Mary Daheim, Vi Agra Falls

Vi Agra Falls

Mary Daheim

Morrow, Aug 2008, $23.95

ISBN: 9780061562716

In Seattle, Judith McMonigle Flynn owns and manages the Hillside Manor bed-and-breakfast. However, domestic tranquility and bliss vanish rather quickly when Joe's former wife 'Her' with the ample cleavage as always openly on display, nouveau riche Vivian, arrives. Accompanying her is her much younger boy toy spouse, former minor league baseball player Billy 'Blunder' Buss.

However the Heraldsgate Hill cul de sac residents including Judith, her cousin Remy, and Joe are horrifically stunned when Vivian announces plans to build an ostentatious condo complex amidst their homes. Adding to the growing fiasco is the arrival of Billy'0s brother Frankie and his wife Marva Lou who stay at the B&B. Frankie is irate that his late father left a fortune to his trophy wife Vivian. When a corpse is found behind Vivian's new home, Judith can't help herself. She starts investigating though she denies to Remy every sleuthing step of involvement she takes.

This long running cozy keeps its freshness with the interrelationships, many dysfunctional between the cast including the cousins. The storyline is fast-paced from the onset as an eccentric horde invades the Heraldsgate Hill neighborhood causing havoc to the residents and amusement for the reader. The investigation is cleverly handled to add to the overall fun of exacerbation as Judith reconsiders her second time with Joe due to his eccentric people invading their of people.

Harriet Klausner