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Here Comes the Bribe: A Bed-and-Breakfast…
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Here Comes the Bribe: A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery (Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries) (original 2016; edition 2016)

by Mary Daheim (Author)

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403618,574 (3.61)None
Rodney Schmuck and his wife, Cleo, Hillside Manor's latest guests, seem completely ordinary. Judith McMonigle Flynn is touched to hear that the forty-something couple is in town to visit family. Rodney has come to visit his mother - who, he claims, is none other than Judith herself! Shocked to meet a son she's certain she never had, she insists he's made a mistake. Then Rodney shows her proof: a birth certificate from Norway General Hospital listing Judith Anne Grover as his mother. The father's name is Unknown. But she's got an even bigger problem on her hands when one of the B&B's own guests turns up dead. Then Rodney announces he wants Judith to financially compensate him for abandoning him. Perhaps she'll sign over Hillside Manor? Fat chance of that...… (more)
Member:readingrebecca
Title:Here Comes the Bribe: A Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery (Bed-and-Breakfast Mysteries)
Authors:Mary Daheim (Author)
Info:William Morrow (2016), Edition: Reprint, 320 pages
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Here Comes the Bribe by Mary Daheim (2016)

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I couldn't wait to read this book and as usual was not at all disappointed in Mary Daheim's Here Comes The Bribe. I read the book in two days!

I always enjoy a visit with Renie, Judith, Joe and Judith's mother. It's like visiting with people you've known for a long time. Ms. Daheim always makes sure to explain in the beginning of the book what's gone on before with the characters so even if it's the first book you've read you won't be lost. The ending seemed a little abrupt to me but it in no way took away from the story. I don't want to say to much and give away any spoilers but let me just say, buy the book and enjoy it! ( )
  TaKeara | May 27, 2017 |
The author's note that Here Comes the Bribe takes place in May 2006 puzzled me until I realized that part of the plot wouldn't have made sense if it hadn't taken place before the economic crash of 2008.

NOTES (pop culture references, fictional and real name-dropping, character facts, and non-spoiler tips to help those who've read the book find things again):

Chapter 1:

a. There are old cherry and pear trees blooming in the garden behind Hillside Manor.

b. Joe reminds Judith that he won't go outside the county [on a private investigator job] now that he's semi-retired.

c. Joe's MG won't start.

d. Their son, Mike, has been transferred to the Bread Loaf Wilderness in Vermont.

e. Renie got shot at when she was in Maine. Joe reminds Judith why.

f. Judith and Renie house-sat for Uncle Vince and Auntie Vance last winter. See book 29, Clam Wake, which came out in 2014. (Has that been retconned [retroactive continuity] into taking place before this book?)

g. Ron at Hillcrest Auto Repair shared some information with Joe.

h. Cindy at the bank shared similar information with Judith.

i. Look here for the graphic design idea Renie thinks up for Gutbusters Warehouse.

j. Sweetums is described as merely orange and white, no mention of gray.

k. It'll cost $2,000 to fix the MG.

l. Gertrude Grover came of age in the era of bathtub gin.

m. We learn what Judith thinks whenever she sees an old photo of her mother wearing a cloche hat and a short skirt while sitting in the driver's seat of a Model A convertible.

n. Joe reels off APB, WINQ, and MOE while trading barbs with his mother-in-law.

o. There's a Three Stooges reference.

p. Renie says she never wears shoes inside the house.

q. Renie and Bill always change liquors the first week in May (unless they forget).

r. Gert makes a snark about politicians and possums.

s. There's an Eva Marie Saint reference.

t. Judith's nightly phone calls to Renie after her first husband, Dan, fell asleep or passed out were a lifeline.

u. Bill has an ulcer.

Chapter 2:

a. Rodney Schmuck is a southpaw (he's left-handed).

b. Judith makes a slip of the tongue when introduced to Reverend Kindred.

c. Belle Schmuck calls her fiancé 'the nerd' because of his work.

d. There's a new marble-topped credenza by the staircase. The guest register is kept on it.

e. Bill Jones mentions an incident involving a Hindi patient.

f. Renie quotes Uncle Al before making a rude comment about Rodney's job.

g. Judith has a nightmare about Rodney.

h. Joe lies to Millie Schmuck.

i. Joe's daughter by his first wife, Caitlin, is a dedicated single career woman who works in a laboratory in Switzerland.

j. There's a Howard Hughes reference.

k. "Manis and pedis" is short for "manicures and pedicures".

