Start Reading A Tourists Guide To Murder (Mystery Bookshop, #6) Penned By V.M. Burns Formatted As Bound Copy
While visiting the land of Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes, bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Samantha Washington finds herself on a tragical mystery tour.
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Sam joins Nana Jo and her Shady Acres Retirement Village friends Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae on a weeklong trip to London, England, to experience the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour.
The chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Samand a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.
But between visits to Jack the Rippers Whitechapel district andB Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes.
Despite his employers unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying onuntil another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances.
Now its up to Sam and the Shady Acres ladies to mix and mingle among their fellow mystery lovers, find a motive, and turn up a murderer.
. . I am still so in love with this entire series, I think one of my favorite parts is how the main character introduces the reader to other authors.
I am looking forward to researching and reading many of the other books VM Burns recommends! Sam and the gang are off to Jolly Olde England to spend a week in London soaking up the atmosphere of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
This was a great revisit for me, to mentally go back toB Baker Street, I didn't want the book to end, I was enjoying it so much, Samantha, Nana Jo, Irma, Dorothy, Ruby Mae and the rest of the ladies from the retirement village are looking forward to a week of mystery but hadn't envisioned a couple of murders to be included in the tour.
As they are no strangers to murder and investigating same, they dive in to track down the killer.
If one mystery is good, having two going at once is even better, Sam is also a cozy mystery writer and her work in progress runs in tandem with their real life investigating.
Double the fun. Full of red herrings and lots of twists and turns, this is a very well written and entertaining mystery as is the entire series.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
Tourist's Guide to Murder ia V, M. Burnsth entry into her Mystery Bookshop cozy series, Sam is a mystery bookstore owner and a historical cozy mystery author, Oh, and along the way, Sam and the girls have solved a mystery or two, . In this book, Sam. Nana Jo. Ruby Mae, Irma and Dorothy are off to London England on a mystery lovers tour, They are looking forward to seeing the areas that gave such authors as Agatha Christie, Dick Francis and Arthur Conan Doyle the concepts and the ideas for their novels.
Of course, murder is underfoot and the girls divide and conquer to solve the murders, When they put their heads together no one gets by them ! I just love Sam's Nana Jo! Another thing I enjoyed in this book was the background information regarding the authors of old, especially Agatha Christie.
The readers should be aware that the historical mystery that Sam is writing is written within the book itself two mysteries in one historical and present day.
Thanks so much to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and V. M. Burns for allowing me to read and review this book, The release date isJanDollycass Thoughts
Sam, Nana Jo, Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae are off to England for a Mystery Lovers Tour, what could go wrong Well before they even leave the country, Sam oversleeps and they miss their shuttle and have to drive all the way to the airport in Chicago.
When they arrive Sam realizes she forgot the pack something very important but Ruby Mae, who reminds me a lot of my dad because no matter where they go they know someone, finds a member of her extended family at the airport to help.
But then Irmas flirtations get
them unwanted special attention, They finally make it onto the plane where Sam has a major breakdown but it pays off in the end.
They fly across the pond where soon after landing Dorothy creates a little chaos of her own.
Happy to arrive at the hotel it soon becomes apparent that the drama will continue when the namesake of the Mystery Tours, Major Horace Peabody is found dead.
The death is ruled to be from natural causes and the tour continues, but when another member of their tour group dies of suspicious means, the ladies from Michigan believe there is a murderer afoot.
Channeling the great characters of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle they are going to do what they do best and uncover a killer.
I love these characters! This time they all seem to get equal time as they tour some fabulous places and meet some interesting people.
They had me snickering and laughing out loud several times, I am happy to say London survived their visit even though a couple of the new characters did not.
I did miss Oreo and Snickers but I am sure they had plenty of love and care while the ladies traveled hither and yon.
I really enjoy that there are two separate mysteries in each book, The main one set in the present time and the historical one aspiring author Sam is writing that features the occupants of Wickfield Lodge, the English country home of Lord William March.
Lady Elizabeth and her niece Lady Penelope are worthy amateur sleuths themselves, Both mysteries are very wellplotted, While Sams creative juices flow in her writing it helps settle and order her thoughts regarding the current mystery she is trying to solve.
Both mysteries have substantial twists and turns that really kept me on my toes, At first, it was a little hard to read the mystery within the mystery but now I crave it and cant wait to have the parallel mystery start.
It is a clever way to write a book and I find it very entertaining,
The setting this time brought me so much joy, I will never be able to travel the streets of London or the English countryside to walk in the footsteps of the classic mystery authors I have come to love.
It was a pleasure to tag along with Sam and the Shady Acres ladies on their journey.
Solving a mystery or two and the trip to Scotland Yard were just added delights,
A Tourists Guide to Murder was just that, I escaped right into this book and was captivated from beginning to end, Each book in this series can be read as a standalone but for maximum enjoyment and to get to really know these wonderful characters you should read them all.
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Another adorable installment.
Love the setting.
The the cast.
Super cute. o The Ladies have planned a trip to London and the surrounding areas for a romp through the locations made famous by Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and their equally famous contemporaries.
What could go wrong
Before they even leave the country, they miss the airport shuttle, almost miss their flight, lose their seats on the plane and their luggage disappears for parts unknown.
Just when they try to put it all behind them, the director of the tour company is found dead.
Sam tries to resist Nana Jos nudging her into investigating the murder, she is on vacation after all, but when a second person is found dead it is time to assemble her investigators and find out what is going on.
First off let me say how much I enjoy the detail given of the tour and its destinations.
I will forever be an armchair tourist, as much as I would love to visit these places that mean so much to the authors and stories that started me reading, I will probably never see them first hand.
This story delivers not just one cozy, but two, The first set in modern times starring Sam and her Ladies, and the second instory historical cozy being written by Sam as the first story progresses.
The idea is a bit hard to get used to at first, but it isnt long before the reader sucked into the twists and turns in both mysteries.
Tucked away in this story are so many little tidbits of Classic mystery, From the wrong turn/witnessing an incriminating disagreement to the almost hidden corners where Sam, in such a Miss Marplelike way, could sit quietly and “accidentally” overhear the occasional bit of drama that may or may not be important.
Each and every member of the mystery tour was Christieclassic, cleverly introduced into the story, shrouded in intrigue, dripping with hidden backstory, and not always what they claim to be.
Of course, there is the Holmesque inspector to round things off,
Nana Jo and her retirement village friends are vibrant, filling in the corners of this story.
They are outrageous, overthetop, and in your face, and, with their specilialized talents, just about the best team of investigators, any amateur sleuth could want.
They kept me laughing and feeling for poor Sam at times, Early in the story, she references “herding cats” and the image never left my head, Some readers collect book boyfriends as they read along, I adopt grandparents of all stripes, I adore the whole bunch of these gals, This is a series more than worth the time it takes to read it,
Rating:out of,
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Samantha Washington is thrilled to be off to England on a Mystery Lovers Book Tour, She'll be researching for her next book and chaperoning Nana Jo and the ladies from the retirement village.
Sam has been preparing for weeks so she's ready for any event, What could possibly go wrong How about murder! When the owner of the tour company is found dead and the doctor pronounces death by natural causes, Sam is a bit suspicious but doesn't want to get involved.
When a fellow tour guest ends up dead, Sam KNOWS it's NOT natural causes! The team assembles to solve the mystery ahead of the inept DI, the Metropolitan Police's answer to Detective Stinky Pit.
Can they solve the mystery before an innocent person is arrested and their visit ends
This is the worst of the series.
I was excited to read about a visit to England but this trip reads like a tourist's guidebook to things to see and do without feeling like I was actually there.
The writing is super awkward and clunky, Sam is obsessed with describing people's looks, especially their race and ethnicity, figure size, I thought writers have moved beyond that these days, Thes set mystery Sam is working on is even more awkward, She knows some historical facts but lacks an understanding of the culture and the mindset of the upper classes of the day.
Also, a Lady does not automatically equal cousin to the King and if she was, she wouldn't be entertaining random people in her own home.
The villain is nasty and horrid by today's standards but he's expressing and doing things many upper class Brits felt was Ok in the betweenthewar years.
I know it's a first draft but if the murder hinges on one particular revelation, it's a moot point because Sam needs to do more research.
Not being familiar with Golden Age British mysteries, I failed to really appreciate the tour but the tour is more of an afterthought a drive by look and see and move on sort of tour.
Nana Jo and her friends are crazy, That kind of old lady character doesn't appeal to me, Ruby Mae is kind and friendly, I like her the most, Irma is my least favorite, She's mancrazy and flirts with any male that breathes, She doesn't know when to back off and when not to make jokes, She needs to learn the MeToo movement works both ways, Sam is supposed to be clever but this mystery is too easy to solve, She's always doubting herself and doesn't have enough selfconfidence, A little balance between Sam and Nana Jo would be nice,
Major Horace Peabody is the proprietor of the mystery tour, He's bullying, rude, offensive and doesn't care about anyone but himself, He manages to alienate his business partner, his family and some of his guests, It's no wonder he gets murdered, Clive Green, his business partner, has been left out of the decision making process, Mr. Peabody seems Mr. Green as merely an employee to be ordered around at will, That makes Clive angry. Was he angry enough to kill Prudence Pickelsimer Haberhsam is an overbearing, pushy woman who is clearly used to getting her own way.
She claims she knows Major Peabody and they had a liason in the past, He denies it of course, Then she drops a bombshell that gives her a motive for murder! I feel very sorry for her daughter Lavender.
Lavender is a meek, mild woman who can't stand up to her mother, Lavender is not allowed a thought in her head without her mother thinking it first, Debra, Major Peabody's niece, arrives to cause a scene, She's a gold digging, vain woman who just wants her uncle's money so she can marry her boy toy, Sebastian.
He seems fake and slimy to me perfect for nasty Debra, However, if he's one of THE Rothschilds, he doesn't need Peabody money! Hannah Schneider is a nice, older Jewish widow who befriends Sam on the tour.
Hannah seems kind and she and Sam have a lot in common, I want to like her but since Major Peabody was clearly antiSemitic, she has a good reason to want him dead.
Other tour guests include Dr, Vincent Blankenship and his wife Tiffany, He's rude, snippy and reluctant to actually do his job when someone is in need, His wife is whiny and lacks an understanding of what her husband's profession means, It's not something you can leave behind at the end of the day, I don't think their marriage is going to survive this trip, Albus Lavington, professor at the University of Saint Andrews, seems like a quiet, mild mannered type but he too has a motive for murder.
Oberst Senf, a German businessman who gets on the wrong side of Nana Jo and friends, doesn't seem to have a motive for murder.
He's mainly there for entertainment purposes,
The DI is a nincompoop, I thought the Metropolitan police were supposed to be really smart and great The only character I liked in this book was Moira.
She's a better "copper" than her boss,
I honestly don't care about any of these people, I was more into thes story and what the nasty man's secret was that got him killed.
I suspected something like that, I skipped ahead to the end of the book halfway through just to find out because it was very late and I was bored.
I was also bothered by the inaccuracies and Americanisms coming from the British characters.
I have to remember NOT to read more of these books, no matter how tempting the blurb sounds and cute the dogs who aren't even in this novel look.
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