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COZY/CULINARY/
INNS MYSTERY
JUST DESSERTS
With a meteorologist convention coming to the Inn, business is looking good. But when the town's new computer expert is murdered, Quill and Meg have to make sure the elusive killer doesn't rain on their parade.
Read A Review:

Sarah “Quill” Quilliam and her sister Margaret “Meg” Quilliam own the Inn at Hemlock Falls again.  Why again?  They owned it and then sold it to run a restaurant.  When that didn’t go well, they were able to rebuy the Inn. 

Meg is the Master Chef as well as part owner.  Quill is the Manager and part owner.  Quill is also a famous painter.  She has recently met Ben Harker in New York.  He has inspired her to begin painting again.  She has fallen hard for him. Quill has been distracted lately with painting and Harker.  She isn't sure if she can bring her "two lives"--Harker in New York and running the Inn in Hmlock Falls--together.  

Quill finds out that in her absence, not only did the Inn get a website, Doreen, the head housekeeper, started a web dating service.   

A body is found on the side of the gorge near the Inn.  When Meg is reading the newspaper account of its discovery, it identifies the body as that of George Nash.  He was one of 3 people who carjacked a car with a baby in it outside a 7-11 many years ago. The details were as crisp to Meg and Quill as if it happened yesterday!.  The carjackers cracked up the car and the baby died.  Meg and Quill observed the carjacking. 

Nash had been caught and went to prison.  Overmeyer, the real killer, and Mary Ann were never found.  Nash had recently gotten out of prison. Why was Nash in Hemlock Falls? 

There is a meteorologist convention at the Inn.  Somerfield “Boomer” Dougherty, a meteorologist, is in charge of the convention.  Boomer’s producer is Sylvia Prince.  Their work relationship is unfriendly.  Quill can’t figure out why they put up with each other.  Sylvia says that the business is brutal and this is a good job. 

When Joss Roberts, a new computer business man in town, is killed by a hit and run driver in front of Meg & Quill by someone driving Quill’s car.  Quill begins investigating what connection if any there was between Joss and Nash. 

This is a fun series.  I find this series to be a fast read.  Quill and Meg have many escapades and the interaction between the sisters is enjoyable even with the friction.  Doreen is a hoot and keeps Quill in line.  Quill’s failed romance with Myles, the former sheriff, and the fact that John Raintree, the Inn’s business manager, had an infatuation with Quill spices up things on a regular basis. 

I highly recommend this book and series.

Dawn Dowdle


A murder that happened many years ago is coming back to haunt the little town of Hemlock Falls, New York. In this town, everyone knows a lot about everybody else's business, sometimes even before they do. Sarah (Quill) and Meg, her sister, are the manager and chef of an inn. Quill's latest romantic friend is an artist from New York City. Her romantic dilemma compounds when he decides to come to Hemlock Falls. She has been visiting him and isn't really sure if her two worlds are coming together. When she goes away, she is a free spirited painter with an energy and vitality. At home, she is more laid back, tending to business and doing some occasional sleuthing when necessary. She spends time with her friends; some of them are bit eccentric. A lot has happened since Quill started taking weekend trips to New York City to visit her lover. The inn has booked a meteorologist convention headed by a weatherman named Boomer and that will bring a great deal of people and publicity to their business. Two websites were added, one for the area and another for a dating service called CityofLove.com.

A sense of crisis and busyness is not uncommon in this book. An unidentified body that is found by 2 deer hunters begins a search for the truth. In the midst of solving this problem, there are more deaths and several red herrings. Also, Quill is having strange medical symptoms that force her to see a doctor for a diagnosis. I liked the process of the puzzle pieces being put together in this story.

It was helpful that the author included a list of character names in the front of the book with a description. I was concerned that some of this story would be lost on me when there were several references to past incidents. This was not a problem. I really enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to the next installment.

This is the 9th book in this series; Claudia Bishop is the pseudonym for Mary Stanton. The other books in this series (in order) are: << A Taste for Murder (1994), A Dash of Death (1995), A Pinch of Poison (1995), Murder Well-Done (1996), Death Dines Out (1997), A Touch of the Grape (1998), A Steak in Murder (1999), Marinade for Murder (2000)>>

Rita Ratacheck