A Case of Bier

Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries #31

by Mary Daheim

In this charming madcap entry in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Bed-and-Breakfast series, innkeeper and amateur sleuth Judith McMonigle Flynn’s plans for a relaxing vacation go awry when she realizes her fellow guests have a different kind of getaway planned

Vacations can be murder. No one knows that better than Judith McMonigle Flynn, owner of Seattle’s popular Hillside Manor B&B. After a busy summer, she desperately needs some R&R. Leave it to her thoughtful husband, Joe, to surprise her with a trip to the Canadian Rockies. Thrilled to be getting away, Judith’s overjoyed when Cousin Renie and Bill agree to join them. Though the husbands have made the arrangements, how bad can a short time away in the beautiful mountains be? Judith and Renie are about to find out!

While the accommodations certainly leave something to be desired, the other guests are the real prize. They’ve gathered on the mountainside to give a relative a proper and permanent send-off—a nice gesture, until Judith realizes that paying their respects might be a little premature . . . without some very sinister assistance. Now, it’s up to her and Renie to save a would-be corpse from an early date with the undertaker.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery, Cozy, Crime

280 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2019

About the author

Mary Rene Richardson Daheim was an American writer of romance and mystery novels.

Reviews

[T K Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was on pre-order for over a year as its publication date was delayed over and over again. Perhaps I should have recalled it's often a very large red flag when it comes to a book release having a lengthy delay.

One reviewer here mentions the possibility of a ghost writer because this book differs so much from previous in the series. This reads as though multiple writers were given a plot outline and list of characters’ personality quirks then were asked to complete a section of the story. Whoever was responsible for merging all those sections into a final cohesive mystery failed miserably. Whoever wrote the final chapter might possibly have not even read the earlier chapters. I was left with no idea what the book was about
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After reading 270 pages of bickering and over-the-top stereotypes of farmers and Canadians, eh? nothing is resolved. It's not even clear if there was a mystery. Seriously. In what would normally be considered the summation, the main characters and the police are discussing if a crime had even occurred.

Perhaps the most unfortunate thing about Case of Bier is readers who are fans of the Bed and Breakfast series have come to know the characters. Previously the entire slate of characters has been humorous and entertaining. This time all characters seem to be written so over-the-top they are either dangerously dim-witted or have short tempers and bad manners.

Sadly this is a hard no from me. What a disappointment.

[beachbum bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

A case of Bier is the 31st (yep 31) in the bed and breakfast series by Mary Daheim. I have loved this series over the years...but this book wasn’t as good as most of them in the series.

I will say...this is my first time listening to this series on audio, and that made a huge difference. You know when you have talked to someone on the phone numerous times, but have never seen them in person...and when you do...it is not at all the picture you have created?? Well it’s kinda like that only...not...lol, but hopefully you get my drift...I guess the voices in my head were different than I expected...yes, I said the voices in my head... and yes, I know how it sounds lol.

The other thing for me was the writing was all over the place...totally not like the other books, and I do not like when the amateur sleuth comes across as rude, entitled, nosey (which is different than curious) or patronizing!! At points in this book Judith nailed all of these. It was a big turn off!! I don’t remember feeling like this before….hmm…

I'm not ready to give up on this series….I have invested a lot of my time in the Hillside manor (and have enjoyed most of that time), so I will be reading the next one in the series.

To see the crochet project that I started while listening to this book and for more book fun check out my blog @: http://beachbumbookworm.com/

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series. Judith and Renie are the perfect comedic pair. However, I felt this story was lacking a resolution.

Judith, Renie, Bill, and Joe traveled to Banff. A town located in the Canadian Rockies. The men go off on a fishing trip which meant the ladies were off on their own. Since the ladies were on their own, they decided to do what they knew best which was to find a mystery.

Judith and Renie find a family who were in Banff because their family member, Codger, was dying. His last dying wish was to be put on a bier that would float down the local river. The family was from a place called Big Stove, Nebraska.

Codger "dies" not of old age but was murdered. Judith and Renie help the Royal Canadian Mounties with the whole mystery around his death. You'll have to read the book to find out what the mystery was with the strange "death" of Codger.

