Suture Self (Bed-and-Breakfast Series #17) by Mary Daheim

From Barnes & Noble

Bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn has reason to fear her upcoming hip replacement surgery at Good Cheer Hospital, where a recent series of routine orthopedic surgeries have resulted in an unusual number of casualties -- and Judith could be next….

From the Publisher

bum hip has bed-and-breakfast hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn limping off to Good Cheer Hospital — a questionable "haven of healing" where two recent patients didn't make the cut after routine surgery. Judith's trepidation at undergoing the knife is eased only by sharing a room with cousin Renie, who's in for rotator cuff repair. Though the cousins survive their surgeries, the ex-pro quarterback next door is permanently sacked after minor knee surgery. With the scoreboard showing Grim Reaper 3, post-op patients 0, Judith decides that she and Renie are obliged to get to the bottom of Good Cheer's carnage. But in order to sew up the case, Judith and Renie must probe into the suspects' psyches. And suddenly it looks as if the cousins' own prognoses could take them out of the game...for good.

Publishers Weekly

Not quite up to Daheim's usual standards, the 17th in the author's Bed-and-Breakfast series (A Streetcar Named Expire; Creeps Suzette; etc.) finds amateur gumshoe Judith McMonigle Flynn sleuthing from her hospital bed, where she is recovering from hip surgery. Before entering the Good Cheer Hospital with her peppery cousin, Renie Jones, who is due to have surgery at the same time, the two women become very apprehensive on hearing of the mysterious deaths of two patients. When the man in the next room becomes the third victim, Judith and Renie begin to investigate. Life as patients grows even more complicated for the duo when a blizzard brings the town to a standstill; Judith hears that her b&b is crowded with stranded tourists and an escaped boa constrictor; strange packages arrive at her house; her private detective husband, Joe, accepts a dangerous case; her son Mike makes a request that causes much soul-searching; and the Good Cheer Hospital is threatened by a takeover. In spite of all this confusion, Judith discovers the identity of the murderer--but the revelation is no surprise to the reader. Even though loyal Daheim fans will relish the witty and revealing interactions between familiar characters, the final denouement of a complex murder scenario and the multitude of subplots depicted here are as tedious and wearing as the healing process after surgery. Agent, Maureen Moran. (Feb. 13) Forecast: A series that's run as long as this one isn't going to be hurt by one flat outing, but this entry won't win Daheim many new fans; nor will the book's cover--its depiction of someone in surgeon's clothing stitching a baseball seems likely to elicit shrugs from browsers. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Judith Flynn and her cousin Renie have arranged to share a room at Seattle's Good Cheer Hospital while recuperating from hip replacement (Judith) and shoulder surgery (Renie). Unfortunately, it's a bad time to be in Good Cheer, since the hospital is experiencing a rash of unexpected deaths. Ace Seafarer pitcher Joaquin Somosa is the first to take early retirement, soon followed by local actress Joan Fremont, and then Bob Randall, ex-quarterback for the Auks, who vacates the room next to the cousins shortly after a routine procedure. While Renie complains nonstop about hospital food and service, Judith, used to puzzling over murders (Snow Place to Die, 1999, etc.), begins interrogating the nurses, the orderlies, hospital head Dr. Van Boeck and his councilwoman wife Blanche, and Randall's not-so-grieving widow, his twin brother, and his kids, another set of twins. She ponders the meaning of one patient's disappearing limp and mulls over the hospital's possible takeover by Restoration Heartware of Cleveland. Meanwhile, Judith's ex–homicide cop hubby Joe, who ought to be busy managing their B&B—which has been filled to bursting by a snowstorm that's stranded unwary tourists—finds time to get himself stabbed while digging into still another string of murders, this time of homeless men. After what seems like the world's longest winter, the snow melts, Renie stops complaining, Judith explains everything, and the B&B goes on. Gratingly cute dialogue, and a plot that flatlines faster than Good Cheer's clients.

Product Details

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Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Judith Grover McMonigle Flynn took one look at the newspaper headline, released the brake on her wheelchair, and rolled into the kitchen,

"I'm not sure it's safe to go into the hospital," she said to her husband, Joe Flynn. "Look at this."

Joe, who had just come in through the back door, hung his all-weather jacket on a peg in the hallway and stared at the big, bold front-page headline.

Actress Dies During Routine Surgery

John Fremont Succumbs After Minor Foot Operation

"Who's John Fremont?" Joe asked after kissing his wife on the cheek. "The explorer? No wonder he wrecked his feet, going over all those mountains. Huh. I thought he was already dead."

