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Murder Takes a Vacation

by Laura Lippman

A river cruise becomes a murder investigation

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Awards & Recognition

  • Bestseller

    National Bestseller

    The metadata labels this book a national bestseller.

  • Critical praise

    Praise from Tana French

    Tana French praises the book for its sharp insight, absorbing writing, warmth, and fun.

AlbakiReads Editorial

A river cruise becomes a murder investigation

Muriel Blossom boards a French river cruise after finding a lottery ticket and deciding to see more of the world. A former private investigator’s assistant, she soon faces a mystery when Allan, a man she met on the flight to Paris, is found dead there—despite not being expected in the city. Suspicions aboard the ship involve a possibly stolen artwork, Allan’s death, and Danny, a man who repeatedly appears when trouble arises. As the cruise travels down the Seine, Blossom must sort out what she knows from what others are concealing. The setup brings amateur sleuthing into a travel setting, with questions of trust and a widow’s renewed openness to romance woven into the case.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers who enjoy amateur-sleuth mysteries and international cases.
  • Readers interested in mysteries set during travel, especially a river cruise through France.
  • Readers who like a central character balancing investigation with the possibility of new romance.

Themes

Amateur investigationTravel and discoveryTrust and deceptionBereavement and renewed romance

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"Murder Takes a Vacation has all Laura Lippman's trademark razor-sharp insight and effortlessly absorbing writing, plus huge amounts of warmth and fun. Mrs. Blossom is a pure joy, and I'm already hoping for more." -Tana French

Highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Laura Lippman returns with an irresistible mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a former private investigator and middle-aged widow whose vacation on a Parisian river cruise turns into a deadly international mystery...that only she can solve.

Mrs. Blossom has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when she finds a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot, everything changes. She is determined to see the world that she sometimes feels is passing her by.

When Mrs. Blossom booked her cruise through France on the MS Solitaire, she did not expect to meet Allan on her transatlantic flight. He is the first man who's sparked something inside her since her beloved husband passed.

She also didn't expect Allan to be found, dead, twenty-four hours later in Paris, a city he wasn't supposed to be in.

Now Mrs. Blossom doesn't know who to trust on board the ship, especially when a mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He is convinced that Allan was transporting a stolen piece of art, and Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan's death.

Mrs. Blossom's questions only increase as the cruise sails down the Seine. Why does it feel like she is being followed? Who was Allan, and why was he killed? Most alarmingly, why do these mysterious men keep flirting with her?

Called "extraordinary" by Stephen King and "a brilliant novelist" by Gillian Flynn, Laura Lippman has been named one of the "essential" crime writers of the last century. Dive into her latest mystery here.

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