Meanwhile there was a mystery surrounding Trixie, one of the employees at the motel, Judith and Renie were staying out.

As I said, I was left with a lot of questions. I'm so confused about some of the mystery which is not good at all.

Mary did a great job of trying to talk about the scenery in Banff and the surrounding area which was a saving grace.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received as a GoodReads giveaway. It's the first book I've read in this series, and probably the last. I liked the sense of humor throughout the book, but the characters were all so unlikable. Judith is extremely nosy; Renie is rude, whiny and constantly hungry; their husbands are selfish, insensitive jerks; and the supporting characters are unrealistic and stereotyped. I know it's a long running series and regular readers probably see more redeeming qualities in them, but I just have this book to judge. The plot seemed to fall apart at the end, too, lots of loose ends.

[Jackie]

I won't rate this because I only read about ~35 pages before I decided I was out. The main characters are annoying as all get out, but I willed myself onward until the over-the-top stereotypes of Nebraskan farmers and Canadians got too much for me. Honestly, what does this author have against small-town midwestern farmers? She literally has a character too stupid to know that Canada isn't part of the US. It's like she put the family from the Beverly Hillbillies into her book.

I just can't even with this.

[Jill Sheets · Rating 2 out of 5]

So ... What Really Happened?

So many unanswered questions at the end. Who? What? Why? Where? And when? Seriously, very frustrating ending. This is my least favorite Mary Daheim book so far.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Judith and her cousin Renie stay in Banff while their husbands are off fishing. Camped outside their hotel is a large family of strange hillbilly types. When it appears that grandpa Codger has been murdered and Judith herself sees the knife in his body, none of the family seem upset. Apparently the 102 year old man wanted to go to there to die and have his body sent off on a bier down the river- a request that the family honoured and no body is found.

Everyone in this book seems crazy and very unpleasant, especially Renie. Judith is supposed to be the pleasant one, but even she frequently speaks in a snippy manner. What is meant as humour just comes off as nasty.

While it was nice to imagine the beauty of Banff, it was annoying to have the author tack an "eh" onto so many of the Canadians' sentences. She doesn't quite grasp how to use the interjection. She tells the mountie that the hotel owner is not Canadian because he does not say "eh" and says "in the hospital" rather that "in hospital". Wrong!

Humour is not Mary Daheim's forte. She tries to be funny but fall short.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I've been reading this series for a LONG time but #31!!! To keep characters alive and functional this book is set in August 2006.

Husbands Joe & Bill arrange a vacation for themselves and their wives, cousins Judith and Serena (Renie). Banff, Alberta, Canada provides beautiful scenery, an expensive hotel, a remote fishing package the 'boys' are excited to attend, leaving the 'girls' to shop, walk & Spa away the hours. What can possibly go wrong? I'm not saying anything else so you can enjoy the fun and frustrations our favorite cousins encounter.

This book does not dwell on previous adventures but does quickly explain the background of the major players so you might be able to read it as a stand alone - I can't honesty say since I've read them all.

Enjoy the lovely descriptions of 2006 Banff and a cozy with more than enough quirky characters that make Renie seem boringly normal.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 1 out of 5]

This isn't the first time I have started a series well past the first volume, but this was terrible. Judith and Renie are with their husbands in Banff, on a vacation. While the husbands screwed up the hotel reservations, and take off for a fishing excursion, Judith and Renie are in a less desirable hotel. While exploring, they come upon a family camping on the river. The family is in a state because their grandfather, who was ill and was dying, has apparently been stabbed and killed. Judith immediately gets involved, since she has solved other crimes while running a B&B in Washington State. She is so well known as an amateur sleuth, that there is even a fan club - FASTO - Female Amateur Sleuth Tracking Offenders.

Did not like this. Didn't like the characters, the RCMP reps seemed too willing to allow Judith to contribute and work the case, her cousin Renie is obnoxious, just nothing good. Won't be reading more in this series.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was a giveaways winner of this novel early in 2018, and I forgot about it due to the fact that it took forever to be delivered. I began reading it on a chilly raining evening thinking it was a good armchair detective novel. I was sorely disappointed. I liked Judith's character and I didn't feel like I was missing alot, being that this is the first novel in the series I picked up. But the story dragged on not in a cliff-hanger way. The characters and mystery just got more and more strange and disjointed as I continued to read. I still don't understand the conclusion. Was the mystery solved? Who was John Smith? Did someone die? And for heaven's sake if Renie complained one more time about eating I was DONE. The entire book read more like a travel brochure for Banff than an murder mystery. I probably won't pick this series up again.

