Member Reviews
I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. While the sixth book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. Two stories are within the story. Samantha Washington writes historical cozy mysteries and is about to publish her first book. When she needs a mental break, she works on her mysteries which form the second story within each of V.M. Burns books. So, be prepared to switch from the modern-day story to the secondary story as chapters change.
In the modern story, Samantha is visiting the UK for the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour of famous sights associated with the Golden Age of Mysteries, beginning with Sr. Arthur Conan Doyle and, of course, including Agatha Christie. Her traveling companions include her usual ‘posse’ of her grandmother, Nana Jo, and several other octogenarians from the Shady Acres Retirement Village. As usual, the four older women keep things hopping and Samantha pulling her hair out. Starting from the race to make the plane and then dealing with the personalities on the tour, Samantha takes lots of deep breaths and turns to her writing to keep her sane. When the tour owner, Major Peabody, dies, the tour guide decides the tour should continue. When another tourist on the trip dies in obviously assisted methods, things start unraveling faster than you can say ‘Hercule Poirot’. As the five women work their skills among their fellow travelers, they’ll need every technique that Sherlock Holmes used to solve the case!
A fun book and a strong addition to the series. I love that the women are each distinctive and not relegated to ‘they are old so all they can do is be older and shuffling along.’ I’m never quite sure why a much younger person spends this much time shepherding a group like this, but all the characters are likeable and fun. You should enjoy this cozy addition to the series.
Samantha is taking a mystery tour of the UK with Nana Jo and the ladies along for the ride. When the tour owner is found dead and another member of the group is murdered, Sam realizes she can’t get a break from murder even on vacation.
It was fun to get out of the US and head to the UK with the ladies…it’s the only kind of travel we can enjoy right now. The premise of taking a tour to mystery story settings was genius and ties right into the story line so well. I enjoy the author’s works and read other of her series religiously. Strong, independent women and a solid whodunit every time makes for a great book!
I think it's unfair to new readers for it not to be clear that this series has a secondary historical mystery storyline in each book that may be as long, if not longer than the central story listed in the blurb. One section of the second story in this book was about 28 pages.
It would also be nice if in book 7 the secondary characters get to be fleshed out some more instead of being one dimensional. Maybe take a turn in each subsequent book to let each helper "shine". I was also unhappy that the fate of two characters introduced in the last book weren't mentioned. Even with two sentences about how they were missed, where they ended up and that they were doing well. The thread was left dangling without a knot. I also spotted one name blooper which maybe corrected when the final version hits the shelves.
That said, I still give the half I read a like. I enjoyed the story and setting.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
Sixth book in the series. I haven't read any of this series. I wish I had read previous books.
A trip to London for a mystery tour with some spry older ladies . These ladies were quite comical. One was grabbing men's bottom, one was doing jujutsu, and Sammy's grandma kept threatening to put her over her knee.
A comical cozy Murder mystery
This series keeps going strong! Nana and the gang in London? Fantastic! Though there are a number of characters, they are all written so well and with such life and joy and they never crowd each other. I eagerly await their next adventure!