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Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries #15
Creeps Suzette
The off-season blahs, a pyromaniacal mom, and a recently retired husband who is constantly underfoot have poor Judith McMonigle Flynn going stir crazy at Hillside Manor. So the harried R&B hostess leaps at cousin Renie's suggestion that Judith accompany her to Creepers—the stately estate of kindly old Leota Burgess. The wealthy senior is certain that someone is determined to do her in for money—most likely one of her disreputable relatives—and Judith and Renie have agreed to look into her allegations. And when they stumble upon Leota's bruised but still breathing body at the foot of the grand staircase, they realize the old lady's fears may be well-founded. But the decidedly dead corpse lying on top of Leota—his head bashed flatter than the proverbial French pancake—suggests that there's more to these homicidal doings than meets the eye. And now it's up to the cousins to follow the clues to the creep who's creeping around Creepers with murder on the mind.
306 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
28 people are currently reading
496 people want to read
About the author
Mary Daheim
94 books442 followersMary Rene Richardson Daheim was an American writer of romance and mystery novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
August 4, 2010
Judith Flynn, owner of Highgate B&B, is being driven crazy by her recently retired police officer husband, Joe. At her cousin, Renie's suggestion, Judith accompanies her to the grand estate of Leona Burgess. Creepers is an odd name for this stately manor, but it belies the homes mysterious goings-on. Leona thinks someone is trying to murder her. Judy and Renie fancy themselves as amateur sleuths. But the huge family tree, quirky characters, and old acquaintances make for a puzzle that is difficult to solve.
When kindly old Dr. Moss, the ancient family physician is murdered, Judy and Renie jump into the fray of the investigation and try their darndest to solve the mystery. They know it had to be an insider, as entry into the mansion was restricted, but who could have done it? It takes some special skills and ruthless interrogation to come up with the answer...and the answer comes from a reliable, yet surprising source.
Lovable, odd characters are abundant in the book and they come to life with each page with a smattering of humor and quirkiness.
When kindly old Dr. Moss, the ancient family physician is murdered, Judy and Renie jump into the fray of the investigation and try their darndest to solve the mystery. They know it had to be an insider, as entry into the mansion was restricted, but who could have done it? It takes some special skills and ruthless interrogation to come up with the answer...and the answer comes from a reliable, yet surprising source.
Lovable, odd characters are abundant in the book and they come to life with each page with a smattering of humor and quirkiness.
November 25, 2017
This was one of those books. You know - the one where the wacky cousin sticks out her tongue at neighboring diners or whips out a gun from her comically oversized purse. The story has nothing to do with the title, but the picture grabs your attention. At the end, when the mystery is solved your left scratching your head because key points are not explained. Specifically, the doctor was killed by a woman because he knew that she had killed her husband, because her husband knew that her mother (now deceased) had killed the nanny (we don't know why) and then hanged herself when the original killer was 3 years old..... Gosh, I hope I didn’t spoil it for anyone who was able to follow the above.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 26, 2016
Really good entry in the series, this time with Judith and Renie staying at a friend's mother's house and trying to figure out who has been making attempts on her life. The family tree in the front was very helpful as there were lots of characters not only still involved in the current murder but from the past. This had the vibe of an old locked, haunted house mystery even though it wasn't. I liked the cops who were assigned the case and hope they show up in future books.
May 6, 2025
Judith and Renie end up in a strange house named "Creepers". A friend of Renie's, Beverly was on a dig in Africa, and Mom in America, was living at Creepers and having accidents. So Bev wanted Renie and Judith to live at "Creepers" for a few days to watch for any problems. The house was full of relatives, coming in at all hours. A murder happened and Judith and Renie are working hard to find
the murderer. This book keeps the reader wondering who did it.
the murderer. This book keeps the reader wondering who did it.
July 26, 2018
I'm not positive but I think there was another book in this series that featured a body in the well. This just felt like every other book in this series where they were trapped in a house with a murderer. At least the author's gotten rid of the long paragraphs of description and added some dialogue and action.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 7, 2019
This is such a great series. The sarcastic thoughts that never become words always make me laugh, because many times it is just what I'm thinking. I almost gave the book a 4 star as the beginning of the book was like milking the decision to have a mystery took awhile. But once they moved on the famous cousins predictably continued to make a fantastic sleuths once again giving it a 5 star rating.
February 10, 2019
I had a little trouble connecting with the main characters - not surprising when picking up a middle-of-a-long-series book - but they won me over when Some uncomfortable moments when the mansion's denizens reveal their casual (and once or twice not-so-casual) racism.
May 29, 2018
This is a really fun series about the owner of a B and B who finds herself involved in murder and mayhem. You can read them in any order, but if you read them in chronological order you can see how Judith's life and the lives of those around her evolve.
May 31, 2020
Renie's friend asks her to check on her mother and Judith goes along to get a break from her recently retired husband. The friend is right to be concerned, as the mother turns up dead. A full house and a missing will complicates things. I like the series and it's a fun fast read.
