All the Pretty Hearses

There's no fun in fund-raiser for Judith McMonigle Flynn when she donates an overnight at Hillside Manor for the parish school's annual auction. Judith feels like she's already losing it when the pricey winning bid goes to a family of Paines. Dinner is included, if Judith can sort through the endless allergies and aversions of the painfully picky Paines. The last thing she needs is another bed and breakfast guest who checks out permanently. Thankfully, she's not alone. Joe Flynn is back home, his latest surveillance job ending abruptly when a supposedly paralyzed guy suspected of insurance fraud is put out of action for good by a .38 Smith and Wesson. Surely one corpse in one week is enough, even for the Flynns. Cousin Renie is trying to force-feed her Shrimp Dump recipe (running slightly ahead of her Clam Doodoo and Bean Glop) to the parish cookbook fund-raising committee, while her cantankerous mother, Gertrude, agrees to let a wealthy parishioner stable a horse in her tool shed apartment. And neighbor Arlene Rankers wants to know why some parish school kids, including her grandson, are sick after the weekly hamburger lunch. Judith figures she's got more than enough to handle until the Paines go home. But at Hillside Manor, what can possibly go right?