Chapter 3:

a. Judith doesn't recognize the voice of the 911 operator.

b. Judith doesn't recognize the two on-duty police officers who respond: tall, rangy, African-American Roland Pugh and his burly, fair-haired partner, Ivar Soderstrom.

c. Judith uses the calm & authoritative voice that she'd often used on rowdy drunken customers at the Meat & Mingle Café.

d. See book for when Judith met firefighter Jess Sparks last year.

e. Joe reels off some things Gert has lived through and speculates what she'd tell Jesus at the Second Coming.

f. Arlene mentions something her husband, Carl, saw that morning.

g. Homeless persons live in the nearby parks on Heraldsgate Hill. We learn what Judith did for an elderly woman who offered to sweep the sidewalk for wood during the previous fall.

h. Gert mentions her Granny Goodness chocolates (which have nothing to do with the DC comic book villainess).

i. Gasp! Gert admits something almost nice about Joe.

j. Pinochle is a card game.

Chapter 4:

a. There's a Sherlock Holmes reference.

b. Ingrid Heffelman has threatened to yank Judith's B&B license in several of the books, so I don't blame Judith for worrying about Ingrid getting the news about the latest murder.

c. Lawyer Stuart Wicks is supposed to appear in court in Los Angeles on Monday.

d. Room One is just off the front staircase and is accessible only from the hall. Guests have to share the bathroom between Rooms Three and Four.

e. Judith's sheep-shaped cookie jar is empty.

f. Judith keeps at least three kinds of juice in her refrigerator: orange, tomato, and cranapple.

g. Renie has outgrown her allergies to wheat, milk, vegetable oil, and eggs. She's still allergic to nuts and peanuts, a fact which has shown up in several books.

h. Once again it's stated that Judith owns the bed-and-breakfast while her mother owns the house, even though the first book, Just Desserts, stated that she bought the house from her widowed mother, widowed Aunt Deb Grover, and Uncle Al. (Why weren't the Grover sisters, Vance and Ellen, included? Didn't they inherit a share in their parents' house or had they sold theirs to their brothers?)

i. Belle and Clark are staying in Room Two.

j. There is a reference to Woodrow Wilson and one to Neville Chamberlain.

k. Renie's purse is a pewter-gray satchel that looks big enough to carry most of her household belongings in it.

j. Judith hopped on a pogo stick when she was young. Renie suggests that caused her to need a hip replacement, Judith says the doctor told her it was congenital. Judith got her artificial hip in book 17, Suture Self.

Chapter 5:

a. Woody Price tries to explain to Judith why she's become involved in so many murders.

b. I won't give the title of the Agatha Christie mystery Judith is referencing any more than Ms. Daheim did because there's a major spoiler in her words.

c. City Inspector Ethan Ethanson inspects Judith's stove.

d. Agnes and Charles Crump are in Room Five. Agnes tells Judith she volunteers as a Pink Lady at local L.A. hospitals.

e. Drano is

f. Teeth were cleaned with tooth powder before toothpaste was invented. You can still buy or make your own. (I remember using tooth powder when I was a child.)

g. Agnes tells Judith a little about Clark's father, Ronald Stone.

h. 'Life With Father' is a classic movie based on a classic book.

i. Gert is a Democrat who wishes she could have voted for Harry Truman twice.

j. In the immediate neighborhood, the Rankerses, the Dooleys, and the Flynns are Catholic. The Steins are Jewish. The Ericsons are Lutheran. The Porters and Bhatts are Methodists. The new couple in the rental house do not appear to attend any church.

k. Renie mock suggests a graphic design for the county's recycling program. I liked it.

l. Judith tries to research the wedding party.

