V.M.Burns gives us a Tourist's Guide to Murder as the Mystery Bookshop owner Sam goes to England on a mystery book lovers tour with her retirement village friends. She is gathering atmosphere for her own mystery writing. Of course bodies start dropping and the ladies have to find the murderer. A delightful cozy.

With a nod to so many mysteries and authors of the past, this book adds a layer of interest to the “cozy mystery” genre. A step up from the straightforward telling of a crime story, the author offers a sub-story which is also compelling. There were no real surprises here in terms of solving the mystery but still a lot to enjoy.

4.5 stars

This is the sixth book in the Mystery Bookshop series by V.M. Burns.

This story was a bit different than her others. The setting was in Europe. They were going on a mystery tour in London to help Sam with her writing.

I have to admit that my least favorite part of this is the story inside the story. It is cool, written well and a good shtick, but I am more interested in the current mystery than the one going on in Sam’s historical cozy.

I enjoyed the mystery but thought the entire book could have been fleshed out a bit since the story inside the story was taking up so much valuable space where more current plot points could be placed.

I do enjoy the series overall and recommend it highly.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

I loved this book! I love reading about Sam and Nana Jo and the gang and this was fun because it was in a different location. Love the story within a story. Great ending!

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.

Samantha is joining her Nana Jo and Shady Acres friends on a trip for a mystery tour of England - Sam to do research for her next book, the ladies just to have a good time. However, things don't start off well with forgotten passports, nearly missed planes, lost luggage, and the murder of the Tour company owner. Not that the ladies are suspects, but they do want to get involved in solving the crime. After all, they could be traveling with a murderer!

Not knowing the area/people/culture creates some interesting scenarios for this band of senior sleuths. I also enjoy the story within the story - Samantha's new book in progress. I wonder if the author will publish Samantha's writings all together at sometime.

Samantha and the crew is back, but this time from a different location. Sam and the retirement village crew are taking their sleuthing skills internationally. They originally leave for a vacation trip to London, and unexpectanty help to solve a couple of murders while on a mystery tour.

I'm really enjoying this series. The elderly ladies in each book keep me in stitches. Kind of remind me of some elder I know personally. I'm also really enjoying the growing relationship between Sam and her beau. And in between the pages like the other books, Sam's manuscript tells the story of a mystery set in England's past. This was a good and enjoyable story.

Samantha, a bookstore owner and author, embarks on a trip to London with her grandmother and her friends. They're signed up for a mystery tour. And, of course, there's murder involved. At first, I was overwhelmed by the introduction of all the characters in just a few pages. But, as the novel progressed, I gradually came to know each of their unique personalities, providing both humor and mystery. So, upon finishing the book, I really don't think that overwhelming introduction was really that bad..

The story actually becomes a story within a story, as we also get to read excerpts from Samantha's mystery novel set in pre-WWII England. There are hints of crossovers between the two, but they're subtle and don't confuse the reader. The killer's identity was just a bit too obvious, but still it was an interesting read.

This is the sixth book in this charming cozy mystery series. I have enjoyed each book in the series . As a mystery lover reading a book about a mystery bookstore and a protagnist with a great love of mysteries and books is delightful. I highly recommend this series. Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity,

Sam and her Grandmother, with friends from the Retirement Village are thrilled to be leaving together for a vacation trip to England for a tour of all the British Crime authors settings in England. A comedy of errors occurs at the airport with all the ladies that leaves them rattled but they are soon on their way and arrive in England with their tour group. When a member of the tour is argumentative and putting everyone on edge its no surprise when he is murdered. Sam and her Grandmother are on the case and soon have clues and suspects abound as they try to enjoy the tour and solve the murder before leaving England.

This was so entertaining. Everyone that enjoys mysteries will love this book and the tour. I enjoyed all the author references and the way the author brought England to life for the reader. The sleuth was very well crafted and kept me guessing to conclusion. I like Sam as a protagnist and all the supporting charcters are likable and add to the story. Very well done to the author.

This is such a fun series, and I had a great time with this cozy mystery. I loved the plot, the twists and turns, and the characters!

I have been enjoying this interesting series. Each of these books has a mystery inside a mystery. This book has our protagonist, mystery bookstore owner and cozy mystery author, Sam on a tour in England with Nana Jo and her friends. They are on a mystery lovers tour where they will see places where famous mystery authors such as Agatha Christie, Dick Francis and Arthur Conan Doyle either lived or got their ideas. Sam is hoping to get inspiration for her novels. Of course wherever Sam, Nana Jo, Irma, Ruby Mae and Dorothy go, murder seems to follow.

