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Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries #5
Bantam of the Opera
Bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn isn't exactly bellowing "Bravo!" over the news that obnoxious opera star Mario Pacetti and his entourage are coming to stay at the Hillside Manor. The world-class tenor is a renowned pain-in-the-neck--a bloated buffoon who could easily eat her out of house and home. So when the puffed-up, would-be Pavarotti inadvertently drinks poison and falls down dead on his tosca, accusing eyes turn to Judith and her amateur sleuthing partner, cousin Renie. Now it's curtains unless the cousins can unmask the real culprit--before a killer's final, fatal encore.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
44 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Mary Daheim
94 books441 followersMary Rene Richardson Daheim was an American writer of romance and mystery novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
December 9, 2015
It took me a very very long time to finally clear this from the bedside table stack. I'm assuming it was my "no love" for opera that made this such a chore. I didn't really care who lived or died and I certainly couldn't give a flying fig about whodunit. The one true thing is that it was all wrapped up nicely at the end. I still love these b&b cousins and would gladly read anything they star in.
March 3, 2011
I love the series, but this wasn't one of my favorites in the series. I would give it more like 3 1/2 stars, because I liked it, but not as much as the others, which I generally give 4 stars. I figured out the "who dunnit" relatively early, and even the motive. I don't know if that detracted from my rating or added to it, but I guess the plot was pretty easy to figure out. The book was about opera, which is one of my least favorite things, so that made it less interesting to read.
March 3, 2012
This series is becoming addictive. Short stories around 200 pages. Reading them in order keeps the main story going. Downright ridiculous mysteries but worth reading.
July 25, 2020
I love this series. This was a great book. I will continue the series.
April 9, 2025
https://www.goodreads.com/review/edit...#
Julia was unhappy with the people who were coming to stay at her Bed and Breakfast for a week. An
obnoxious Opera Star he could be very demanding and unpleasant to be around. The Tenor was performing and he collapsed on stage. There are more zany Opera People to find out what happened to the Tenor.
Julia was unhappy with the people who were coming to stay at her Bed and Breakfast for a week. An
obnoxious Opera Star he could be very demanding and unpleasant to be around. The Tenor was performing and he collapsed on stage. There are more zany Opera People to find out what happened to the Tenor.
July 24, 2016
I have an affinity for cozy mysteries. They generally aren't written in pursuit of a spot on the bestseller list; rather, cozies are written to give the reader a sense of comfort and calm (ironically, by way of murder).
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)I have an affinity for cozy mysteries. They generally aren't written in pursuit of a spot on the bestseller list; rather, cozies are written to give the reader a sense of comfort and calm (ironically, by way of murder).
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)I have an affinity for cozy mysteries. They generally aren't written in pursuit of a spot on the bestseller list; rather, cozies are written to give the reader a sense of comfort and calm (ironically, by way of murder).
My mom read cozies to escape her three eccentric young daughters and grumpy husband: one daughter, the artist, painted five-foot tall green flowers on the side of the freshly painted rental when she was four; the adventurous daughter asked which way north was, and was found by neighbors five hours later walking up the beach, wearing a backpack, in pursuit of Santa in the North Pole (we lived on an island--she wasn't the brightest of the three of us); and the oldest daughter (that would be I) caused her first-year kindergarten teacher to quit by demanding that all classroom toy soldiers and toy weapons be removed from the classroom so that her classmates would not become violent adults, and that the teacher immediately stop smoking on her breaks because she would surely die of lung cancer. As to my mother's husband, he had some strange notion that feeding 40 stray cats, a stray goat, a duck, and 4 turtles (not stray) out of a 2-bedroom apartment was odd. He also became irrationally upset when the cat gave birth in his shoe. So you see, for my mother, it was either read a cozy or drink (or possibly dispose of the children and husband).
Years later, when my grandmother came to live with us (bigger house, different country, revolving pet door, dad retired and usually lost in Best Buy, girls now goth, theater geek, and raver) we slowly replaced her true crime books with cozies in order to keep her from roaming the house at night after taking her pain pills, looking for the Son of Sam whilst armed with a shoe horn.
And all this is how I came to read cozies myself, because they were always there to help me escape my crazy family, you could carry on a screaming match with a sibling and not miss much in the book, and thanks to grandma's Dahmer intervention, there were always a shitload in the house. (Serious reading was done away from the insane people.)
December 6, 2012
Not as clean as books 1-4, but still a good read.
