Bookmarked for Murder i a good cozy mystery. I recommend this title to all readers who enjoy cozy mysteries..

“Bookmarked for Murder” by V.M. Burns is the 5th instalment in the Mystery Bookshop series The poodles featured in the story remind me of my friends brown poodle. I have only read one previous book but was able to follow along with no trouble. The story grabbed my attention right away and I read it in a day.

I love the characters they are well-developed and very likeable. The plot had just enough twists and turns that I was guessing who might have done it till the very end.

Overall I found this to be an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Nana Jo and her gal pals Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae from Shady Acres Retirement Village.

I highly recommend this cozy mystery to all my friends and fellow cozy lovers.

I requested and received a advanced reader copy from the publisher and Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

While I still enjoy the banter between the characters in this book as well as the series, it seems to me that I've starting to be burnt out on the series. Maybe it because I've read the series pretty much back to back, or I just getting tired of books set in bookstores. But this book as well as the rest of the series has been well written and plotted out. That anyone knew to the genre would love.

Up to this point I've noticed a pattern with this series. I absolutely loved the first and third books and only liked the second and fourth books. So I was super excited thinking that would mean I'd love the fifth. Unfortunately I found Bookmarked for Murder to be just okay.

While I enjoyed the plot and spending time with most of the characters (love the seniors!), I figured out the murderer fairly early and I felt that Sam was incredibly out of character in a number of places. She is a smart, savvy, independent business owner who has been married and has a steady boyfriend but a cop with a nice smile and smooth voice turns her into the equivalent of a sheltered 13 year old girl? Come on! There were also some inconsistencies and some loose dangling threads that weren't wrapped up.

A solid enough mystery but not as "wow" as I was hoping for. Hopefully book six will get me back there.

This mystery is another fun read with Sam, Nana Jo and friends. Watching the ladies track the killer can be almost comical at times.

Interesting characters and an interesting mystery made this a fun read.

After some post Christmas retail therapy in the Windy City, mystery bookshop owner and historical whodunit novelist Sam Washington is returning home to North Harbor, Michigan, on a chartered bus. With Nana Jo and her gal pals Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae from Shady Acres Retirement Village along for the ride, it's a lively trip. But one passenger is not so lively a gentleman Irma befriended is found dead in his seat after an unscheduled stop. The ladies immediately shift gears to find out who punched his ticket, while Sam slips into the driver's seat to make sure Nana Jo and her crew steer clear of fatal conclusions.

The author gives us a well written mystery with plenty of suspects, lots of clues scattered throughout the book, red herrings, twists, and turns that will lead to an action packed conclusion. The characters are well written, well developed, intelligent, quirky, fun, and clever which makes them seem realistic and lifelike.

I like that the chapters Sam is writing for her book are included so we get to enjoy two entirely different mysteries in one book. I liked how Frank surprised Sam on New Year's Eve and how they got to spend the evening ringing in the new year. I have enjoyed reading about the antics that Snickers and Oreo get into, I also recently learned that Sam's poodles are inspired by the authors real life poodles Coco and Cash. I can't wait to read book #6 A Tourist's Guide to Murder to see what all the characters get themselves into.

I received an ARC of this book from Kensington Books through NetGalley for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Cozy mystery is a massive genre, and filled with subgenres for basically every theme you can think of. I tend to gravitate to books, cats, dogs, magic and food themes, and this book covers quite a few of them (no magic, except that of a good book) It also has the story in story going for it, as each chapter contains a little from the series that the main character, Sam, is writing. It's also cozy mystery, so you get another mystery for the price of one!

The best part of this series is the relationship Sam has not only with her grandmother, but with all the elderly ladies and their friends. It makes me wistful somehow; I have no such relationship with any older family member. I don't even know the names of my grandparents on one side. Still though, it adds a homey touch, and it makes solving the mystery so much sweeter.

Always a pleasure to read this author; if you haven't already, try this series and see for yourself! Five stars.

Shady Acres Retirement Village sponsored a Christmas shopping excursion to Chicago and Samantha Washington went along with Nana Jo. On the trip home, flirtatious Irma has snagged a gentleman to accompany her home. Max, a noted author, has been working on his next book, an expose on the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Caught in traffic, the elderly ladies request a rest stop but when they return to the bus, they find Max dead.

After they are questioned by the local police they return home only to resolve to find out who among them is the murderer.

This series is so much fun, especially because of the elderly characters and the novel within the novel.
Will be watching for the next one!

Bookmarked for Murder was another fantastic addition to the Mystery Bookshop series featuring an interesting mystery for the group to solve.

When Nana Jo suggests some retail therapy in Chicago to wind down after the holiday season, mystery bookstore owner Samantha Washington jumps at the chance. Soon Sam, Nana Jo, Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae are headed to the Windy City with some of the fellow retirees from the Shady Acres Retirement Village. But when the group begins to make their way back home, a man Irma befriended is found dead on the bus. And after Irma asks for their help, Sam and the Sleuthing Seniors are on the case to find the killer before they strike again.