This was a well-written story with the secondary plot being the book Sam is writing. I really enjoy how V.M. Burns has both stories parallel each other with similarities, yet also differences to make them both interesting. The ladies (ie Sleuthing Senior Citizens) are wonderful characters. I love the relationship Sam has with her Nana Jo, it is loving, humorous and realistic. The chemistry between the friends is fantastic. They are all so different from one another, but get along so well and their strengths and personalities complement one another. The double murders were interesting, especially the mode of them. I did figure out who the culprit was relatively early in the story, even though there were many possible suspects. I enjoyed learning about the various authors and where they lived and got their inspiration. I did miss Sam's dogs in this one, but hopefully they will return in the next book. Reading about Sam's evolution as an author has been a great part of this series, and in this book she finally gets an offer to publish her first book. I enjoyed how this book wrapped up as well as the conclusion to the one Sam is writing throughout the story whenever she gets a few extra moments. Both had some tense moments, which also added a bit of suspense and tension. Overall, this was a fun and interesting cozy mystery. One I read straight through when I sat down with this book.

When Sam innocently asked, "What could possibly happen?" about her upcoming trip to England with Nana Jo and the girls, she had to have some inkling that craziness and murder would follow. From the airport in Chicago to the airport in England and beyond, this was a roller coaster trip you don't want to miss! Irma was at her hilarious best again, and sweet Ruby Mae seemed to be related to someone everywhere she went just when they needed a friend. And they met a new friend in England that I'd love to see come visit them or at least keep in touch with her.

After a couple of murders, the Mystery Lovers' Tour was turning into the real deal. I was glad that Sam was able to find an ally in the female Detective Sergeant, because her DI co-worker was worse than good old Det. "Stinky" Pitt back home! I didn't really know whodunit, so I enjoyed the ride with my favorite characters. The showdown was exciting--boy, if only Nana Jo had her peacemaker with her! I kind of hope the next book recaps their trip with friends at home. That alone would be hysterical! Love, love, love this series!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

A Tourist’s Guide to Murder: A Mystery Bookshop Mystery
By V.M. Burns
Kensington
February 2020

Review by Cynthia Chow

It took the death of her beloved husband Leo to ignite the spark the led to Samantha Washington fulfilling her dream of owning her own mystery bookstore in North Harbor, Michigan. Quitting her former job as a librarian also allowed her to begin writing historical mysteries, and even being offered a contract for her first three books. It’s on this high moment that Sam, her grandmother, and Nana Jo’s friends from the Shady Acres Retirement Village depart for a one-week research/vacation trip to England. After an admittedly shaky start that involves a forgotten passport, flirtation-gone-wrong-full-body-searches, and misidentified luggage, Sam and the senior ladies are thrilled to arrive in Merry Old England. Their first tour is even led by a British Crimes for Peabody Mystery Lovers Tours, but unfortunately there seems to be as much strife behind the scenes of the business as on the site destinations. The tour guide openly argues with owner Horace Peabody, Major Peabody’s equally combative ex has signed on despite his protestations, the Major’s niece and her aspiring model boyfriend are along to protect her inheritance. It becomes clear that the question won’t be IF Major Peabody will be murdered, but simply when and by who.

What is a bit more surprising is that the tour guide adamantly asserts that Major Horace Peabody passed away in his sleep, and that the mystery loving tourists shouldn’t worry themselves and instead enjoy the rest of their vacations. For once, Sam and Nana Jo are content allow the police to investigate while they wallow in the delights of Harrods and museums dedicated to the fictional Sherlock Holmes and real-life Agatha Christie. At least that’s until arrogant Detective Inspector Nelson insists on arresting Hannah Schneider, a fellow guest and whom Sam has bonded with through their shared widowhood. When the Shady Acres agents and their arsenal of black belt martial arts skills, nosiness, and flirtation powers are combined with Sam’s librarian and mystery reading knowledge, there’s little doubt that they will beat the British coppers in unraveling the classic mystery of red herrings and inheritances.

