A charming murder mystery with the most unlikely of duos: 98-year-old Jade McCallan and down-on-her-luck millennial and unofficial PI, Amber Winslow. 
 
Description
"Former PI-in-training Amber Winslow has decided to flee her life and she heads to the sunny state of Arizona to the luxury accommodations of her grandmother's retirement community. Never mind that Amber's never actually met her estranged and eccentric Grandma Jade.

As soon as she sneaks her things into Seven Ponds (a place she technically doesn't qualify for and definitely can't afford), she's shocked to learn that George Vincent, a.k.a. the Admiral, was found dead the very night of her arrival. What's even more shocking is that no one seems particularly distraught over the news of the Admiral's death or the disappearance of his prize pet tortoise. All anyone can talk about is a missing Vincent family heirloom, and they're quick to blame Jade for both the Admiral's murder and the theft of the priceless ring.

Amber doesn't want to admit the woman she's just met—and who accepted her without question—could be behind the Admiral's death, and she's determined to clear her grandmother's name no matter the cost.”

My personal thoughts:
🐢Title is a little misleading
🐢Love the family-like friendship between the group
🐢Was satisfied with the reasoning for the “murder” and how they all came together for their loved one. I would not have guessed that outcome.
🐢Would love to be apart of a community like that when I get old

Would I recommend this book: YES! Definitely a fun and easy read.

Thank you to this author and @netgalley for this advanced copy for my honest feedback.

Arizona, cozy-mystery, falsely accused, families, family-drama, family-dynamics, grandma, investigations, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, murder, podcaster, quirky, read, retirement-community, septuagenarian, situational-humor, suspense, suspicion, tortoise, verbal-humor*****

Amber is 31, nearly a PI, and living with her septuagenarian Grandma Jade in a high-end retirement home with a slew if VERY quirky residents. She did a midnight flit from her boyfriend/mentor and finds herself looking for Tatiana the lost tortoise, looking for a missing priceless ring, and dodging the relatives of a murdered man. Good fun and a laugh a minute!
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected e-file from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Avail Apr 29, 2025
#MurderRunsInTheFamily by Tamara Berry @poisonedpenpress @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble @waterstones ***** Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org @bookshop_org_uk #CozyMystery #Murder #GoodFun #PrivateInvestigator

Fresh from a break up with nowhere to turn and with only the clothes on her back, Amber Winslow goes to the only place she can think of - an upper class retirement community which is home to the grandmother she has never met. Glamorous and intriguing, Grandma Jade welcomes Amber with open arms. Is she all that she seems?

Everything appears to be going well for Amber, finally. Until the Admiral - a fellow care home resident and a worker on Jade's true crime podcast - dies, potentially murdered. And bizarrely nobody seems bothered. That is except for Amber, who puts her skills from being a 'PI in training' into action. Skills she definitely requires as Jade becomes the number one suspect.

A murder, a missing £3m ring and a tortoise on the run - this story truly has it all.

Whilst not breaking any new ground, it's an easy and engaging read - well written and well paced.

The chaos and charm of the eccentric retirement home residents is great and the book has a wonderful sense of comradery. Plus, I do love a closed community (and a charming and curious one at that) mystery.

It's been a long time since I've devoured a book like this. However only 4* as I didn't love the ending as much as the rest of the book.

It is the first book of Tamara Berry's that I have read but not the last. I do hope there are more Amber Winslow stories in the making.

This was an interesting cozy mystery read. Some of the characters were hard to keep track of. It was a quick read.

Murder Runs in the Family is the first in a new series by Tamara Berry. I have enjoyed both of Ms. Berry’s previous series so I was looking forward to trying this one. The book did not disappoint. Set in a fancy retirement village in Arizona, the mystery had lots of twists and turns and was lots of fun to try to figure out. This book was a little darker than I expected in the way it addressed how we treat the elderly in our country, but it was very honest and is certainly something that needs to be discussed. I appreciated how Berry just worked it into the mystery without being preachy, but with lots of honesty and care. I also enjoyed that the characters were all more than they first appeared. The character development was great and I would like to learn more about these people in future books. I especially enjoyed Tatiana and I hope that he will be in future books and help solve crimes and eat lots of lettuce!

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. The story was really unique and I really liked the main characters. The story flowed well and I was engaged the whole time. Thank you to NetGalley for an arc of this gem

This is an amazing story with an amazing cast of characters. I loved the relationship between Amber and her grandmother, but there was something so heartwarming about Jade and her sweet friend group, especially after the twist ending. There was the perfect combo of humor and heart and I’m SO ready for more and Amber and her grandma!!

