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.

Amazon Review

By Susan E:

V.M. Burns could write a grocery list and I would enjoy reading it. No matter which series – The Dog Club series or the Mystery Bookshop – her books are great escapes for this reader. Bookmarked for Murder brings a fun, updated version of the classic locked-room murder.

What a great twist.

Samantha, Nana Jo and the lively ladies from the Shady Acres Retirement Village are returning from Chicago after enjoying some after Christmas shopping.

Traveling along the wintery highway on their chartered bus, on the way home to North Harbor, Michigan, they have to pull over at a rest stop to answer the call of nature.

When they get back on the bus, a killer has struck. Now they have a corpse as a fellow traveler.

What to do?

Given that Sam and Nana Jo and the ladies are on the scene, of course, it follows that they will also be on the case.

The extras that really make this series stand out are the chapters of Sam’s work in progress that we get to enjoy – two mysteries in one and her two sweet poodles. I have a soft spot for poodles and they are major characters in both series.

I’ll say no more because I don’t want to give anything away but believe it when I say this series should be on every cozy mystery reader’s TBR list.

Amazon Review

By F. Yoder

Samantha (Sam) Washington, NanaJo and gal pals from Shady Acres Retirement Village have just spent an exciting four days of shopping Christmas shopping in Chicago.

As they are loading luggage on their bus, Sam notices that Irma, being Irma, has met a gentleman, Max, who seems to join the group for their trip home. They soon learn that Max is a celebrated author whose next book will reveal more information on assignation Robert Kennedy.

On the trip back, a traffic accident has them stopped for an hour or two and many of the people on the bus are clamoring for a rest area stop. Finally, they convince the driver to stop at the next area.

When they return to the bus, they find Max, who had stayed on the bus, in his seat dead. After their interrogation by the local police, they can complete their trip.

The next day, with a little cajoling from Nana Jo, Sam agrees to help Nana Jo and her posse in learning who the killer was. They soon find that there are many suspects to consider, including a couple of residents of Shady Acres.

I love this series. The stories are all well-plotted and written. The series has a wonderful cast of believable characters. Nana Jo and her posse of gal pals are truly enjoyable and provide a little humor to the story.

Sam is an aspiring author, and she finds that working on her manuscript helps her to solve the mystery they work on. The manuscript is set in the 1930s in the countryside of England providing the reader a story within a story.

Please click HERE to find Bookmarked for Murder on Amazon.