The mystery in this book was well done with enough twists to keep you guessing. From the start I was curious how a man was murdered on a bus when all the other passengers were only a short distance away. It was definitely a question that plagued Sam as well and ultimately I was satisfied when we found out how it was done. The murder in this book didn’t take place in North Harbor, so it was interesting getting to see a different person in charge of the investigation who had no interest in Sam’s help. Detective Pitt though was still involved and thankfully continuing his cooperative streak with Sam. There was more involvement from the Sleuthing Seniors this time around which was great as I love the hijinks their group gets up to. Ultimately I thought the ending was well done and I was happy with the way the killer was caught.

During her downtime, Sam is writing the next novel in her British cozy mystery series which I enjoyed as those sections are always a delight to read. The characters in her series are wonderful and I’ve come to really enjoy them over the course of the series. The cases in her books mirror the real-life mysteries she is trying to solve as she uses the books to work out her theories. I enjoy watching Sam work things out in this way as it usually helps her figure out what pieces are missing to solve everything.

Overall Bookmarked for Murder was an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for future volumes of the series. I highly recommend the Mystery Bookshop series and think it’s a great place to start for readers new to the genre.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

Everyone should have a Nana Jo, shoot, I want to be a Nana Jo when my kids get to the parent stage of life. Then there is Nana Jo's posse from the retirement community, now that is a lively bunch of ladies who are not only locked and loaded but ready to take on the world of sleuthing. Irma, the stiletto grandma of the bunch found herself a live one, until he was a dead one. Was is the daughter who was desperate to help her sick little girl, was it the body guard who obviously didn't do his job so well, was it the bus driver, or how about the activities director who organized the shopping trip that lead to Irma meeting Max Franck and his subsequent trip back on their bus. One unusual aspect of these stories is that Sam is an author in addition to be being a bookstore owner. She is currently working on a regency mystery and will literally work on a chapter during her down time and shares it in these cozy stories. So be forewarned that if you aren't a fan of a double storyline just gloss over it although she does somewhat marry up the storylines as she solves her "real life" mystery.

I love everything V.M. Burns writes. Her characters are so loveable and realistic. The storyline is well written and developed. I cant wait to see what V.M. Burns comes up with in her next installment of the series!

Fatality In Transit....
A Mystery Bookshop novel. Christmas festivities and jaunts over, Sam Washington - novelist and bookstore owner- is returning home to North Harbor, bus-bound, when it becomes clear that one passenger won’t be disembarking. Sam and pals have a murder on their hands. Enjoyable, fun read - an entertaining whodunnit with endearing characters and in keeping with the series as a whole.

Bookmarked for Murder is the 5th book in the Mystery Bookshop series.
Samantha (the 'sleuth') is a strong, intelligent and curious. I love her relationship with the Shady Acres Crew and Frank. The characters keep evolving and the books continue to be great.

I love this series. I’ve enjoyed every single book in the series and love getting back to the characters who feel like old friends. It was a quick, fun read.

V. M. Burns Interview by E. B. Davis

I should have felt bad for tempting her, but all was fair in love, war,
and coercing people to talk and give up information
when you had no legal authority.
V. M. Burns, Bookmarked for Murder, Kindle Loc. 919

The week between Christmas and New Years finds mystery bookshop owner and aspiring mystery writer, Samantha Washington on a bus trip to Chicago with her grandmother, Nana Jo and their friends from the Shady Acres retirement village. After a weekend of theatre, shopping and fine dining, one of the group’s members is murdered on the return trip. Can Samantha follow the trail to uncover a murderer before her ticket is up?

Samantha continues to write British historic cozy mysteries set in 1938. In her latest book, Lady Elizabeth Marsh and her niece, Lady Penelope Carlston, are in London to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales when they encounter an acquaintance. Unfortunately, neither lady remembers the woman. The old dear has wandered away from her companion and seems befuddled, especially when she tells them someone is trying to kill her. Later, she falls onto the tracks of the underground, but before she dies she whispers something to Lady Elizabeth that has complete strangers wandering to the Marsh estate and asking a lot of questions. Is it possible the death wasn’t an accident? Can Lady Elizabeth discover the truth or will she meet an untimely end?
Amazon.com

Although I’m a fan of V. (Valerie) M. Burns, I haven’t read the Mystery Bookshop mystery series because I fell in love with her Dog Club Mysteries. I was missing a treat! I didn’t know main character Samantha Washington not only owns a mystery bookstore, but she is also an aspiring Regency mystery writer. The reader gets the “real” mystery as well as the mystery Sam is currently writing. What fun—but I have to admit when I hit the first Regency segment—I went to the cover to make sure I was, in fact, reading the right book.

