September Mourn

July 31, 1997
The eleventh installment of Daheim's Bed-and-Breakfast-Mystery series is an unremarkable work set on a Pacific Northwest coastal island. Daheim's heroine, Judith McMonigle Flynn, and her sidekick cousin Renie play amateur sleuths when a murder takes place while they guest-host the only B&B on scenic Chavez Island (population seven by the author's account, eight if you do the math yourself). Opposite the cousins are a skeptical female sheriff and a handful of secretive residents. The dialogue between the cousins is rather stiffly deliberate and Renie's penchant for food as a distinguishing characteristic grows annoying. Other characters, such as the prim school marm and the commandeering businessman are painfully one-dimensional. Daheim represents her picturesque backdrop well, but her lack of character development leaves the reader apathetic, even when Flynn's detective skills lead to the murderer after some inventive plot twists.