Amateur sleuth Samantha Washington’s shopping trip to Chicago takes a deadly detour when a man is murdered on her bus . . .
After some post-Christmas retail therapy in the Windy City, mystery bookshop owner and historical whodunit novelist Sam Washington is returning home to North Harbor, Michigan, on a chartered bus. With Nana Jo and her gal pals Irma, Dorothy, and Ruby Mae from Shady Acres Retirement Village along for the ride, it's a lively trip. But one passenger is not so lively—a gentleman Irma befriended is found dead in his seat after an unscheduled stop. The ladies immediately shift gears to find out who punched his ticket, while Sam slips into the driver's seat to make sure Nana Jo and her crew steer clear of fatal conclusions . . .[summary via Amazon]
Sam Washington and her Senior Sleuths are back for their fifth adventure in Bookmarked for Murder. What starts out as a post-Christmas shopping trip soon turns deadly when one of the Senior Sleuth's seat mates turns up dead. Nana Jo, ever the inquisitive one, is determined to solve the crime and find the killer, and ropes Sam and her friends in on the case!
Ever since I read The Plot is Murder, I've been absolutely hooked on this series. Each book is a mystery within a mystery, as V.M. Burns combines two stories together. Sam is writing a historical mystery, while she's trying to solve the modern day mystery, and I simply love how to the two mysteries intertwine together.
From the first chapter, I was completely hooked. Nana Jo is an absolute riot and she's the main reason I often reference this series as "Golden Girls meets Murder She Wrote". Her zest for life leaps off the pages, and I'm sure she's the reason that Sam has such an interesting life! Together with her friends from Shady Acres Retirement Village, they provide some of these best, most outrageous scenarios you will find in a cozy mystery!
The mystery itself was very fascinating, as it involves the death of an investigative reporter. There is no shortage of suspects, especially as his new book is supposed to be the great expose of them all! Sam and her friends definitely have their work cut out for them, trying to find the killer before they strike again!
I really enjoy the pace of this series. The mystery is always a heart-stopping pace, and I'm always eager to try to pick up the clues before Sam and Nana Jo. However, it's the pace of Sam's own personal story I enjoy the most. After the death of her husband Leon, Sam opened her mystery bookshop, and she is now starting to date and find love again. I love that the romance aspect doesn't feel rushed at all. For anyone that enjoys a thrilling mystery, with a dash of sweet romance, will definitely appreciate this series!
Bookmarked for Murder is another great instalment in the Mystery Bookshop mysteries. Fans of this series are going to want to add this one to their fall reading, so they can laugh at the Senior Sleuths antics (especially Irma in her "hooker heels" while she tries to nab every senior in her vicinity) and be thrilled by another mystery to solve. Haven't read the series yet? Start right here. V.M. Burns gives enough information that you won't feel lost, but I guarantee you're going to want to go back and read the earlier mysteries. This is one series that you don't want to miss a single book!
