Loco Motive

August 2, 2010
In Daheim's plodding 25th Bed-and-Breakfast mystery (after 2008's Vi Agra Falls), innkeeper and librarian Judith McMonigle Flynn takes a cross-country train trip with bumpy results. After aging daredevil Wee Willie Weevil performs a stunt that goes awry at Judith's Hillside Manor B&B in Seattle, Wash., his female assistant, Pepper Gundy, goes off in a huff, promising a lawsuit. Judith and cousin Serena "Renie" Jones soon board Amtrak's Empire Builder train to Boston, planning a mini-vacation with their husbands, Joe and Bill, who are flying to Beantown (Renie's afraid of planes). Surprisingly, they discover the injured Willie, Pepper, and another assistant also onboard. Problems escalate after a helpful train attendant vanishes, a train-stopping accident occurs, and Willie is found dead in a sleeping car compartment. The convoluted plotting and irksome characters may leave new readers cold, but faithful fans will savor this latest challenge for the B&B Nancy Drew.