3.5 stars
A Tourist's Guide to Murder
by V.M. Burns
This is such a fun series. I really love the book within a book mystery aspect. The mystery was easily solved but the book was highly entertaining anyway. Even though this book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. I do have to say I missed Dawson and some of the other long-standing characters that were missing in this book.

I highly recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The "mystery within a mystery" is interesting in this series as the main character is writing a mystery. Filled with twists and turns, and vivid descriptions of London and the surrounding villages along with laughter and kindness made this book enjoyable, even if a bit slow in spots.







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I didn't care for this one as much as I did for others in this series. Sam seemed tired and bored with the case preferring to enjoy her vacation. I always get a kick out of nana & Ruby though. Predictable mystery but the mystery in Sam's novel is more unusual
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

I enjoyed this book, although I did find parts of it to be slow. I liked the characters and the story line was interesting. I was surprised by who the killer was and how it was done. #ATouristsGuidetoMurder #NetGalley

Through NetGalley, I received a free copy of A TOURIST’S GUIDE TO MURDER (Book 6 of the Mystery Bookshop Mysteries) by V.M. Burns in exchange for an honest review. Sam is the owner of the Mystery Bookshop, a historical mystery novelist, and wrangler of her Nana Jo and senior pals from the Shady Acres Retirement Village. Sam has the opportunity to visit England to research and experience the settings from her books. When Nana Jo and her gang of elderly troublemakers decide to tag along, Sam agrees. After all, how much trouble can they actually get into? As it turns out, a lot. As usual, Nana Jo, Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae are, in turns, both helpful and exasperating. When the leader of their tour group dies under suspicious circumstances, the group is bothered, but the ruling of natural causes allays their suspicions. However, a second death in the tour group has Sam and her senior sleuths swinging into action. As their tour group dwindles from fatalities, can the group figure out whodunit before the tour bus is completely empty? Also, as usual, we get to read along as Sam writes her newest historical mystery.

I liked this book and the series. I recommend this book to fans of the series. I recommend the series to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, books, dogs, feisty senior citizens, secondary storylines, family.

#ATouristsGuidetoMurder #NetGalley

In exchange for an honest review, I was given an early release copy of A Tourist Guide to Murder by V.M. Burns from Netgalley. Sam is going with her grandma and 4 of her grandma's friends to England for a week. She owns a mystery bookstore. They encounter many problems just getting out of Chicago onto the plane. Sam is writing a mystery that takes place in England, so we get to read excerpts from it scattered throughout the book. Her story takes place in early 1939.
Back in present day, the ladies are enjoying a walking mystery tour. Major Peabody, who owns the tour company, dies, but the tour continues, stopping at 221B Baker Street and then over to Oxford. Another person dies, a lady on the tour, who claimed a connection to Major Peabody. The police are called in and Sam and the ladies help try to solve the mystery.
The story within a story was unique and was interesting to read. As I have not read any other books by the author, I found it a bit confusing at first. Then I found it intriguing. Hated for both stories to end. I will have to read more by V.M. Burns.

Watch out England, Samantha, Nana Jo, Irma, Dorothy and Ruby Mae are on the way to take The Peabody Mystery Lover's Tour! Where the ladies go - murder follows! When Major Peabody is murdered along with another tour member, it's up to the ladies to figure out "whodunit" before becoming an Agatha Christie mystery novel come to life!

I loved the location of the book! The descriptions of London and the villages they visited were wonderfully written. The ladies were on point and being in another country did not slow them down in their sleuthing. The book was full of humor and kindness along with mystery - a trademark of the author that I love. The twists and turns of the story reflected the "mystery within a mystery" as Samantha was working on her next novel.

I can't wait for the next adventure!

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A Tourist's Guide to Murder ia V.M. Burns 6th 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 is 26 Jan 2021

This cozy was about a woman who owns a mystery bookstore and is a lover and newly minted writer of – you guessed it – cozies. Our hero, Samantha Washington, goes on a trip to England to gather inspiration for her new book, also set in England. In tow is her grandmother, who is well versed in martial arts and being the boss, and as her group of friends. Each of the ladies are unique and remind me of a more modern set of the Golden Girls with the wacky antics they fall into throughout the story.
The trip becomes and investigation when the owner of the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour turns up dead, and to the group’s disappointment, they are confined to their hotel to allow for an investigation. However, they do get to have a truncated tour, and it was fun to read about the museum at 221B Baker Street and Agatha Christie’s stomping grounds in Torquay. But in between the fun, of course, Samantha and Co. investigate as much as they can about the murder.
Uniquely, the reader is granted a peek into Sam’s WIP, set in a manor home in 1930s England. A great boor of a man is killed in the great house, and the family works together to figure out what has happened to him. The story is much shorter than the original arc of our modern-day tourists, but somehow encompasses the entire draft. Sam is a fast writer! Admittedly, and I will give Sam credit as she is a new writer and is learning more about England through her trip, some of the characters are a little too stereotypical and at times the writing is a little too cheesy. But hey, this fictional writer has written more than me!
Sometimes, the main story didn’t appear to flow too cleanly, and the cast is rather large, and it seems like a couple of the characters are a bit superfluous. They’d crop back up in the story and I wouldn’t remember who they were. A few language choices were a bit cringey too, like the description of one of grandma’s friend’s shoes – “hooker heels.” The placement of the excerpts of Sam’s WIP were also a bit of a strange choice. It reflected the actual story very heavily, but at times, seem to reveal more and was further ahead in the story than the original. In doing that, I feel like I understood what happened to the murder victim sooner than the investigators did.
This was a cute and fun book, but I’m not sure I’d like it enough to actively seek the rest of the series.