Chapter 6:

a. Vivian's rental house is between the Ericsons and the Bhatts.

b. Jim Beam is

c. Arlene was standing on her upstairs toilet. She has visited the new renters, the Careys, three times. She mentions two things she's noticed about them and asks if the price she's heard the house rents for is true. She would like to know why Vivian doesn't list that modest bungalow with her daughter, Cathy Rankers.

d. We meet Mrs. Madeleine Carey. She and her husband Jeb rent Vivian's house. Jeb sometimes works nights.

e. Neighbor Naomi Stein is mentioned.

f. Arlene and Renie have an exchange about the Joneses living on the cheap side of Heraldsgate Hill.

Chapter 7:

a. Renie gives Bill's theory about why Seattle and San Francisco have such a high suicide rate.

b. Renie jokes about an image to convey recycling that involves Judith's B&B.

c. Renie quotes their Grandma Grover about laughing.

d. The living room sofas are blue and the phone is on a cherrywood table.

e. Norma Paine reveals that she and her attorney husband, Wilbur, are thinking of retiring to Arizona.

f. There's china on the living room's plate rail.

g. Judith has an unflattering thought about what Norma is willing to take advantage of.

h. Joe bought his MG new in 1962.

i. Judith decides to call the Dooleys' grandson, Tyler. First she gets his grandmother, Corinne. We learn learn what has happened to Mary Lou, Zach, and Monica -- and Corinne thinks it's been fairly calm with her family. (Tom and Johnny ripped off their front porch today, by the way.)

h. Corinne is referred to as the Dooley doyenne after she calmly tells Judith what just happened and what she'd better make sure about it.

i. Key Largo Bank is open until only four p.m. on Saturdays.

j. Agnes Crump is Catholic, Charlie isn't.

k. Tyler thinks the Dooley stove is broken again, which makes Judith reflect about his grandmother.

Chapter 8:

k. See book 25, Loco Motive, for that future -- at this point -- train trip back east Joe talks about.

l. Sweetums found something under the hydrangea by the garage that morning.

m. Millie Schmuck's birthday's March 30th.

n. When Judith tries to phone Corinne again and asks for Mrs. Dooley, the youthful voice of the person who answers asks which one, they have at least five of them.

o. Joe calls Judith 'Jude-girl' without her complaining in her thoughts or words. (He was reading a spy novel when she joined him.)

p. There's a Persian carpet under the coffee table in the living room.

q. Bill Jones goes to bed around 10:30 p.m., but Renie often stays up until 1 a.m.

r. Renie reminds Judith that when she was six she had to wait two years for Judith to go to Kindergarten before her cousin would play Monopoly with her.

s. Those 1961 Tangents that ran backwards were

Chapter 9:

a. Norma and Wilbur Paine drive an imposing black Chrysler.

b. Norma says something about Arlene Rankers that makes Judith think of the saying about the pot calling the kettle black.

c. Norma reminds Judith that something bad happened when she asked Judith to host a dinner for her.

d. Bill and Renie park in their church's smaller parking lot by the rectory.

e. Joe tells Judith that the Prices are Methodists. Sondra teaches Sunday School and Woody spends time after church arranging food baskets for the poor and infirm.

f. Joe helps out with church and school repairs.

g. Joe won't take his cell phone to church because he had to when he was a cop and sometimes it rang during Mass.

h. Judith was maid of honor at Renie's wedding. Renie says something about Bill hating to wait and that leads to an exchange about the wedding. (I'm betting Judith's version is correct.)

i. Judith's Subaru is 18 years old.

j. Joe and Bill might go fishing in Alaska or British Columbia.

k. Mavis Lean-Brodie from KINE-TV [their weekday news anchor] calls Judith. She says she spent part of yesterday helping the cops shoo away the media from the cul-de-sac.

l. See book one, Just Desserts for the incident where Judith and Mavis both met Woody Price.

m. Renie says she seldom watches the news unless Judith is on it. She also makes rude remarks
about Mavis.