[Juuch · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read all of Daheim's Bed & Breakfast series and this book was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT!!! Although many of these books have had strange plots, at least I always knew what had happened and whodunit at the end of the books. Not this time!!! I still have no idea if there was a murder or not. So many unanswered questions ... Was John Smith really Codger? Why did the Stokes family act crazy, especially Ada? Who was Trixie really and was she planning to marry the murdered guy? Was the guy even murdered or was he a dead body that the family conveniently found and used? Why the ruse with sending the body down the river? What actually happened and why???

Reading this was a waste of my time and I'm done w the series. This book never should have been published.

[Vontel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I ran across this book at the library & realized I hadn't read one of Mary Daheim's books in years. Had enjoyed some in the past. What a disappointment, although I did persevere to the end! Fortunately a quick read, but still mostly a waste of time. What plot there was wandered, meandered, was never fully exposed & left dangling at the end. Totally unrealistic characters(including the putative death family & the local RCMP) & location, even if supposed to be set in 2006. Choosing Banff as the setting for a holiday trip & another murder was about the only bonus.

Can't imagine I'll read another one.

[LInda L · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad it was embarrassing. I have not read other Daheims and plan to avoid them at all costs. The cousins were obnoxious -- the RCMPs should have arrested them on general principles. And the one was always whining about being hungry -- does she have a tapeworm? Also, the husbands were so selfish they should have been thrown to the fishes -- hopefully piranahs. I'm sorry there isn't a lesser rating than one star -- it deserves less. According to the reviews, previous books have been funny and much better. I'll never know.

[Kathy Wiley · Rating 1 out of 5]

****SPOILER ALERT******
Don't waste your time reading this book, life is too short. Too many characters that really don't even fit into the plot. Only the author really knows who did until the end and then the killer is a character that was introduced 3/4 of the way through the book. The only reason I even finished this book is because I'm neurotic about leaving a book unfinished; this was painful.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

How disappointing!!! I would have given this book a 1 1/2 stars if I could. We all waited months for the release of this book and this is what we got?? Another reviewer suggests that it was written by a ghost writer as it is not up to her usual excellent storytelling. I don't know but I am very sad.

[Shelley Gingrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

It may be time for Mary Daheim to retire. Her books are getting progressively worse. This one made little sense, and even after rereading the ending I am not sure what happened and why.
Also, as someone with 2 artificial hips and 2 artificial knees, the constant excuses Judith makes and blames on the hip are totally asinine!!

[Jaye Latts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. I realize that I started a long-running series really late in the collection, but the story started too abruptly, the main characters weren't pleasant, and neither were the mystery people.

I often like cozy mysteries but this wasn't one of those.

[Linnea · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out as a fun plot. Then went downhill from there. Some character moves were all over the place and it did not tie together in the end.

[Emily Kunash · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rough. I’m not a fan of the writing here at all and there was a lot of mystery that never resolved. I had so many questions at the end. It was unfinished.

[Cara Mia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those library picks that you go into with high hopes. As a draft, this story has potential. As the finished book- meh.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Flynn and her cousin Reenie are on vacation in Banff while their husbands fish. Due to a mistake on their husbands' part, they are staying at a motel instead of the lush resort they'd been promised, but that's all right. On their first day, they meet a strange family camping out in the vicinity, and soon Judith is involved in another mystery, and a long-suffering Mountie is finding out about Reenie's peculiar sense of humor. It's hard to explain--or even understand--just what's going on (where did the dead body come from? Why do people keep kidnapping the chambermaid?), but Daheim, after several so-so episodes, seems to have recovered her rather ramshackle but good-humored form.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Entertaining, but the ending was rather unusual.