December 4, 2018
Slow
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2019
Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin/co-sleuth Renie go t o a friend’s mansion to try and prevent the murder of the friend’s elderly mother.
August 17, 2019
A great raid with lots of twists and turns and miss street that will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing who did it to the Very end.
September 16, 2020
a little darker (more real?) than some.
January 3, 2022
Complex family trees! Family secrets! Locked rooms! So much to keep my mind engaged & curious!
Read
December 24, 2022Too many characters!
May 17, 2025
One of my favorites in the series. I love the spooky old house. And the author tackles racism and privilege. The mystery is a good one, if very sad.
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.)
May 14, 2019
#15 in the bed and breakfast Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin Renie mystery series.
It is late February and Judith’s husband has been retired for a couple of months and recently retired husband is constantly underfoot bothering her with his continued presence. So she leaps at cousin Renie's suggestion that she accompany her to Creepers—the stately estate of kindly old Leota Burgess. The wealthy senior is certain that someone is determined to do her in for money—most likely one of her disreputable relatives (what a collection of relatives!)—and Judith and Renie have agreed to look into her allegations. Upon their arrival they find things looking like Leota is in danger and it is up to them to follow the clues to the creep who's creeping around Creepers with murder on the mind.
Helping to keep the lighter tone to the mystery are Judith's mother (the world's crankiest person) and Judith's flighty, wise-mouthed cousin, Renie, who also serves as Judith's "Watson."
It is late February and Judith’s husband has been retired for a couple of months and recently retired husband is constantly underfoot bothering her with his continued presence. So she leaps at cousin Renie's suggestion that she accompany her to Creepers—the stately estate of kindly old Leota Burgess. The wealthy senior is certain that someone is determined to do her in for money—most likely one of her disreputable relatives (what a collection of relatives!)—and Judith and Renie have agreed to look into her allegations. Upon their arrival they find things looking like Leota is in danger and it is up to them to follow the clues to the creep who's creeping around Creepers with murder on the mind.
Helping to keep the lighter tone to the mystery are Judith's mother (the world's crankiest person) and Judith's flighty, wise-mouthed cousin, Renie, who also serves as Judith's "Watson."
February 8, 2013
Once again I enjoyed the storyline. Judith and Renie went to stay with a friends mother to try to find out who might be trying to kill her. Judith was getting pretty fed up with having Joe around the house since he retired as he did nothing but follow her around all day. It was driving her up the walls so off they went. Once they were living in the mansion, they started their usual interrogation techniques and then lo and behold other people start dying.
December 20, 2011
I had originally marked this book as read, but I must have confused it with another Mary Daheim novel.
Not my favourite b&b mystery. I didn't care if the uppity old lady was massacred or if any of her pretentious relatives were wiped off the planet. The grandchildren walked around (except Bop) like they were high or coming down from some sort of trip. Whiney creatures.
Not my favourite b&b mystery. I didn't care if the uppity old lady was massacred or if any of her pretentious relatives were wiped off the planet. The grandchildren walked around (except Bop) like they were high or coming down from some sort of trip. Whiney creatures.
June 9, 2009
Elderly, immensely wealthy Mrs. Burgess thinks someone is trying to kill her--so cousins Judith Flynn and Renie Jones go to visit the old, luxurious spooky house known as Creepers, where they meet Mrs. Burgess' involved family, her doddering servants, and murder. Before long, Judith discovers hidden secrets that date back before she was born.
June 28, 2015
This is another enjoyable story by Mary Daheim. It is reminiscent of Agatha Christie's classics set on large estates, with the murder suspects all gathered in one place (more-or-less). The multiple family connections confused me at times, but I had fun following Judith and Renie as they solved not only the current puzzle, but a decades-old mystery as well.
did-not-finish
June 22, 2015Stopped around page 46 because even with the family tree in the front of the book, I just could not keep the characters straight. I don't want to have to think that hard to enjoy a book. This is the second book of Daheim's I've tried to read and could not get through. Won't try again.
May 6, 2015
Another delightful romp with Judith and cousin Renie! This pair of not-so-super sleuths are hysterical and totally human. Gotta love the attitude, kulziness and amusing banter... Once again, characters you can care about make all the difference.
February 17, 2009
fluff but the mother in the tool shed reminds me of Stephanoe Plum grandmother zany characters
July 30, 2010
The down to earth working class cousins try to help a snotty upperclass family find out who is causing trouble a the family Manor. I thought it was a cute little mystery.
January 26, 2011
This one kept me guessing til the end which probably makes it 3 1/2 stars. I liked that the cousins solved one mystery but not the other.
March 13, 2012
I liked this one.
March 19, 2013
The cousins are delightful in their sleuthing. However, cousin Renie can be a real trial. She takes some getting used to. I really enjoy this series.
April 1, 2013
Interesting. Not my absolute favorite but definitely not the worst. The wealthy family intrigue has been done a couple times before.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews