"All The Pretty Hearses" by Mary Daheim
2011 HarperCollins
ISBN: 978-0-06-135158-7
Rating: 4 Stars
Mary Daheim is the author of two popular long-running series. My favorite is the Alpine series featuring the owner of the town’s newspaper Emma Lord. Emma is intelligent, witty, a fair boss, and considerate friend. Judith McMonigle Flynn, the main character of the Bed-and-Breakfast mystery series shares some traits with Emma, but her wit can come off as more sarcastic and negative than Emma’s. Although I prefer the Alpine series, I recently read “All The Pretty Hearses”, the latest installment in the Bed-and-Breakfast series. I was pleased to see that Judith’s sarcasm had been tuned down a little and the conversations she had with her cousin Renie were amusing and not annoying the way they have been in some of the previous books in this series.
“All the Pretty Hearses” begins with Judith hosting the aptly named “Paine” family to a donated stay at the bed and breakfast. Then, her beloved husband Joe’s latest case comes to an abrupt end when the target of his investigation is murdered. Even worse, a rookie policeman is convinced Joe is guilty of the murder, and it’s up to Judith to find the real killer. Although the book is part of a long-running series, the author cleverly works background information about the characters into the story in the first few chapters of the book.
I really enjoyed this book and found it to be very entertaining. Paine family dinner debacle that Judith hosts to fulfill her donation to a local school’s fundraising event is both funny and related to the main plot. There were several “laugh out loud” moments during these scenes.
In some of the prior books in this series, Judith and her cousin Renie’s friendly bickering can become irritating. However, maybe because Judith really needs her cousin’s help this time to prove Joe’s innocence, but Renie is less abrasive this time around. Judith and Renie work together to investigate the murder, and their scenes are amusing instead of annoying.
On the other hand, I find Judith’s mother Gertrude to be as unlikable as ever in this book. She’s always a challenge for Judith to get along with, but she hits an all-time low this time claiming that seeing Joe arrested was the most fun she has had since the funeral of Judith’s first husband Dan. Maybe this is supposed to be humorous, but I find it bordering on cruel.
The book moves fast, due to the many characters and plot turns. In fact, it started to get a little confusing, but things are wrapped up and explained at the end. The book ends perfectly with a recipe for Renie’s infamous Shrimp Dump.
I received this book free from Amazon in return for an honest review.
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