Chapter 10:

a. Agnes Crump has been telling Arlene about her years in a convent. Arlene still has nightmares about nuns from her schooling at St. Radegunda's.

b. Judith always gains a few pounds after Easter. She's lost some, but has two or three to go.

c. Petunia Pig is

d. Stuart Wicks says he's one of the senior partners in a very large firm that has over 60 attorneys in its main office in Century City and has three other offices in L. A. County.

e. Stuart and Cynthia have been married for three years.

f. After divorcing Clark's father, Cynthia went back to UCLA and earned her Master's degree in family counseling.

g. Renie tells Judith that Gert and Sweetums were wrestling over a stuffed donkey that Gert got when she was a Democratic precinct committee woman. (The same one that was on top of the refrigerator in chapter 8 of Just Desserts?) Renie makes a pun about Sweetums. She manages to make Stuart angry.

h. Sidney Wicks, basketball player, is mentioned.

i. Uncle Al Grover became a referee after his playing days were over, according to Renie.

Chapter 11:

a. To be 'bowled over' means

b. Renie took swimming lessons in 1964, but she can't swim. We learn why.

c. Reverend Kindred has an encounter with a garden gnome.

d. Elsie Kindred says she's a nurse.

e. Renie has only religious statuary and a curled-up cat sculpture in her yard.

f. Renie prefers not to go walking. Judith makes another reference to their adventures in Clam Wake.

g. There's a reference to Disney's Pluto and Goofy.

h. The Flahertys house is a big white colonial on the corner.

i. Bill Jones is a lector (a layperson who reads aloud from the Bible at Mass, except for the Gospel reading, which is done by a deacon or priest) at Our Lady, Star of the Sea. (The Sunday Mass has a reading from the Epistles as well as the weekday Masses' reading from the Old Testament or Acts of the Apostles or Book of Revelation, and the reading from the Psalms.)

j. Renie has excellent manners when she chooses to use them. She breaks off during an anecdote she was telling Judith about a prank the deputy mayor played on the police chief.

Chapter 12:

a. There's a crisis with Rodney.

b. Judith reads the flyer from Kindred that she got from Mrs. Flaherty.

c. Judith learns about a séance some of her guests attended.

Chapter 13:

a. Judith feels as if she's going to get one of her migraine headaches.

b. Gert rants about the lack of peace in the Middle East.

c. Joe has a missing person case.

d. The guests plan to go to the zoo. Clayton names the animal he will blog about today.

e. Phyllis says that Grandpa Rackley was kept in the attic for three weeks after he died.

f. School is out because they have no electricity.

g. Tyler tells Judith something he witnessed.

h. Tyler isn't sure if Kenny, who is five years younger than he is, is his cousin or his uncle. Kenny broke something. Tyler figures O. P. can fix it when he gets home from college.

i. O. P. is getting an advanced degree in astronomy.

j. O. P. is Oliver Plunkett Dooley, younger brother of Aloysius Gonzaga Dooley, called 'Dooley'. They both appeared in book 10, Nutty as a Fruitcake. Dooley helped in Just Desserts. They're Tyler's uncles. Judith hasn't seen O. P. or any of Tyler's other uncles in awhile.

k. Tyler hangs out with his choir buddies before class starts.

l. Tyler has to watch his Aunt Cecilia's twins while she has a root canal done. He says his grandparents are always griping about dental bills.

m. Clark Stone is getting his doctorate in astrophysics.

n. Reverend Kindred dropped out of school in 9th grade. Clark says he can't write and he doesn't think Kindred can spell.

o. Sleepytime tea is an herbal tea made by the Celestial Seasonings company. It does indeed have a painting of a bear wearing a nightshirt on the box.

p. The missing person has been found.

q. Judith would have hated to have been an administrator when she was a librarian. She tells Joe why.

Chapter 14:

a. What Renie ate with her pancakes disgusts Judith. (Renie mentions that her cousin still hasn't baked any cookies.)

b. Judith remembers the time Renie failed to notice it was her own mother at the Belle Époque Department Store. (It involved a hideous plaid jacket.)

c. The cousins' mothers do love a sale.

d. Phyllis talks about the one time she attended a Catholic Mass.

e. Mention is made of Phyllis' gray sausage curls.

f. Reverend Kindred blessed Phyllis' dust mop and told her she reminded him of the Biblical Martha.

g. Judith put a double bed in Room Two a couple of years ago. Renie comments on it.

h. Belle Schmuck writes poetry. Renie has an opinion about it.

i. The cousins reminisce about their Grandpa Grover reading the obituaries first in the newspaper and what he used to say.

