Claudia Bishop, Buried by Breakfast

Buried by Breakfast

Claudia Bishop

Berkley, Dec 2004, $6.50, 272 pp.

ISBN: 0425199452

March is normally quiet time for the manager and co-owner of the Inn at Hemlock Falls, Sarah "Quill" Quilliam, and for her sister co-owner and Chef Meg. However, this year the Inn hosts a sequestered jury working the case of Rocor vs. Meecham. Six jurors, the flamboyant Judge Moody, his bodyguard, and the court liaison are the only guests at the Inn, but this entourage keeps the siblings hopping trying to satisfy their outrageous demands. Meanwhile, the town is coping with Corliss Hooker who is going to ridiculous lengths to stop Ferris Rodman, owner of Rocor Construction, from relocating a Civil War Cemetery so that he can build a golf course at its present site.

Soon after Corliss asks to speak with the Judge, Moody is found murdered; Quill is eager to find out who killed him. She hopes it is Ferris Rodman, who is supposedly planning to build an inn to rival that of the sisters. Quill convinces businesswoman Marge Schmidt to break into Rodman's trailer hoping to find dirt on him, but they get caught. Rodman agrees to not press charges and admits he plans to build an inn by the proposed golf course. The next day Marge asks Quill to help her find her ex-husband Buddy who was supposed to meet them at the inn, but when they do he has been decapitated. Quill thinks the murders are connected, but struggles to find the missing link.

A "Hemlock Falls" mystery is always a great reading experience and BURIED BY BREAKFAST is no exception. Claudia Bishop writes an enthralling, amateur sleuth mystery with so many suspects, mostly guests, that readers will not guess who the perpetrator is. The siblings and Marge remain solid protagonists in this highly recommended novel and series.

Harriet Klausner