Sam works out her current mysteries through her writing, which is interesting to see how she manifests current aspects of the contemporary mystery into her fiction. In other mysteries by other authors, a main character might draw or paint images that reflect aspects of the mystery, but we can’t see them. We may know the main character pays attention to detail, but we don’t know which details. But Valerie’s readers are able to read Sam’s Regency mystery, scattered throughout the book, and see how Sam translates the contemporary mystery into the Regency mystery—it’s fascinating and fun!

In September, Valerie started blogging with us every other month. Please welcome Valerie home at WWK. E. B. Davis

Although parts of the book are set in Chicago, Samantha Washington and her family call North Harbor, MI, home. Is North and South Harbor, MI, real? Are they based on real places?
North Harbor, MI and South Harbor, MI are fictional towns based on the real cities of Benton Harbor, MI and St. Joseph, MI which are located in Southwestern Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Where are Sam’s parents?
Sam’s father is dead, but her mother, Grace, is alive and well. Readers meet Grace in the first book, The Plot is Murder, but will become better acquainted with her in later books, especially Wed, Read & Dead where Grace remarries.

How did Sam’s grandmother, Nana Jo, come to be a pistol packing momma?
In the books, Sam’s grandmother, Josephine Thomas, aka Nana Jo, states that she grew up on a farm where she learned to shoot. In fact, she claims to have won several awards for her sharp shooting and was the Annie Oakley Champion of Lauderdale County. Her husband gave her the gun that she carries in her purse, her “peacemaker.”

Nana Jo says, “Remember on Star Trek the red shirts always die first.” Who are they—Klingons?
Like Nana Jo, I’m a big fan of the Star Trek series from the 70s. In that series, the officers aboard the star ship wore shirts in red, yellow, and blue. I’m sure the color designated the role and or rank of the crew members. However, astute fans (Trekkies) have noticed that the crew members who wore the red shirts died sooner and more frequently than those in yellow and blue. Of course, the red shirts were probably the security officers, so they would be the first to enter dangerous situations.

Are Snickers and Oreo toy poodles or standard?
Snickers and Oreo are Sam’s toy poodles. Snickers is the female and the older of the two. Oreo is a male and is 2 years younger than Snickers.

How to put this delicately—Snickers and Oreo are siblings. Did they have to be neutered or do they have a natural aversion?
Snickers and Oreo are siblings because they’re both owned by Samantha, but they aren’t siblings by blood. However, they are both “fixed.”

Do dogs’ paws freeze?
Dog’s paws can freeze, which is why it’s very important not to leave them outside in subzero temperatures. Some dogs have thick coats and were bred for cold weather, but the pads on the bottom of their feet can still freeze.

Sam and her sister, Jenna, don’t seem to share much in common. Is my understanding correct, incomplete, or wrong?
On the surface, it seems that Sam and her older sister, Jenna, don’t have much in common. However, over the course of the series, some of their similarities come out.

What did Leon, Sam’s late husband do for a living? How long were they married? What did he die from? Does the first book in this series start after his death?
Sam’s first husband, Leon, died from cancer. They had been married 17 years. Leon was a cook, but he and Sam shared a love of mysteries. Sam preferred cozies, while Leon enjoyed Noir mysteries. Leon and Sam dreamed of one day quitting their jobs and opening a mystery bookshop. When he was dying, Leon encouraged Sam to take the insurance money and to follow their dream. When the series starts, Leon is dead and Sam is about to open the mystery bookshop.

How long has Sam’s boyfriend and North Harbor Café owner, Frank Patterson, been part of her life?
When the second book in the series starts, Frank Patterson has opened a restaurant down the street from Sam’s bookshop. Leon has been dead about a year at this point and Samantha is starting to reconsider the possibility of allowing another man in her life. It isn’t until the 3rd book in the series that Sam and Frank begin to date.

Sam eats bacon and lettuce sandwiches. Is she allergic to tomatoes? She can’t eat pizza?
Sam loves bacon, but she doesn’t like tomatoes. It’s possibly the acid that she doesn’t like. She eats pizza, ketchup and salsa, but she can’t stand the taste of tomatoes.

Why is Detective Pitt called Stinky Pitt? Did he really stink?
Stinky Pitt is a nickname that Detective Bradley Pitt acquired as a child. Unfortunately for Detective Pitt, Nana Jo was his math teacher and she remembers the nickname and enjoys using it whenever she can to torment the detective.

Sam’s Regency mystery she’s writing is contained within the contemporary mystery in periodic sequences. How does she use her mystery writing to solve the murder occurring in her own life?
Sam has discovered that writing helps her sort through the events she’s struggling to deal with in her real life. Writing provides an escape. Over time, she realizes that when she writes, her subconscious takes over. The stories she’s writing about often have a striking resemblance to her real life mystery and she is able to sift through the clues and suspects and solve the crimes in real life by solving the crimes in her books.