"He's been dead for over a hundred years," Judith replied. "It's a-"

"A shame the local newspaper doesn't jump on those stories faster," Joe interrupted. "What's Queen Victoria up to this week?"

Judith made a face at Joe. "It's a typo," she said in a testy voice. "It's supposed to be Joan Fremont. See, there it is in the lead. You know who she is — we've seen her in several local stage productions. She is — was — a wonderful actress."

Joe frowned as he read deeper into the story. "Jeez, don't these people proofread anymore?"

"That's not my point," Judith asserted. "That's the second well-known person in three weeks to peg out at Good Cheer Hospital. I'm getting scared to go in next Monday for my hip replacement."

Joe opened the cupboard and got out a bottle of Scotch. "You mean Somosa, the pitcher? That's no mystery. He was probably full of amphetamines." With an air of apology,Joe gestured with the bottle. "Sorry, I hate to drink in front of you, but I spent ten hours sitting on my butt for that damned insurance stakeout."

"Never mind." Judith sighed with a martyred air that would have made her Aunt Deb proud. "I'm used to sacrifice and self-denial. After a month in this stupid wheelchair and taking all those pain pills, I suppose I should be looking forward to surgery and getting back to a normal life. How'd the stakeout go?"

"It didn't," Joe replied, dumping ice cubes into a glass. "The guy didn't budge from his sofa except to go to the can. Then he used a walker. Maybe he's legit. The insurance company expected him to play a set of tennis or jump over high hurdles or do the rumba. I hate these alleged insurance-fraud assignments."

"They pay well," Judith pointed out, giving the amber liquid in Joe's glass a longing look.

"Oh, yeah," Joe agreed, sitting down at the kitchen table. "We can use the money with the B&B shut down for five weeks. I'm expensive to keep, and you're not delivering."

Teasing or not, the comment nettled Judith. just after Christmas, her right hip had deteriorated to the point that she'd been confined to a wheelchair. With the help of Joe and their neighbors, Carl and Arlene Rankers, Judith had managed to keep Hillside Manor running smoothly through the holidays. But Carl and Arlene had left the day after New Year's for a vacation in Palm Desert. And even though Joe was retired from the police force, his part-time private investigations had become almost a full-time job. It had been a difficult decision for Judith, but she had been forced to cancel all reservations for the first ten days of January, until the Rankerses' return. Her only consolation was that the days in question were the slowest time of the year for the Bed-and-Breakfast industry.

"We've lost at least four grand," Judith said in a morose tone.

Joe gave a slight shake of his head. "Dubious. The weather around here this winter isn't exactly enticing to visitors."

Judith glanced up at the window over the kitchen sink. It was raining. It seemed to have been raining for months. Fifty degrees and raining. No sun breaks, no snow, just relentless rain and gloomy, glowering skies. Day after day of gray, gray, and grayer. Even a Pacific Northwest native like Judith had an occasional hankering for a patch of blue sky.

"People still visit people," Judith said, unwilling to let herself be cheered.

Joe gave a solemn shake of his head. "Not in January. Everybody's broke."

"Including us," Judith said. "Because of me. Renie and Bill are broke, too," she added, referring to her cousin and her cousin's husband. "Renie can't work with her bad shoulder. This is the busiest time of year for her, with all the annual reports. She usually designs at least a half-dozen, which means big bucks. She's out of commission until March."

"When's her surgery?" Joe inquired.

"A week after mine," Judith replied. "We'll be like ships passing in the night. Or should I say sinking?" Judith emitted another heavy sigh as she rolled over to the sink and took a Percocet. Then she took another Percocet. It couldn't hurt. Besides, she ached twice as much as she had the day before.

As a distraction, Judith read the rest of the story about Joan Fremont. The actress had been admitted to Good Cheer Hospital the previous day. Her surgery, pronounced successful, had been performed that afternoon. But at ten-thirty this morning, Joan had died suddenly and without warning. She left behind two grown children and her husband, Addison Kirby, the city hall reporter for the evening newspaper.

"No wonder her name got misspelled," Judith remarked. "Joan's husband works for the paper. The staff must be shaken by her death."

"Oh?" Joe raised rust-colored eyebrows above the sports section. "Kirby, huh? I've run into him a few times at city hall. Nice guy, but strictly business."

Judith put the newspaper's front section down on the table.