j. Bill Jones got his undergraduate degree at Wisconsin, which explains the T-shirt Renie is wearing.
(She bought it when they visited Bill's relatives in Madison six years ago.)

k. Renie tries never to leave Beverly Hills when she's in Los Angeles.

l. The Kindreds are in Room Six. Renie notes that the Reverend has his name inscribed in gold leaf on the cover of his Bible and has highlighted passages from the Old and New Testaments. Renie makes a Sherlock Holmes reference before she quotes some of them.

m. 'Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.' comes from

n. 'In vain you beautify yourself. Your lovers despise you; they seek your life.' comes from

o. 'The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.' is from

p. 'Batting a thousand' comes from Baseball and means

q. Renie remembers something about the Greeks and Romans.

r. 'AAA' stands for . Renie makes a humorous remark about what it stands for when it comes to Seattle's less savory motels.

s. See book 15, Creeps Suzette, for the mansion called Creepers.

t. Look here for how much a couple paid for a twenty two-room contemporary-style house in the gated community of Sunset Cliffs.

u. Judith dials a phone number out of curiosity and is sorry she did.

Chapter 15:

a. Renie gives Bella Schmuck a rude nickname while discussing the unwelcome guests with Judith.

b. Renie and Judith both have websites that Renie designed.

c. We get some background information about Clayton the blogger.

d. Renie and Phyllis get into an argument regarding Noah's Ark and penguins.

e. Mavis talked to a Sunset Cliffs woman named Mrs. Burnside-Smythe who has a bridge partner named Mrs. Worthman and a Pekingese dog named Horatio Alger. (Horatio Alger was

f. One of the guests' rental cars is a blue Honda. Sophie has the key for it.

g. St, Christopher was , but both Judith and Arlene still have a St. Christopher medal in their cars.

h. According to Arlene, one of their fellow parishioners, Francis Xavier Kloppenbluger, wears a hairshirt.

i. Carl Rankers' father had a hernia and Carl worries about getting one. Arlene's Uncle Woofy in Blue Earth, Minnesota, had one. Arlene tells how he got it. Uncle Woofy's wife's name is/was Plethora.

j. Arlene gives her opinion on the corpses that have shown up at the B&B. This makes Judith reflect on dullness, which involves something she won't admit.

Chapter 16:

a. Rev. George Kindred got bitten by a squirrel.

b. There wasn't any antiseptic in the bathroom between the Kindreds and Crumps' rooms, but there is some from the supply closet upstairs.

c. 'Bless his heart' -- a Southern USA expression. Some of its meanings are nicer than others. http://cottageintheoaks.com/2012/06/the-many-nuances-of-bless-your-heart/

d. Joe is drinking a Molson's Ale.

e. Judith gets a call from Jack Hardy, retired funeral director from across the ship canal. He's handled most Grover family burials over the last 50 years.

f. One of Jack's sons had a funeral over at Land of Eternal Repose. His other son's name is Jake.

g. I chuckled over the apparent listener to Rev. Kindred's sermon.

h. CPS stands for

i. Judith makes a reference to something inscribed on the head of a pin.

j. Joe has finished his spy novel and gives his opinion of its big revelations.

k. Phyllis praises the Lord for what she can do despite having fallen arches in both feet. She has her routine and doesn't want to vary it.

Chapter 17:

a. Renie isn't sure she's really awake yet. Judith gives her advice.

b. Sweetums looks miffed.

c. Gert doesn't like it when Phyllis tries to make her listen to the Word of God. (Which is really insulting of Phyllis because contrary to rumor, we Catholics do worship the triune Godhead, not the Blessed Virgin Mary or the saints.)

d. One of the houses at Sunset Cliffs is called 'Heaven's Gate'. (Given what happened to the members of the Heaven's Gate cult in 1997, I don't think that's a good name.)

e. Renie knows Trevor Boyd of Key Largo Bank because of a job she did for them. (She had a $900 overdraft at the time.)

f. Arbor Day is on

g. Mrs. Boyd has corns.

h. A kamikaze drink is

i. Grandma and Grandpa Grover's dentist was named Dr. Foot.

j. One of the homes at Sunset Gates is a big colonial with the sign 'FARQUHAR'S FARM' on its lawn. Judith asks a sarcastic question about that.

k. Heaven's Gate's doorbell chimes the Fate motif from the opera, 'Carmen'.

l. Elsie Kindred tells the cousins what that medium at the séance told them about her husband.

m. The type of furniture in Heaven's Gate's drawing room is described.

n. A sharp exchange between Stuart Wicks and Renie made me chuckle.

