Saks and Violins — Mary Daheim

Slay That Funky Music

Life has hit some sour notes as of late for B&B hostess Judith McMonigle Flynn and her cousin Renie. Graphic design guru Renie's up to her eyebrows in debt after some seriously overzealous spending sprees. Meanwhile, Judith's got her hands full with her wacky new neighbor, Rudi, a virtuoso violinist whose daily -- and usually unclothed -- practices are unhinging her and other neighbors in the cul-de-sac.

But, though they'd all love to kill nude, rude Rudi, it's his larger-than-life mentor, Dolph Kluger, who takes his final bow after ingesting some ruthlessly poisoned rhubarb. To add to the musical mayhem, Rudi's priceless violin bow goes missing, Renie's useless credit cards are stolen, and each murder suspect seems loopier than the last. Once again, the cousins are going to need some fancy fingering to make a cold-blooded killer sing -- but if they're not careful, the next music they hear will be their funeral march.