December 14, 2019
Life is never dull at Judith McMonigal Flynn’s B&B, Hillside Manor. This time, opera star Mario Pacetti and his entourage is taking over the B&B. They are in town for Pacetti’s performance in “Traviata.” Pacetti comes with a pain-in-the-neck reputation, a list of favourite foods and an ego that doesn’t quit. The reason Judith took them on was the opera house is paying three times the standard rate for their stay. Who can refuse the money?
When Pacetti drops dead during his performance in “Traviata,” and it is determined it was poison and not a heart attack that was the cause of death, everyone becomes a suspect, and secrets start to emerge for many. Liaisons, people who aren’t who they pretend to be and more. Judith and Renie, her sister, decide to find the murderer on their own as the murderer is probably staying at the B&B and this latest disaster is not doing any good PR for the B&B.
Judith’s husband Joe, a homicide cop, and Renie’s husband Bill, a psychologist, are in New Orleans at a conference on sociopathic personalities. With both men gone, Judith decides to remodel their tool shed that had suffered fire damage from one of the neighbourhood kids. She plans to install her mother in the newly designed MIL apartment. As her mother and her husband never have gotten along, she feels this is a solution to taking care of her mother and keeping her marriage intact. Hopefully it will be done before Joe gets back.
When Pacetti drops dead during his performance in “Traviata,” and it is determined it was poison and not a heart attack that was the cause of death, everyone becomes a suspect, and secrets start to emerge for many. Liaisons, people who aren’t who they pretend to be and more. Judith and Renie, her sister, decide to find the murderer on their own as the murderer is probably staying at the B&B and this latest disaster is not doing any good PR for the B&B.
Judith’s husband Joe, a homicide cop, and Renie’s husband Bill, a psychologist, are in New Orleans at a conference on sociopathic personalities. With both men gone, Judith decides to remodel their tool shed that had suffered fire damage from one of the neighbourhood kids. She plans to install her mother in the newly designed MIL apartment. As her mother and her husband never have gotten along, she feels this is a solution to taking care of her mother and keeping her marriage intact. Hopefully it will be done before Joe gets back.
January 10, 2020
In Mary Daheim’s "Bantam of the Opera," we find her familiar bed-and-breakfast (cum detective) hostess already well into the overture when we start page one! For this Seattle writer, this is her fifth in the series of her fast reading (of course) musical interlude, sometimes with a little bit of humor and a lot of local color episodes.
Hillside Manor is Judith’s BNB and, cue to the opening curtain, a world-class and famous operatic tenor (Mario Pacetti—tenors always have to be Italian or Irish!) and his entourage have arrived. He’s a pain in the behind, of course, with a voracious appetite. And before you can say andante cantabile, there’s a murder—the very last thing poor Judith needs because her husband (a policeman) is away, attending a conference!
Pacetti “inadvertently” has drunk poison and falls dead. How could this have happened? All eyes quickly turn to poor Judith, who is at a loss for words, for sure. (Where’s an aria when you need one?) With the help of her friend Renie (as usual) who is an amateur sleuth herself, they compose themselves and march on to the final movement. It’ll be curtains for all if the two (who are cousins) can’t strike up the band. For cozy fans, this one deserves a “brava” and an “encore”!
(This reader is finding it amusing to read at least one cozy per issue!)
Hillside Manor is Judith’s BNB and, cue to the opening curtain, a world-class and famous operatic tenor (Mario Pacetti—tenors always have to be Italian or Irish!) and his entourage have arrived. He’s a pain in the behind, of course, with a voracious appetite. And before you can say andante cantabile, there’s a murder—the very last thing poor Judith needs because her husband (a policeman) is away, attending a conference!
Pacetti “inadvertently” has drunk poison and falls dead. How could this have happened? All eyes quickly turn to poor Judith, who is at a loss for words, for sure. (Where’s an aria when you need one?) With the help of her friend Renie (as usual) who is an amateur sleuth herself, they compose themselves and march on to the final movement. It’ll be curtains for all if the two (who are cousins) can’t strike up the band. For cozy fans, this one deserves a “brava” and an “encore”!
(This reader is finding it amusing to read at least one cozy per issue!)
September 6, 2022
The Opera star Mario Pacetti and his entourage invade a small B&B in “Bantam of the Opera”. The food is never ending as are the special requests and the cleaning! How Judith handles this unruly, demanding group with her husband out of town is amazing. It helps that her cousin Renie lives close by for both moral support and sanity! Throw in warring mothers, a hypochondriac cleaning lady and the best slightly clumsy but what a perfectionist handy man ever and wow how Judith handles it all without going off the deep end is amazing! Oh, I think I forgot to mention the murder! This was a fast paced, fun who dunnit! I highly recommend it as a great weekend read!