A Tourist's Guide to Murder is a really fun cozy mystery. It is also a mystery inside a mystery. In other words, the main character is a writer and is in the process of writing her book while they are in England. I found the characters hilarious and well written. The setting was a lot of fun as well, I can't really say much more about that without giving some key points away. I gurantee you will really enjoy this one, it is very clever and a whole lot of fun.

amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, law-enforcement, cozy-mystery, situational-humor, verbal-humor, England, retirees

There's actually two cozy mysteries here. One tells the story about Michigan bookshop owner/soon-to-be-published-author Samantha and her madcap senior sleuths in England on a mystery tour, and interspersed in the opposite chapters is the 1939 British cozy that she works on when stressed. Each is a good cozy, but the current day one is filled with humor as well as the expected interesting characters, plot twists, and red herrings. I enjoyed the read and laughed out loud at some of the fun!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

A cross between Miss Marple and The Golden Girls with a bit of Cluedo thrown is how I would describe Sam, her Nana Jo and her friends Irma, Ruby Mae and Dorothy, who get involved in solving a real-life murder mystery whilst on holiday.

I have to admit, I almost gave up half way through reading but glad that I hung in there as the story picked up pace and became more interesting after the murder.

Having a secondary story, one which Sam was writing, was, in my opinion, both distracting and not needed - even confusing at times, or in murder mystery speak, "a red herring".

In this sixth installment in the mystery bookshop series, we see Sam and her Nana going to the UK for a trip. Having them on an adventure is an interesting addition to the the normal mystery in their small town. The cast is full of interesting characters among the normal crew of older ladies. I do think sometimes they should just let Irma finish what she was saying. instead of interrupting her. There is a twist within the mystery although the culprit is not very surprising. At times, especially at the beginning, the story felt a bit over the top and exaggerated. It was more even towards the last half and was entertaining to read.

Sam, Nana Joe and the girls head off to England for a mystery tour! Sam is excited to visit where her favorite author Christie Agatha was inspired by her famous mysteries. Of course murders are on the planner. The gang waste no time sticking their noses in the investigation. This was a fun mystery and I enjoyed reading Sam’s book as the story went.

#ATouristsGuidetoMurder #NetGalley

A Tourist's Guide to Murder by V.M. Burns was another fun and engaging adventure with Samantha, Nana Jo, Ruby Mae, Dorothy and Irma. It was an incredible opportunity to experience Great Britain and many settings that were featured in mysteries written by many British authors or settings that influenced their writing.

With a well-crafted quickly paced plot, several suspects, a few deft twists and turns that kept me guessing, I didn't put this book down until I finished it. Ms. Burns' descriptive writing has developed the characters so well over these last few books that I feel like I could easily be friends with all of these ladies. Samantha's historical mystery within the mystery was a lovely cozy historical that tied right in with Samantha and the Shady Acres ladies current murder mystery. I look forward to more mysteries with Samantha, Nana Jo, Ruby Mae, Dorothy and Irma.

A Tourist's Guide to Murder was my first NetGalley read! There was so much about this book that I loved - the main character's murder mystery bookstore, the murder mystery tour of England, a group of mystery solving old ladies, and the main character's love of Agatha Christie ❤️

On the negative side, I didn't feel bonded to the main character at all, and the history/knowledge the author was trying to work into the story felt very forced.

All of that being said, I will definitely read an earlier book in the series to see if joining in the middle was part of the problem.

I came into this series brand new and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this and by the fact that I was able to get caught up without having read the previous books; although I’m sure I would enjoy it even more if I had read the previous ones. The mystery was fun, the old gals were a hoot, and the story within a story was outstanding!

This is the 6th installment in the Mystery Bookshop series. Samantha along with Nana Jo and her friends from the Shady Acres Retirement Village (Irma, Ruby Mae and Dorothy) head to London for a Mystery tour which sounds so fascinating considering she also writes mysteries. When the head of the tour company dies and the tour guide insists to carry on and be calm (aha keep calm and carry on!), However, when another guest on the tour dies under mysteries circumstances, Samantha and the ladies figure they cannot escape the need to solve a mystery. I love the idea of all these ladies in the UK and going to all the historic sites of Sherlock and Agatha Christie. This series never disappoints and I look forward to the next installment.

One of my favorite cozy series, plus when I went to London, I was obsessed with British mystery writers, too (so sad I didn't get to go to Torquay, I would act just like Sam at Agatha Christie's estate). The mystery is fun, and I liked the homages to classic mystery lore. I love the historical mystery and the ongoing saga of those characters, too! It makes me think of Downton Abbey as a grand house mystery. I would love to see this series made into a movie!
Seriously, Nana Jo is the best. I love the old ladies.

Mystery Tour Murders....
The sixth in the Mystery Bookshop series finds bookstore owner, author and sometime amateur sleuth, Samantha Washington on a mystery tour with a week in London. When the tour turns murderous can Samantha save the day? A likeable protagonist, a colourful cast of supporting characters and an entertaining storyline this is a worthy addition to the series and a fun read.