While this 6th in the series takes Sam and her friends away from her beloved Market Street Mysteries Bookstore, it continues to weave in Sam’s work-in-progress set in 1939 England. Sam tackles the puzzles and complications she’s facing through her fictional novel, where the abrasive, lecherous, and anti-Semitic Captain Jessup has descended upon Wickfield Lodge to stay with his cousin Victor Carlston. With his wife Lady Penelope in a delicate state the last thing the family wants is more strife, especially as Hitler seems to be rampaging through Germany and the country is at the brink of war. The secret heirs, poisonings, and family battles Sam encounters through her tours of the Cotswolds, the Greenway House in Devon, and Chipping Campden all become incorporated into the world of Lord William Marsh’s family through Sam’s subconscious. Indeed, these chapters of Sam’s books are just as entertaining as the her “real” adventures, which are hilarious due to the escapades of Nana Jo and her friends. This extremely well-written and cleverly plotted novel is sure to please Classical British mystery fans as well as those who love contemporary, humor-filled adventures. Exquisitely topping off this combination is the vicarious experience of traveling through towns made famous by the novels of Agatha Christie, MC Beaton, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Dick Francis. A tantalizing meal of East Indian delicacies further depicts how cosmopolitan and multi-cultural England has become, ensuring that envious readers will be wanting to book the first available plane ticket along with their next copy of VM Burns’ bookstore mystery.

A Tourist’s Guide to Murder, although the 6th installment in the Mystery Bookshop cozy series, is the first book in the series I have read, but it won’t be my last.

Samatha Washington is a mystery bookshop owner and a part-time sleuth. She along with a wonderful cast of women from Shady Acres Retirement Village (including her grandmother) travel to England for a mystery tour. From the start, things go wrong. And when the owner of the tour company and a guest of the tour are murdered, Sam sets out to solve the murders.

I enjoyed this book and the cast of characters and their individual personalities. Also, Sam is an aspiring cozy mystery author and while at first, I didn’t love the addition of her writing, I grew to enjoy it and appreciate the unique element it added to the story. I liked how it was used to help Sam solve the murders.

I look forward to reading an early installment of this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Imagine yourself on a fabulous vacation that is suddenly in the midst of a murder investigation. Oh, no! A Tourist’s Guide to Murder, takes you on vacation; on a tour of mystery, that will have you enjoying it, every step of the way.

I must admit, I had a bit of a difficult time getting through the beginning of this cozy. The story did not capture my attention right away and as the story progressed, I felt it was a bit winded. Although, I did not connect very well with the story, at first, there were excellent points that I did enjoy. The author for example, gives excellent details on the places they toured, and her vivid description of these places provided me with an on-par front row seat. I also enjoyed that this book was very well edited. Sometimes, it is very difficult to get through a story that is drowning with simple editorial mistakes. There is also a matter of the story containing another completely different story within this book. The protagonist, Samantha Washington, you see, is an author on this tour doing research for her book. As A Tourist’s Guide to Murder progresses, the main character is writing her own book at the same time with a story parallel with what is happening in this book. Confusing? I thought so too, at first, but I did end up enjoying it and mid-way I was already invested in both stories.

I had a bit of an issue with the character’s description; they were quite unique in this book. As a matter of introduction, there was detailed emphasis on what the characters looked like, heavy set, petite, short, tall, etc. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the strong emphasis was there at the beginning, more so than I’ve noticed in other books. This put me off a bit and was a major reason, why I couldn’t focus and connect. As the plot evolved, though, the characterization flourished, and I was able to relate to them. A good point is that the author provided the storyline with characters with very different personalities, adding effect and layers to the characters; the good, the bad and the unsavory.

This was a slow mystery to solve. Bonus that this was a mystery within a mystery with the parallel storyline. A descriptive, detailed account of the mystery tour and an enjoyable read, nonetheless, once I gave it a chance.

~ Patricia

Author and bookshop owner Samantha (Sam) Washington is excited to embark on a week-long tour of mysterious and murderous British settings featured in the works of Dame Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Accompanying Sam on the trip are her grandmother Nana Jo and three of her sassy senior friends. Sam expects the enthusiasm of the high-spirited group to pose a bit of a challenge—but really, it's only for a week—what could possibly go wrong? Apparently, quite a lot.

From forgetting her passport, to a highly-invasive TSA search, to a sprint to catch the flight before it departs without her, Sam is worn out by the time she gets on the plane. She imagines her only issue once she arrives in the UK will be jet lag, but it isn't long before the tour goes totally awry.