Chapter 18:

a. Judith reminds Renie of the time she put a forest ranger up on her Camry's grille.

b. Judith flashes back to what she felt at Dan McGonigle's funeral service. (He weighed 405 pounds when he died at the age of 49, had been virtually bedridden for the last few months, and they'd been married 19 years.)

c. Tyler Dooley tells Judith something his cousin Petey saw. (Petey has just turned five years old and can't tell time yet.)

d. Tyler's dad's boss, Mr. Quincy, owner of QQQ. Construction, has a house at Sunset Cliffs. He calls it Quincy's Quaint Quarters. Tyler's parents have gone to a couple of big parties there.

e. Ingrid Heffelman has two reservations for Judith: a retired couple from Topeka, Kansas, and two widows from Boston.

f. Bill's brother, Bub, got the zoning laws changed so his client could build big condos on the hill above the B&B.

g. We learn about the deep-fried prawn incident between Renie and Banker Boyd.

h. Arlene is cleaning out cupboards. Judith thinks she recognizes one of the nesting bowls Arlene is holding as one she did something not very nice with.

i. Carl is painting their furnace teal.

j. The Rankers' house was built over 100 years ago, at the same time as Hillside Manor. The Rankers reared five children in it.

k. Joe tells Judith about the job he was doing at City Hall.

l. Many of the plants in Judith's garden are poisonous.

m. The new guests arrive.

Chapter 19:

a. Judith assures Earl Irwin that their last earthquake was five years ago.

b. Judith's solid oak dining room table is 75 years old.

c. The Rankers don't have a cell phone.

d. Phyllis claims her trick knee is acting up again. Her description of how it feels includes Satan.

e. Renie says she needs to buy more Copper River sockeye salmon at Falstaff's Grocery before it goes out of season. She describes her reaction when she and Bill ate some last week.

f. Renie describes her trials over getting that salmon.

g. Belle's writing on her Post-It notes look like chicken scratches.

h. Arlene borrowed Abel's cell phone. Judith figures he must be one of the Rankers' two sons. I smirked at the code name Arlene chose.

Chapter 20:

a. Renie complains about Judith and cookies again.

b. Renie adds that the Fate motif of the Heaven's Gate's doorbell is Bizet's fate.

c. Carl asks Arlene where their ladder is (Mrs. O'Hurley, who is over 90 borrowed it. She lives behind a bunch of cedar trees across the street. Her reason for borrowing it makes Arlene blush a little.)

d. Heaven's Gate has a reflecting pool.

e. Judith describes Sunset Cliffs, the area.

f. Phyllis belongs to one of those Protestant denominations that believes the inhabitants of the Holy Land, including Jesus, drank grape juice instead of wine.
Chapter 21:

c. Belle met Clark at a party while he was an undergraduate at Pepperdine. She dropped out of Pepperdine in her second year. She moved in with Clark a few months later.

d Millie Schmuck set up a trust fund for Belle before she started college. Read here for what his mother said about it after Belle and Clark started living together.

e. Renie mentions Bill's ulcer. Judith says he hasn't had one in 30 years.

f. Two new guests arrive.

g. Joe and Gertrude trade insults.

h. Gert is outside trying to run Sweetums over with her wheelchair. (Judith says something about that.)

Chapter 22:

a. Renie cleans as she cooks because she can't work in chaos. It disturbs her artistic temperament.

b. Judith gets caught driving 15 miles an hour faster than the posted speed limit.

c. Judith colors her hair and it's not the same color as on her driver's license photo.

d. That January adventure in Clam Wake is referenced again.

f. FASTO (Female Amateur Sleuth Tracking Offenders) is mentioned, as is Judith's reaction when the acronym is misspelled as a common insult.

g. Ouch! That speeding ticket is going to cost the Flynns $87.

h. Charlie Crump wants Judith to sign an insurance form.

i. We learn what Cathy Rankers told her mother that the Rankers' property is worth.

