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Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries #7
Major Vices
Though they'd rather be boiled in oil, Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cantankerous cousin Renie have agreed to cater a seventy-fifth birthday bash for their batty old Uncle Boo Major, the billionaire breakfast mush magnate. Luckily their culinary obligations keep them busy in the kitchen of the sprawling Major manor and away from most of their contemptible kin -- until the septuagenarian birthday boy is discovered deceased behind his locked den door. Someone slew Uncle Boo...but who? A plethora of last wills popping up all over the place makes virtually everybody a suspect -- Judith and Renie included. And that's forcing the cousins out on a limb, where they must attempt to pick the true culprit from among the many nuts on their twisted family tree.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
41 people are currently reading
419 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 32 reviews
October 4, 2018
While I enjoyed the previous book in this series, this particular volume was definitely lacking something. I found most of the characters just plain annoying. Like Judith, I just wanted to get out of that house.
July 8, 2021
I read this after reading more recent books in the series. I am very tired of Judith getting so angry at Joe for no good reason. Probably won't read any more of series due to the petty attitude of Judith.
March 20, 2020
Judith and her cousin are roped into catering a birthday party for their very wealthy uncle. The only good thing about catering the party was they were able to stay away from their other obnoxious cousins. When they hear a loud bang and two other loud noises, only one of the sounds is explained. When the uncle is found dead in a locked room and multiple wills are found, Judith and her cousin try to sort out the mess of how was Uncle Boo killed and which will is the correct one.
June 5, 2024
So much fun! I love all of the Bed and Breakfast mysteries, but especially the ones where Judith and Renie are in some sort of locked-room situation. This one has the cousins catering a distant relative’s birthday party, where they’re iced in with a group of people that may include a murderer.
This is an older series that I’ve read through several times. It will never get old!
This is an older series that I’ve read through several times. It will never get old!
September 9, 2025
I think this will be the last book I read in this series. When they talk "normal" it is ok but most of the time the cousins are rude, sarcastic and belligerent to each other and others. The family relations are so unrealistic. How could a bed and breakfast survive with the treatment they are subjected to.
March 18, 2018
These are getting easier to figure out, partially because they're all pretty similar. I do like the "closed door" mysteries and the characters were pretty amusing. The murderer was clear awfully early on in this one.
April 13, 2025
Wow this is a real corker. Judith and Reni get railroaded into catering their Uncle Boo Major 75th Birthday Party. They have zany mean relatives and they can't stand each other. Of course there is at least one murder. Be sure and find this book and see who done it!!!
July 11, 2017
Good cozy mystery
July 27, 2018
Ok
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2020
It is hard to imagine this particular family in Seattle; I have to keep reminding myself that it is not present day. I'm not absolutely sure that works.
October 12, 2020
I loved this book. Judith and Renie are great together. I love this series.
December 22, 2021
Love this series!!
June 30, 2024
Good series
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.)
March 10, 2017
the library has some "new" old Mary Daheim books! Another fun adventure with Judith & Renie
December 12, 2013
I know I've read many entries in this series that have felt fresh even though Daheim takes exactly one situational plot (guests trapped in a house, someone dies) and just keeps re-doing it. But this was not fresh. It was chorus #317 of No One Cares What Joe Thinks, Judith along with a wtf reveal.
Seriously. 200 pages in, Judith turns into SuperSleuth but then needs all remaining 50 pages to explain how and why to Renie. Keep on explaining, Jude-girl. I'm still not with you.
Also, if you set up your story to be fine with the protagonist finding the murder weapon in the trash, then picking up said weapon and stashing it in the trunk of her car for a day and a half, you cannot then have her lecture Renie about trace evidence, "fibers and hairs and things". Pick your poison.
I should take a break from this series, methinks.
Seriously. 200 pages in, Judith turns into SuperSleuth but then needs all remaining 50 pages to explain how and why to Renie. Keep on explaining, Jude-girl. I'm still not with you.
Also, if you set up your story to be fine with the protagonist finding the murder weapon in the trash, then picking up said weapon and stashing it in the trunk of her car for a day and a half, you cannot then have her lecture Renie about trace evidence, "fibers and hairs and things". Pick your poison.
I should take a break from this series, methinks.
March 21, 2013
I liked this one best of all so far. I think Judith should hand off the reins to the B&B to someone else and trot the globe solving mysteries. She is much more fun when NOT at home!
Aside from some weird typos and a few dreaded uses of the word "repose" early on, this book was good. Twists and turns and slightly unexpected relations coupled with a hysterical bout of greedy, feuding relatives made this book fun. Everyone has the cooky extended family that are brash and annoying and fight like cats and dogs. It's amusing to see it unfold from the outside.
Aside from some weird typos and a few dreaded uses of the word "repose" early on, this book was good. Twists and turns and slightly unexpected relations coupled with a hysterical bout of greedy, feuding relatives made this book fun. Everyone has the cooky extended family that are brash and annoying and fight like cats and dogs. It's amusing to see it unfold from the outside.
October 10, 2014
I hadn't read a Mary Daheim book in a long time, and I found it a pure joy. It was just what I needed--good characters, an interesting mystery, odd relatives, and normal everyday "glitches" in life. I really appreciated the family tree at the front of the book and had to refer to it quite often until I got to know the characters. I also appreciated minimal references to past books/mysteries when I read a book out of sequence.
November 29, 2015
Judith and Renie are at it again. This time we get to meet their dysfunctional extended family. And we thought the moms were batty! The cousins are enlisted to cater a birthday party for eccentric Uncle Boo at his mansion in a ritzy neighborhood. Murder and mayhem ensue, the motley crew is held prisoner by bad weather and Judith gets the opportunity to solve not just one, but two murders! I couldn't figure it out till the very end...
August 8, 2012
Judith Flynn and her cousin Renie agree to cater a birthday party for immensely rich Bruno Major, who is the brother-in-law of their detested aunt-by-marriage Toadie. All of Toadie's obnoxious relatives are there, and the cousins are eager to leave, until a dead body and an ice storm strand them with the uncongenial company, with nothing to do but sleuth.
August 26, 2011
I really enjoyed this one. The story was good, loved the whole trapped in the house scenario. Although it wasn't really a part of the story I really loved the famiy tree at the beginning of the book, I like knowing exactly how old Judith and everyone else is, I've always tried to ballpark it in my head based on other things in the other books.
February 20, 2015
A locked-door mystery. Judith and Renie reluctantly agree to cater their distant relatives' Uncle Boo's birthday party dinner. At the Major Manor, Boo is murdered in the den, which is locked from the inside. In the midst of a bad ice storm, the family members - and the murderer - are stuck at the scene of the crime.
July 15, 2013
Another episode in the continuing adventures of bed and breakfast proprietor Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin Renie. This time they are catering a birthday party for some particularly unpleasant relatives -- and of course before it's over there is a murder to be solved.
January 30, 2011
Some of Daheim's earlier books (mysteries) seemed a bit too predictable, but the last few have kept me guessing until the end.
August 23, 2011
My rating is more like 2.5 on this one. The point of view annoyed me. The breaking point of view, I mean.
March 3, 2012
Still liking this series even as cheesy as it is.
August 25, 2012
I fun little story.
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February 3, 2013Once again I really enjoyed this addition to the Bed & Breakfast Mystery series. The characters continue to amuse and they never seem to become boring.
September 23, 2015
These cousins are a hoot! And they have crazy family too. Yet, it makes mine seem a bit less crazy. All good!
March 9, 2009
I love Mary Dahiem. Bed and Breakfast mystery - has some comedy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews