A Tourist’s Guide To Murder

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 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Sam and a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.

But between visits to Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel district and 221B Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes. Despite his employer’s unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on until another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. Now it’s 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.

Series: Mystery Bookshop – Book #6
Author: V.M. Burns
Genre/Category: Cozy – Bookshop/Exotic Location
Publisher: Kensington Books
Page Count: 256

Rating:

V.M Burns and the Mystery Bookshop series are among my favorite cozies. Having Sam, an author, as the main character and a cast of retired busybodies who stick their nose into everything is always a joy and makes some interesting storylines. The newest addition, A Tourist’s Guide To Murder is a good read. But… I found that it wasn’t as exciting as the others in the series. There were too many things that were predictable and far too many that were unbelievable. This is a quick, easy to read book which contains enough intrigue and a fun plot to keep readers happy. It just wasn’t as entertaining as I thought it should or could have been.

Sam and company head across the pond to London. It’s a great idea to place them in the world of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, and it would have been great if the two authors could have played a more significant role in the investigation or at least one that wasn’t just lip service. Even though a few incidents lead readers to think of a Christie book, it just wasn’t enough for me. Sam’s book, which is a book within this book, was a bit more interesting to me than the actual cozy. Unfortunately, the mystery in the book-within-a-book was as easy to figure out as the actual murder mystery in A Tourist’s Guide To Murder. I love cozies that do a book-within-a-book, and V.M. Burns does this better than most. From the author’s perspective, the two plots worked together, but they didn’t from my perspective as a reader.

The killer, unfortunately, is easy to spot, and the motive equally so. Most readers will know who the culprit is from the beginning. Most of the suspects are easy to like. The evidence is clear and easy to follow. And, of course, the Shady Acres crew are lovable and irritating all at the same time, just as they should be. Ms. Burns writes cozies that always leaves readers wanting more, and this one was no exception. Having the main character as an author who is finally after six books about to be published may be too realistic. The chances of having a successful cozy series where readers will love every single book are impossible yet this author and series continue to make readers smile and come back again and again. All of the above said, especially the parts of the book that I didn’t care for, I would still read this book and any other books in this series, and I look forward to the next installment.

Other exciting author or book based cozies that readers will enjoy are Lynn Cahoon’s delightful “A Tourist Trap Mystery” or Laura Gail Black’s feisty character-driven series, “An Antique Bookshop Mystery”.

About the Author:

Valerie Burns was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. She graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science and Urban Studies. Valerie later went on to get a Master of Science in Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

By day Valerie is an Operations Manager at a call center for an appliance manufacturer. At night, Valerie writes cozy mysteries, children’s books, and screenplays. Valerie currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her two poodles.

Represented by: BookEnds Literary Agency.

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