V.M. Burns has her sixth installment out in the Mystery Bookshop series. Her characters go on a mystery tour in London, England. I want to go! Don’t you? Seeing as the only travel we’re doing is from our reading chairs, let’s check out A Tourist’s Guide to Murder. Be sure to scroll down for the giveaway!

About A Tourist’s Guide to Murder

A Tourist’s Guide to Murder (Mystery Bookshop)
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Publisher: Kensington (January 26, 2021)

While visiting the land of Miss Marple and Sherlock Holmes, bookstore owner and amateur sleuth Samantha Washington finds herself on a tragical mystery tour . . .

Sam joins Nana Jo and her Shady Acres Retirement Village friends Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae on a weeklong trip to London, England, to experience the Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour. The chance to see the sights and walk the streets that inspired Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle is a dream come true for Sam—and a perfect way to celebrate her new publishing contract as a mystery author.

But between visits to Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel district and 221B Baker Street, Major Horace Peabody is found dead, supposedly of natural causes. Despite his employer’s unfortunate demise, the tour guide insists on keeping calm and carrying on—until another tourist on their trip also dies under mysterious circumstances. Now it’s up to Sam and the Shady Acres ladies to mix and mingle among their fellow mystery lovers, find a motive, and turn up a murderer . . .

You can find A Tourist’s Guide to Murder at these retailers:

Apple – Amazon – Google – Kobo – Nook – BAM – Bookshop.org – Hudson Booksellers – IndieBound – Target

And now we spend a little time with Samantha Washington, a character from the Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series…

Welcome to the blog, Samantha! Please tell us about your latest adventure.

My grandmother, Nana Jo and the girls from the retirement village accompany me on Peabody Mystery Lovers Tour of England to research my next British historic cozy. When Major Peabody dies of apparently natural causes, we carry on. When a second tour member is murdered it becomes apparent that there’s nothing natural about either death. Suspicion falls on the members of the tour group and it’s up to us to find the real killer.

Do you have any friends/sidekicks helping you out?

My grandmother, Josephine Thomas (Nana Jo) and her friends from Shady Acres Retirement Village have helped me solve several mysteries. Nana Jo is a crack shot and she and Dorothy, are both aikido experts. Ruby Mae has a vast extended family network. She has the type of face that people trust and people tell her things. Irma is a major flirt and always manages to get men to tell her their secrets. I wouldn’t be able to get the information I need without Nana Jo and the girls.

Do you have any special skills to fight crime?

My biggest skill is solving puzzles. As the owner of a mystery bookshop and an avid mystery reader, I’ve read a lot of whodunits in my time. Hours spent immersed in mysteries has helped me to sift through evidence, filter out the red herrings and put the clues together to help get to the truth.

Are you a full-time detective or do you do something else?

I am not a full-time detective. I used to be a high school English teacher, but when my husband died, I decided to follow my dream. We had always dreamed that one day, we’d quit our jobs and open a mystery bookshop. When Leon died, that’s what I did. So, I own a mystery bookshop and I also write British historic cozy mysteries in my spare time.

What are you most frightened of in this story?

Normally, when I’ve solved mysteries, it’s been in my hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. This is the first time that I’ve had to solve a mystery in another country, and I’m worried that I won’t be able to do it without access to friends and family members we’ve tapped in the past for information. Will solving a mystery in the U.K. be the same?

Is there anything funny that happens to you or another character in this story?

I certainly didn’t think it was funny at the time, but just getting onboard our plane was fraught with problems, from missing our shuttle to losing my passport. We had a number of embarrassing and humorous incidents. And, for the record, TSA doesn’t have a sense of humor.

If I were to choose an actor or actress to play your part in a movie, who would that be? Do you see any other characters in your story as actors or actresses that our readers might know?

Personally, I’d love to see Halle Berry play me, but that’s just because I think she’s gorgeous. I’m actually a lot shorter and curvier than her, but then they say the camera adds fifteen pounds, right?

Do you have other mysteries you would like to tell us about? Is this the first book in the series, or have you cracked a few other cases?

A Tourist’s Guide to Murder is the sixth book in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series, so I have cracked a few cases before this one. However, this case is unique in that it happens while on vacation in England.

Do you have any final words you would like to leave with our readers?

In addition to solving mysteries, I also write British historic mysteries which are set in between the two world wars. I’ve found that writing helps my subconscious work through the clues to help figure out whodunit.

Let’s give your author a chance to speak. Anything you would like to add?

Each book in the Mystery Bookshop mystery series includes two mysteries for the reader to solve. There’s a contemporary mystery along with the British historic cozy mystery that Sam is writing.

About V.M. Burns

V.M. (Valerie) Burns was born and raised in the Midwestern United States. She currently resides in the warmer region of the country in East Tennessee with her two poodles. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. Valerie is the author of the RJ Franklin Mysteries, the Dog Club Mysteries, and the Agatha Award-nominated Mystery Bookshop Mystery series.

Author Links

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/v-m-burns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/burnsvm

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vmburnsbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/vmburns

Website: vmburns.com

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