A review by dollycas
Murder on Tour by V.M. Burns

mysterious

5.0

Dollycas's Thoughts

Samantha Washington can add another title to her resume, published author. Yes, Murder at Wickfield Lodge has been published and she has been on a book tour to promote her first book.  The final stop is right in her hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. Sam isn't sure that she belongs on discussion panels with some very successful authors but she hopes to hold her own. Before the panels even begin Sam overhears some fierce arguments between the guest of honor, Judith Hunter, and two other authors. Sabotage . . . Plagiarism . . . Could it be true?

Later at a cocktail party, a publicist is poisoned, but was he really the target? Nana Jo and her friends from Shady Acres are more than willing to help Samantha find out. While Sam works on her next book with a plot similar to the one in real life, the ladies from Shady Acres have some ideas of their own to catch the killer. The question is can they do it without anyone else getting killed? or will there be more dead bodies at the North Harbor Book Festival?

_____

I really enjoy this series and was so pleased to see Sam's book published and that she has such a fabulous publicist, heck the woman did the work of two people. Using her writing to help figure out clues in a current mystery makes Samantha an excellent amateur sleuth. Teamed up with her Nana Jo and her friends, Ruby Mae, Irma, and Dorothy, with some assistance from her fiancee' Frank, and her sister Jenna the group is pretty unstoppable which drives Detective Bradley Pitt—aka “Stinky Pitt” pretty crazy. Dawson is pretty busy with college and football but he still finds time to bake up some delicious treats and help out at the bookstore. Twins, Christopher, and Zaq were home from college for the weekend too so they are able to help with all the extra customers in town because of the book festival and the pop-up special events that randomly happened. All the characters are fun and funny while being true to life and relatable.

Oreo and Snickers are such lovable pups and wonderful canine companions. Snickers is getting up there in age but Oreo still follows Sam wherever she goes. Losing animals is just too hard. I hope Sam can avoid that pain for a very long time.

The great thing about this series is that there are two separate mysteries to solve. The historical one always mirrors the current case in some ways. Writing calms Sam and allows her to look at things from a different perspective which helps her entangle clues in the present-day murder. Lady Elizabeth had her hands full this time but she never loses her cool. She makes keen observations and keeps to ears open. Sam does the same. I was all over the place in my theories for both mysteries. When Detective Pitt shows up to tie up "just a few loose ends" you know things are going to be tense and entertaining. And they do/are and I loved it! The same with Detective Inspector Covington and Lady Elizabeth but with a twist.

While the final chapters wrap up the mysteries, by the end of the book Sam has a revelation of her own and she is absolutely right.

This line was in Chapter 1, but it spoke to me clearly as to how I feel.

". . . don't discount the importance of escapist fiction. Books are subjective, and people read books for different reasons. Given everything that's happened in the world, many of us need to escape to maintain our sanity."

~Nana Jo

I need to put that on a sampler. It's the ideal tagline for a blog entitled Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book.

Murder on Tour
is another superb book from V.M. Burns
. Thoughtful and engaging characters with not one but two mysteries that will charm readers from beginning to end. With the weather getting chilly, you can make yourself a cup of hot chocolate, grab a this book and a snuggly blanket, head to that comfy chair, and sit back, get cozy, and escape right into Murder on Tour
.

I recommend the entire Mystery Bookshop Series
to all cozy readers.