Far from their Michigan home, Sam, Nana Jo, and the Shady Acres Retirement Villagers find themselves in the midst of two murder investigations when their tour operator and a fellow tourist each meet a mysterious demise. No strangers to solving murder mysteries at home, the group gets involved in investigating the crimes, much to the consternation and amusement of New Scotland Yard authorities. Will they continue their perfect crime-solving record across the pond without causing an international incident?

A Tourist's Guide to Murder is V.M. Burns's most entertaining installment to date in the fantastic Mystery Bookshop mystery series. In addition to the series' lovable characters and their laugh-out-loud antics, readers of this latest cozy are treated to amusing, dramatic murder suspects and enjoyable armchair travel. This series continues to delight, and I eagerly await the further escapades of Sam, Nana Jo, and their vibrant, fun-loving friends.

This is the second book by this author that I have read and I found it to be a different read than the first book I read by her. In this book you have Samantha Washington who has a bookstore for mystery books, a cozy mystery author and sometimes amateur sleuth.
Samantha aka Sam goes on a trip to London England along with her grandmother Nana Jo and three of Nana Jo’s retirement village friends for a mystery lover’s tour that includes visiting sites where mystery author Agatha Christie lived and based her books on. After arriving in London there is a murder of the tour company owner and then another murder of one of the tour attendees.
It was fun reading about Sam and the others going into amateur detective mode to gather information on people who could possibly be suspects.. Nana Jo and her friends are hilarious in some of there antics in trying to get information as to who may have committed the murders and why.
It was interesting how the author had Sam writing a cozy mystery set in early 1900’s where someone was also murdered in the storyline. So I enjoyed trying to figured out which character committed the murders in both storylines where I guessed right with the two murders on the tour and with the storyline murder that Sam was writing I was stumped and surprised by who did commit the murder.
I highly recommend this book to read, especially if you like cozy mysteries. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
Cassandra H.
I voluntarily received a copy of this book from Netgalley and this review is of my honest opinion and thoughts.

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!

Samantha Washington finds herself on a tragic mystery tour with her Nana Jo and her friends from the Sady Acres Retirement Village Irma, Dorthy and Ruby Mae on a week long trip to London, England to experience the Peabody Mystery Lover’s Tour. They almost miss the plane and all their luggage is lost nothing a trip to Harrods can’t fix.Sam takes every minute of her spare time to work on her newest whodunnit.They all enjoy the chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle as Sam celebrates her new publishing contract as a mystery author. When Major Horace Peabody is found dead by supposedly natural causes. Despite his employers unfortunate demise the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on until another on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. The troubles begin when someone insists Peabody’s niece Lavender turns out might be his child. When prudence is found dead the group continues their tour any hidden secrets pop up finally leading Sam to finish her novel and solve a murder.
This was a fun story to read as there were really two stories being told. A job well done by the author very enjoyable.

I loved A Tourist's Guide to Murder. Like the author, I too am living vicariously through books (and television) through this travel ban. I've dreamed of visiting Great Britain for many years and am still dreaming. And, as I'm sure you fellow cozy mystery lovers will agree, a mystery lovers tour of England would be so much fun! So, I'm very jealous of Samantha, Nana Jo, and the ladies from Shady Acres....just not the murder part!

Though this is only the 2nd Mystery Bookshop Mystery book I've read, I feel a deep connection with Sam. I am a young(ish) widow, and I love mystery books. I used to dream about owning a bookshop close to the ocean, but now, I just dream of visiting bookshops by the ocean (okay, everywhere!). Sadly, small, independent bookshops seem to be going the way of the dinosaurs. I do love reading cozy mystery books that involve bookshops though. They allow me to escape and step into the shoes of the main character.

I adore the characters in this series. They are so much fun, and they're definitely my dream tour companions. These ladies have no issues flitting about with the other tour members....some more than others...If you've read any of this series, you know who I'm talking about! Their personable personalities give them the advantage when it comes to solving murder(s)! The "suspects" open up to them so easily because they're easy to talk to; therefore, it's easy(ish) for them to gather clues and snoop around.

The mystery in A Tourist's Guide to Murder isn't easy to solve. You'll find lots of clues, but, beware! Lots of red herrings lurk within its pages. I obviously loved the setting in this cozy, and I'm still dreaming of my dream trip there. Now, if I could only find these ladies in real life to accompany me! I am so looking forward to reading more books in this delightful cozy mystery series.