Product Description

English teacher Sarah Deane and her boyfriend, Dr. Alex McKenzie, leave snowy Maine to join Sarah's feisty Aunt Julia for Christmas at the exclusive Rancho del Gato Blanco resort in Arizona. But they soon realize there's no place like home for the holidays when ranch guests become the prey of a prankster whose destructive acts are tallying up like a Yuletide carol:

Garden hose a-spraying...Lounge chair collapsing...Mud in the coffee...Golf carts a-stalling...Rubber snake in bathtub...Wagon wheel a-flying...

The pranks take a murderous turn Christmas morning when one of the guests turns up dead among the gifts in Santa's sack. Sarah and Alex are certain the killer lurks among them. Could it be quirky clerk Cookie Logan? Aging film star Maria Cornish? Her hot-tempered beau Blue Feather Romero? Head wrangler Peter Doubler? Or someone in the entourage of U.S. Senator Leo J. Hopgood? The police even have eccentric Aunt Julia on their list of suspects-but if Sarah and Alex don't find the killer fast, they could all end up on the list of victims.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6795781 in Books
• Published on: 1993-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback

From Publishers Weekly
Nefarious doings at a swank new Arizona dude ranch mix with the presidential aspirations of a corrupt politician for a fine and lively return appearance of amateur sleuths Sarah Deane, teaching fellow, and Alex McKenzie, internist, last encountered in Bodies of Water . When Sarah's wealthy, equestrienne aunt, Julia Clancy, goes to Rancho Del Gato Blanco to escape her arthritis, she becomes concerned over a series of suspicious accidents plaguing the gaudy, pretentious establishment. Inviting Sarah and Alex to spend the holidays with her, she embroils them and movie star Maria Cornish, a fellow guest, in a scheme to save some aging ranch horses from the pet food factory. On Christmas Day, the body of Leo J. Hapgood, a senator of dubious ethics and morals with his eye on the White House, is found in the bottom of Santa Claus's bag. As the FBI and various local police swarm, Julia and her cohorts have difficulty accounting for their whereabouts the previous evening--they had been out "rescuing" (read: stealing) the doomed horses. Along with the reluctant Alex, Sarah begins an investigation, developing a friendship with the senator's widow, who turns out to be a dark horse indeed, and finding two more bodies, in a literate and witty mystery with a dollop of social conscience.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Professor Sarah Deane and doctor boyfriend Alex are once again vacation guests (Bodies of Water, 1990, etc.)--this time over Christmas at the plush Arizona Rancho Del Gato Blanco, where Sarah's rich, no-frills Aunt Julia has been staying since Thanksgiving. Through those weeks there've been several acts of mischief that disrupted the ranch's serenity--as well as that of manager Fred Arco--but Julia, owner of horse farms, has been busily planning the rescue of several aging ranch horses from the meat factory. Meanwhile, the arrival of Alaska's Senator Leo Hopgood and ranch owner Heinz Simmons, with entourages in tow, starts a chain of more sinister events beginning with the Senator's murder--and ending with a high body-count plus a solution largely engineered by Julia while the FBI and local police flounder. Crispness and tension are lost in a surfeit of dull dialogue and uncharismatic characters. The feebly contrived motivation doesn't help a boring slog only slightly redeemed by local color. Add half a plus for horse-lovers. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Review
"Packed with murder and mayhem...A winner!" --Rave Reviews

"Miss Borthwick has a keen eye and a sharp pen." --The New York Times Book Review

"An entertaining comic romp." --Booklist on Dude on Arrival
-- Review

Customer Reviews

Formulaic, but a good formula
Once again, Sarah and Alex travel and find murder on the itinerary. This time, they are joined by Sarah's formidable Aunt Julia Clancy. Julia invites them to join her for Christmas at an upscale dude ranch where all kinds of strange things are happening. Between making the acquaintance of a movie star and her boy toy, saving horses doomed to be dogfood, and observing the odd workings of the resort, a would be presidential candidate and his secretary are murdered, and of all people, Aunt Julia is a suspect.

J.S. Borthwick writes a fine mystery, very descriptive and entertaining. The characters are very human and the mystery and practical jokes were very entertaining.

Dude On Arrival
Sarah Deane's Aunt Julia is staying at an Arizona dude ranch for her arthritis. She invites Sarah and her boyfriend to come spend Christmas with her. Some dirty tricks have been played on the guests. Julia has been squirted with water, another guest finds a rubber snake in her bath, etc. Everyone takes these things in stride until the first murder occurs. A guest, Senator Hopgood is found at the bottom of Santa's wagon load of gifts. Sarah and Aunt Julia work to find out whodunit, but before they do, there are a couple more deaths. Lots of interesting characters, and an involved plot. A good read.