Murder Runs in the Family is a cozy murder mystery with a comprehensive cast of characters. Amber Winslow moves to Arizona to meet and live with her grandmother in the upscale retirement community where Jade is established and is part of group that produces podcasts. Bones, Amber's former boyfriend, finds his way to Arizona, certainly not a delight for Amber who would prefer not to meet him again. Amber is a PI, and her skills are what finally help her identify the killer of the resident Admiral, who has recently been found dead.

Other characters include the tortoise, Tatiana, who, in spite of her (his) name, is a male tortoise. Tatiana plays a significant role in the mystery as he is carrying in his stomach an important piece of jewelry which apparently inhibits his eating his normal diet of vegetables. Ethan, who is a young and handsome veterinarian, is in the early stages of recovering from a hip replacement and has no one to help him which is why he is in the retirement home. Nurse Nasty Nancy works in the retirement home, and appears to well deserve her name.

Grandmother Jade, accused of the Admiral's death, ends up in the local jail, and finally Amber is able to solve the mystery in order to spring her grandmother from incarceration.

This murder mystery runs fairly quickly. However, the cast of characters seems to be a bit overwhelming. The interactions among the characters are risible but not always logical.

Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book.

ALWAYS AN PRESURE TO READ A THRILLER - ALTHOUGH NOT THE BEST WAS KINDA PREDICTABL;E BUT WAS A FUN READ AND SHALL RECOMMEN

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this advance readers copy in exchange for my honest feedback. Wonderful cozy mystery set in a retirement home village.

This was a good book! It was a fun take on a heavy topic, being in a family of murderers. It took a playful twist on it all, but it was written well! I liked the characters even though they were inherently evil, and the pace of the book was nice and quick. Overall it was an enjoyable book, and I would recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

An Assisted living center, a podcast, a missing tortoise and a murder. A fantastic start to a new cozy mystery series. This book had me laughing out loud at the antics of the older generation. Amber is down on her luck when she visits her grandma in Arizona at her assisted living center. Amber had been working with her ex as a private investigator. She finds out her grandma works on one of her favorite true crime podcasts. She helps investigate with her grandma's crew.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm excited to see what happens next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery that is set in an upscale retirement community. We all know 'THAT' octogenarian who speaks with no filter and casually zings snippy, snarky (typically hilarious) comments into conversations. Imagine suddenly living among 6-or 7 of these octogenarians, all the while attempting to solve a murder case. And there you have it, snickering good times! As if that isn't enough, throw in the unexpected arrival of your ex-boyfriend and a 98-year-old tortoise, and now you have a snickering good time that is over the top!

Amber Winslow was fed up. She had worked along her handsome boyfriend, a private investigator, for 3 years. There had been a promise of his signing her papers to become a licensed private investigator too, but when the time came, he didn't sign them, referring to her as a secretary. Wanting to flee the city, and get far away, she tracked down her grandmother, whom she had never met (Mom forbade their meeting), and landed on her doorstep at the Seven Ponds retirement community.

Amber immediately discovers that her Grandmother and a small group of residents are the authors/producers of the podcast that she and her ex faithfully listened to! The next day, one of her Grandmother's dear friends is found dead in the podcast recording studio, and eventually her Grandmother is put in the slammer, arrested for murder. Amber must use her private investigator skills to figure out who killed Grandmother's friend and Grandmother set free.

Who killed 'The Admiral?' Is one of the podcast members guilty? Was the motive jealousy, money or something else? Who will care for the Admiral's 98-year-old tortoise?

Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press and the author for an Advanced Reader Copy.











Its the perfect mix of 'who done it,' snarky humor, wit,

I really enjoyed this book, Amber goes in search of her grandmother she has never met and becomes involved in a murder mystery. I would highly recommend this book,

3.5. It took a while to read, but once I got into it, it went pretty quickly. Interesting story. Grandma was the best character, I felt. The FMC was ok. I didn't feel for her backstory at all, so there was no skin in it for me for her. I did not expect the ending, so I thought that was a good one. And then to have a potential love interest at the end felt like it was just thrown in. I did enjoy the read.

A nice cosy murder mystery set in a retirement home, I loved the dynamic between amber and her grandmother. The quick remarks and subtle jokes made me laugh out loud, this is my first cozy murder mystery and won’t be my last, I loved the whole setting of the storyline as they navigated through trying to find the murderer, I throughly enjoyed this book and hope to see what’s next on ambers investigations

I really enjoyed reading this, it had that mystery element that I was looking for and enjoyed from the concept. The characters had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed going through this plot. Tamara Berry wrote this perfectly and was hooked from the first page and enjoyed the element of this.

If you are looking for an entertaining book, pick up Murder Runs in the Familyby Tamara Berry. I enjoyed this book so much!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Amber leaves her life behind for a fresh start - with her grandmother in a retirement facility. Someone turns up dead and Amber and her grandmother’s friends are suddenly on the case. I love books about old people solving mysteries so this was right up my alley!