling Bed-and-Breakfast mystery series as B&B owner Judith Flynn investigates the clues in the case of This Old Souse. Some people always find a parking spot. Others never have to wait for a table. Judith Flynn finds bodies. Even the most innocent of outings -- in this case a visit to a spooky old house that has fascinated her cousin Renie Jones since childhood -- quickly becomes an opportunity to discover a corpse.

The house is said to have been occupied since just after WWII by a family called Bland, but they are rarely seen. When a few questions to the UPS man reveals that once a year a package is delivered from Germany, the incurably curious cousins can't resist asking the milkman for a few more details -- any details -- about the family. Shortly after that, the milkman turns up dead in Judith's car and the chase is on. Whenever she can steal time from her eccentric mother, her B&B, and her son, who has recently turned up with his toddlers in tow and the depressing news that he and his wife are "giving up" on their marriage, the intrepid sleuth is on the trail. As she unearths more and more about the Bland clan, she finds tantalizing clues about a hidden hoard and the search leads her into deadly danger. Sue Stone