Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
As we swelter in Nashville, a river cruise in France sounds delicious! Unless you are the traveler who discovers the body!
Mrs. Blossom, a widow from Baltimore, thinks her luck is changing when she finds a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot. With her newfound wealth, she books a first-class trip to France!
The trip is off to an auspicious start when she meets an attractive man on the transatlantic flight. Upon arrival in London, her friendly seatmate, Allan, insists on accompanying her into the city for sightseeing and dinner. Future dinners stateside are mentioned; Mrs. Blossom dares to dream a little. The next day on the train to Paris, Mrs. Blossom meets another handsome man, Danny, who is also extremely interested in her.
Then Allan turns up dead, and Danny just keeps turning up.
Danny is convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows something about Allan and a stolen antique statue. Now Mrs. Blossom is suspicious, but of who exactly–dead Allan (for sure!), dodgy Danny, several other mysterious passengers on the cruise? And she is sure someone is following her.
A silly but fun read.
Author Laura Lippman is best-known for her mystery series featuring Tess Monaghan, a private investigator in Baltimore. In those novels, Mrs. Blossom had a small role as Tess’s assistant.