I enjoy reading a series where I know the people like my own family.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this crazy series. It was nice to read about Judith solving another case and Renie worrying about her next meal.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes place in Canada where the cousins are spending time while their husbands are on a fishing trip. They stumble on a family camping who are there to send their elderly father down the river on a bier. The only problem is he isn’t dead yet, while they sit around waiting Judith goes to visit and finds the man stabbed. She reports it but when the Mounties get there the body is missing. Judith and her cousin are busy trying to figure out who the man really was and what happened to the body. There is very little about their mothers and all their craziness.

[Louise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read a lot of Daheim’s books. I usually do it when I need a break from anything serious. It’s true of this book. Just silly!

[Matthew Dapena-Tretter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I realized after the introduction of the Stokes family that this wasn't the book for me. There wasn't a likeable character in the bunch, though thankfully at least Joe and his mother in law were mostly absent.

The book consists largely of driving back and forth between the motel, hospital, police station and innumerable restaurants (how many meals do the main characters eat??) and caricatures' inexplicable behaviors going unexplained. Our heroes find a bloody corpse and wait until the next day to tell anybody; one character pretends to be mentally challenged; another is perpetually drugged and kidnapped. The world which these characters inhabit is one where there's a special acronym for amateur women detectives that everybody seems to know and, if conferred upon you, entitles you to investigation updates from the police. A person is legit stabbed but in the end it doesn't even seem to matter to anybody. This book is maddening!

And it's such a shame. The B & B backstory and Pacific Northwest setting piqued my interest when I read the flap summary. Maybe this is just a dud and there are others in the series worth reading. If I can get over the horribly punny titles ("Clam Wake," "Hocus Croakus"), maybe I'll give it another shot. But I think it'll be a little while.

[Karen Hufman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was horrible. I have read a number of Mary Deheim books- I used to love her Alpine series and I have even read a couple of this series which normally takes place in the Pacific Northwest where the main character owns a B and B. I didn't even like the premise of this story but it was a gift so I went ahead and read it. Judith and her cousin, Renie along with both of their husbands go on a mini vacation to Banff. They end up at a hotel they hadn't planned on since the husbands made a mistake in the reservations, the men end up going off on a fishing trip for the whole time and are not even part of the story. Judith and her cousin meet up with a family from Nebraska who want to send off their patriarch on a bier when he dies- which is supposed to be any minute. The characters were unbelievable and they sounded like they were from the deep south. Judith is nosy and her cousin is rude - they basically go from the area where the family from NE is camped to the office of the RCMP's (who are a joke as well) and various restaurants. It was not a well thought out plot and so completely silly. I could go on and on with what I didn't like about this story.

[Bertha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series story features Judith and her cousin Renie on vacation in Banff Canada as their husbands Joe and Bill disappear on a fishing trip. The descriptions of landscape and food are great. The cousins have a humorous relationship. Earlier books in the series have presented very well developed characters and a solid story. The mystery in this book is disjointed and toward the end contains continuity problems. Better editing needed for sure. The tale evolves around the Stokes family, corn farmers from Nebraska who are camping near the cousins’ hotel. The author is a good writer; however, this is far from the best entry in the series. It is hoped she will return to her usual standard of excellence.

[Kathy Koch · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a major disappointment (and yes I have read most of her books and really I'm a sucker for an easy read and cozy type mystery, so I'm pretty hard to disappoint). The book basically rambles through several plot lines that are never resolved and the ones that are, are pretty much summed up in the last few pages as Judith just figuring it out. There were also consistency issues that I can't believe an editor didn't catch much less the author. I'm actually thinking the book should have just been called "Renie's Next Meal" since it seemed like that was all the book was about. (I suspect Daheim did not write this book or she has totally lost her touch.)

[Tim Fikse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have long enjoyed this series, but I have never finished one of Daheim’s books feeling so confused. I’m glad to read other reviews and realize I am not the only one. So many loose ends. I also felt it was out of character for Renie to pout so much and complain about being left out. I do love the cousins, their husbands, Phyllis, and even Judith’s ornery mother. (Although Gert is a bit much at times.)

Since I also live in the Pacific Northwest, this series is especially fun for me.

(Review written by Janice Fikse, not Tim.)