Newcomers will have fun, while established fans will relish the evolution of the characters and welcome Samantha’s bright new future. Change seems to be the theme in both Samantha’s “real” life and in her work-in-progress novel. NetGalley helps publishers and authors promote digital review copies to book advocates and industry professionals. A Michigan bookstore owner and budding mystery writer polishes off a novel while probing the death of a nuisance client.

Whenever the case gets tricky, she takes refuge in her writing, treating readers to a parallel mystery for Lady Clara, her amateur sleuth, to solve. Sam and Nana Jo are back in sleepy North Harbor, Michigan, where Sam is eagerly awaiting the publication of her first book. The geriatric detectives sort through local gossip while Samantha, who has a “knack for solving murder,” does the hands-on investigation. Read a sample Read a sample Description Details Reviews Bookstore owner and mystery writer Samantha Washington comes to the aid of the cop who once arrested her own grandmother. Even though Stinky has been a constant thorn in Samantha’s side for years, she, her grandma, and “the girls” from Shady Acres Retirement Village nonetheless step up to find the real killer.

Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dog Writers of America, Crime Writers of Color, International Thriller Writers, and Sisters in Crime. She currently resides in the warmer region of the country with her two poodles, Kenzie and Chloe. Bradley “Stinky” Pitt of the North Harbor PD becomes suspect number one in the murder of mayoral candidate John Cloverton, who had accused him of police brutality. (Valerie) Burns was born and raised in the Midwestern United States.

Burns’s charming seventh Mystery Bookshop mystery (after A Tourist’s Guide to Murder) finds Samantha Washington, owner of a mystery bookshop in North Harbor, Mich., eagerly awaiting copies of her newly published debut novel, Murder at Wickfield Lodge, a historical cozy set in England.

Killer Words by V.M. Burns