Product Review

Homicide has never been more hilarious than when committed (on paper) by the inimitable Mary Daheim. And now the masterful creator of the bestselling Bed-and-Breakfast mysteries takes madcap malevolence to a delightful new level, when Hollywood comes calling...and killing.

Filmdom's most sparkling glitterati have brought their limos and their egos to Judith McMonigle Flynn's Hillside Manor for a gala preview of the latest epic monstrosity from genius superproducer Bruno Zepf. Hostess Flynn's Pacific Northwest B&B is a far cry from Hollywood -- but then Bruno's cinematic spectacular is a far cry from good. And the great man's entourage -- with their swelled heads, their tantrums, their demands, and their illicit habits -- surely rank among the most insufferable guests ever to rumple Judith's bed linens.

Bruno hopes his new film is to die for -- unfortunately for him, it is. Not long after the lights come up on the less-than-lauded screening, the unfortunate mogul is discovered drowned in the kitchen sink. His demise could have been a bizarre accident caused by a faulty cabinet door that Judith's ex-cop hubby Joe Flynn never got around to repairing. And since the only species in Tinseltown more numerous than Oscar seekers is attorneys, Judith could lose Hillside Manor in a wrongful-death suit. Unless, of course, she can prove it was murder.

But there's a problem: No one on the scene benefits from the producer's fade-to-black. The police are stymied (surprise!), but Judith's livelihood depends upon her finding a killer -- any killer will do. And that's the script she intends to follow, with the assistance of "Mr. Don't-Fix-It" Joe and a curiously reluctant cousin Renie, who's got troubles of her own....