Chapter 23:

a. Judith looks at the insurance form and Renie speculates about which food she's craving.

b. Renie makes a King Kong reference.

c. This is Judith's first time at Chez Fred. The chef, Maurice, is in one of his moods. Tartines are

d. Sunset Cliffs has it's own, very handsome, chapel. Mavis says it's very High Church and very WASP (which is an acronym for White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant).

e Mavis talks about her husband, Lance. He was known as Out-of-Bounds Brodie when he played football.

f. Judith checks her list of Friday's incoming guests.

g. Judith gets a visitor with very welcome news.

Chapter 24:

a. 'Enceinte' means

b. The visitor uses a nickname Judith detests.

c. The visitor lives and used to work in Denver.

d. Renie describes the new purse she bought and why she bought it.

e. Tsk. Renie tries to blame something on Sweetums.

f. Cathy Rankers has been a Realtor for almost 30 years.

g. Cathy is going to pick up her brother, Dick, who has done repair work for one of her former clients at Sunset Hills (she means Sunset Cliffs).

h. Torquemada was

i. Whoops -- Joe calls Sunset Cliffs Sunset Hills, too, when he talks about what Tyler wanted to do.

Chapter 25:

a. Now Judith is calling that gated community Sunset Hills.

b. Bill wants to watch the film Munich. Renie uses a German phrase that doesn't compliment Bill.

c. Clark can't remember the name of a big old hotel, but Judith says it's become a Four Seasons hotel.

d. Clark wants to get downtown from the B&B. Judith tells him to turn left when he leaves the cul-de-sac. He'll be at Heraldsgate Avenue after two blocks. Turn right there and he'll be downtown.

e. There's a crescent moon in the sky.

f. Gert is watching 'ER'. Judith reminds her that she doesn't like hospital shows. We learn what Gertrude thought the show was.

g. Gert has insulting nicknames for the two women she and Aunt Deb will be playing bridge against tomorrow.

h. Enter Ronald Stone. He tells Judith what his ex-wife Cynthia's ideas about child-rearing were. (Cynthia was a twit!)

i. Cynthia and Sophie went to a private girls' school together.

j. Yet again, Sunset Cliffs is Sunset Hills.

Chapter 26:

a. Judith calls Rankers Real Estate to talk to Cathy.

b. It's still Sunset Hills.

c. Cathy doesn't have a landline phone.

d. Renie's father is dead, so I assume the Father's Day shopping she has to do is either for her father-in-law or Bill or both.

e. Monkshood is Wolfsbane.

f. Agnes has arthritis in her hands.

g. Renie gives Agnes advice that Judith doesn't agree with.

h. Joe says that Belle was still in L.A. finishing up her last college semester when her parents moved -- so she went back after she dropped out?

Dog lovers: Tyler's dog, Farley, has a bit part.

Cat lovers: Sweetums is being himself. ( )
  JalenV | Jul 31, 2016 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Mary Daheimprimary authorall editionscalculated
Akin, LisaAuthor photosecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Aquan, Richard L.Cover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mayer, BillCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Dale Douglas Dankers
1929 - 2015
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Judith McMonigle Flynn got out of her aging Subaru, slammed the car door shut, and realized she'd locked her keys inside.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This story takes place in May, 2006.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Rodney Schmuck and his wife, Cleo, Hillside Manor's latest guests, seem completely ordinary. Judith McMonigle Flynn is touched to hear that the forty-something couple is in town to visit family. Rodney has come to visit his mother - who, he claims, is none other than Judith herself! Shocked to meet a son she's certain she never had, she insists he's made a mistake. Then Rodney shows her proof: a birth certificate from Norway General Hospital listing Judith Anne Grover as his mother. The father's name is Unknown. But she's got an even bigger problem on her hands when one of the B&B's own guests turns up dead. Then Rodney announces he wants Judith to financially compensate him for abandoning him. Perhaps she'll sign over Hillside Manor? Fat chance of that...

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