Do all the books feature mysteries with Lady Elizabeth? Do readers come to know her or do you feature new Regency main characters in each book?
Every book that Sam is writing includes Lady Elizabeth Marsh. Some of the other characters may not be featured in every book, but Lady Elizabeth is in each story.

What’s next for Sam, Nana Jo, and her cohorts?
I'm currently writing book #6 in the series, A Tourist’s Guide To Murder. Sam, Nana Jo and the girls travel to England on a Mystery Lovers Tour. When there is a suspicious death on the tour, Sam has to see if the skills that worked to solve a murder in the United States are the same skills needed across the pond.

V.M. Burns continues her Mystery Bookshop mysteries with Bookmarked for Murder. Amateur sleuth and bookstore owner Samantha Washington is in Chicago with her friends from the senior home; on their way home a famous journalist/author is murdered on their bus. Samantha is hot is pursuit of the killer since her friends could be implicated. Other suspects pop up and seniors' home residents are murdered or attacked. Whodunit? A cosy with lots of suspects. Included is Samantha's own manuscript with its own murder. Cleverly written.

Bookmarked for Murder
By VM Burns
Kensington
January 2019

Review by Cynthia Chow

For the residents of Shady Acre Retirement Village, an off-season four-day trip to Chicago was a bargain few could resist after the Christmas holiday. Hotel tea services, ballet performances, and of course some power shopping are the attractions that have mystery bookstore owner Samantha Washington accompanying her grandmother and friends to the very chilly Windy City. Octogenarian Irma Starczewski is on board for the nightclubbing and flirtations, and succeeds in luring Max Franck for a free bus ride back to North Harbor. She would have preferred that he remain a little livelier though, as his passing away at a bus stop strands the group while the police conduct an investigation. Not only was Max Franck a Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist, he had been accompanied by an obviously ineffectual bodyguard. Sam’s aspirations as a historical mystery writer has the Chicago Police Sergeant Luis Alvarez eying her suspiciously, and it’s the one time she misses having the incompetent North Harbor Detective “Stinky” Pitt lumbering onto the scene.

When another attack quickly results in the arrest of the suspected criminal, Sam can’t help but feel that everything has been wrapped up a little too neatly. This compels her into continuing her own investigation, and she is joined by an enthusiastic Nana Jo as they unravel the conspiracy theories that earned Max Franck so many awards. As the web of suspects and motives becomes more ensnarled and complicated, Sam retreats into her writing as an outlet for her subconscious. In Sam’s fictional world of 1938 England, Lady Elizabeth Marsh and her pregnant niece Lady Penelope are spending Boxing Day shopping at Harrods. It is while dining there that they meet a confused Eleanor Forsythe, who claims that “they” are trying to kill her just before a housekeeper arrives to whisk her away. Perhaps Mrs. Forsythe was not quite delusional though, as the next time they see her she has fallen to her death off of an escalator. As Sam explores both mysteries involving resentful relatives and hidden clues, she enjoys intermittent but delicious meals with North Harbor Café owner Frank Patterson, is ordered about by her toy poodles Oreo and Snickers, and hit the Four Feathers Casino. She is of course assisted by not just Nana Jo, but by Ruby Mae and her seemingly infinite number of relatives, nephews Zaq and Christopher, and the rest of the Shady Acre ladies.

This continues to be a deftly plotted mystery that integrates chapters of Sam’s fictional novel with the current-day mystery. Readers will find the fictional timelines of Lady Elizabeth and Sam to be equally compelling, especially since Sam works out her internal struggles through her writing. While she attempts to unravel the puzzle that was Max Franck, her characters in the 1930s entertainingly manipulate those dazzled by their titles and wealth. The witty dialogue of the British lords and ladies is matched by that of Nana Jo and her friends, ensuring that both contemporary and history mystery readers will be delighted. This two-in-one mystery satisfies on so many levels, with this fifth in the series being as fresh and unique as the first.

Cleverly done, the author alternates chapters of the current murder with the writings by the main character, Samantha, a bookshop owner. Quirky characters include Sam’s grandmother and her friends at the Shady Acres retirement home. The murder of an author on a bus returning from an outing leads to a series of mishaps and murders. Well done.

I really enjoy this series and the characters. In the latest installment Sam goes on a bus trip with Nana Jo and her friends from Shady Acres to Chicago for a few days. While they are there Irma meets a man and he is joining her on the return trip to Michigan. While on the bus, at a rest stop, he is killed and the gang gets involved to solve his murder. I love Samantha and Nana Jo and the other ladies from the retirement village and I am enjoying seeing Sam's relationship with Frank grow. V.M. Burns crafts a good mystery that always keeps me guessing. I can't wait for the next book!

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Kensington through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.