January 4, 2024
"The jumbled blur of the past few days swirled around in Judith's brain. Words, so many words, in accents foreign and domestic... She couldn't remember all of them... And yet, there were snatches that came to mind."
A delightful, cozy, yet drawn out mystery that I found a bit difficult to get through. Maybe I'm just slow, but the actual mystery seemed pretty difficult to follow. All of the action with the murderer was finished in about a chapter. However, I did enjoy all of the characters and their personalities, especially Tippy and the cousins, they were fun to read about. Overall it was an enjoyable and fun experience, coming from someone who hasn't read the other books in the series. It does well as a standalone title, for anyone wanting to just jump right in.
June 24, 2018
I'm giving this one five stars because it compares very favorably with the baker's dozen of "cozy mysteries" I've read previously. Daheim creates an engaging, down-to-earth protagonist with a very believable personal life, and weaves an opera-centric murder puzzle that is well thought-out and skilfully executed. In a genre that I haven't found very impressive overall, she's a definite stand-out.
March 3, 2024
When a B&B host gets a world famous opera singer and his entourage as guests, she isn't really prepared for all the hullaballoo they bring. She really isn't prepared when the singer is murdered, but she investigates anyway, when her supercop husband can't make any progress.
Might try a little too hard for laughs. There is some ethnic humor that might "trigger" somebody, but it's stuff that was fairly common until the last couple of years. In all, not a bad read.
Might try a little too hard for laughs. There is some ethnic humor that might "trigger" somebody, but it's stuff that was fairly common until the last couple of years. In all, not a bad read.
July 11, 2020
The bickering with the cousins is somewhat annoying. I have stayed at several bed and breakfasts . It was never ..I'll make breakfast when you get up. Nor were we permitted or would have ever thought to help ourselves to the owners food/beverages. I don't understand how Judith can stay in business or how her husband would put up with guests running the inn.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 28, 2017
enjoyable read
September 6, 2017
I do believe I have this one before and enjoyed it just as much. Judith and her cousin Renie and the two mothers that can not get along.
July 5, 2020
I enjoy the antics of the cousins and there have been references to this murder in some other books so I am glad I read it.
December 22, 2020
4 - Very, Very Good
October 22, 2023
Rereading these again and I've come to realize that they are terrible. They certainly haven't aged well. The prejudices and self-centeredness of several of the main characters are absolutely disgusting. The only reason I haven't lowered my rating is that they serve the need for something easy and stupid to read while I'm not in good health.
March 20, 2013
I figured out the "how" of this one right away. As to the "who" or "why?" I'm going to keep reading.
I'm also beginning to HATE the word "reposed." Can this author not use a thesaurus?
Finished the book and again, I didn't see the "who" coming, although the "why" became obvious halfway through the book: money.
Getting to like these characters a bit more, so I think I'll keep reading.
I'm also beginning to HATE the word "reposed." Can this author not use a thesaurus?
Finished the book and again, I didn't see the "who" coming, although the "why" became obvious halfway through the book: money.
Getting to like these characters a bit more, so I think I'll keep reading.
February 7, 2017
The owner of a B&B has some opera people as her guests and the tenor gets murdered. She searches for the killer as she doesn't want the person staying at her place. Her cousin helps her while both their husbands are out of town. She also is having an old toolshed converted to an apartment for her mother.
June 9, 2009
An operatic tenor and his entourage are staying at Judith Flynn's bed and breakfast. Though there's dissension in the group, murder is the last thing Judith expects or wants, especially since her policeman husband is off at a conference and his partner's wife is having a baby.
June 25, 2013
This time Judith McMonigle Flynn's bed and breakfast is filled with the entourage of a famous opera star (and the bulk of the star himself). Of course someone is murdered and of course it is up to Judith and her cousin/sidekick Reenie to catch the killer.
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April 14, 2008Mystery,Cozy
June 28, 2009
Not Josephine Tey or Agatha Christie, but ok mysteries. I'll work my way through it via ILL instead of purchase.
January 7, 2010
A preening, hypochondriac tenor with his wife and agent, their ditzy secretary, and their flamboyant producer with enormous appetites stay at the B&B.
August 1, 2010
Another fun & festive mystery by Mary Daheim. I enjoy the progression of their lives!
August 27, 2011
Not my kind of female detective mystery. I'm testing our library's e-book capabilities and this sounded interesting.
March 19, 2013
I love this series. Judith and Renie and company hit all the right notes
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews