#MidweekMystery: Wed, Read, and Dead by V. M. Burns

Bookstore owner Samantha Washington sells and solves mysteries in North Harbor, Michigan—including the murder of her mother’s wedding planner . . .

Sam’s mother can’t wait to wed her wealthy beau, Harold Robertson. The big mystery is how they’re going to pull off a lavish wedding in three weeks. Harold’s snobby sister-in-law proposes a solution: engage flamboyant wedding planner Lydia Lighthouse. But their beacon of hope quickly sends everyone into a blind rage, most of all the groom-to-be. So when the maddening micromanager is strangled with her own scarf, it’s a shock, but not a surprise.
It’s a case of art imitating life as Sam pens her next historical mystery set in England between the wars. Lady Daphne Marsh insists on marrying Lord James Browning on Christmas Eve, three weeks hence. But when the fop planning their wedding ends up with a knife in his back, she vows to nab the backstabber before she walks down the aisle.
Meanwhile, when she’s not writing, Sam and her beloved and boisterous Nana Jo rush to shine a light on Lydia’s killer—so her mother’s new husband won’t spend his honeymoon behind bars . . .
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About the Author

V.M. Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest, she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her poodles. Her debut novel, The Plot is Murder was nominated for a 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com

Author Links:

Website: http://www.vmburns.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: @vmburns
Purchase Links:

AmazonBarnes & NobleIndieBound: – Books-A-MillionHudson Booksellers

#AlohaFriday: Hilo, Hawaii has more bookstores than Paris.

Hilo, Hawaii has more bookstores than New York City, Paris, Melbourne, Amsterdam, and London.
Relatively speaking, of course.

"When it's 9am in Los Angeles, it's 1952 in Hilo."
Hilo, Hawaii. Only the cars have changed.

It’s true: Hilo, Hawaii has 43,263 people and five bookstores: Big Island BookBuyers, Still Life Books, Hilo Bay Books, Basically Books, and the University Bookstore. Throw in Enjoy Comics, and you have six.  That’s over 13 bookstores per 100,000 people.
Quartz has a list of cities with the most bookstores per 100,000 people. Looks like Hilo’s about even with Toronto–and ahead of New York and Paris.

Next time you find yourself in Hilo, take a bookstore tour and get acquainted with “The Toronto of the Pacific.”*
* Nobody calls it that.
Featured image: ‘Hilo Bay’ by Helen Thomas Dranga, c. 1920.

The latest Mystery Bookshop mystery: The Novel Art of Murder by V. M. Burns

Mystery bookstore owner Samantha Washington is trying to keep her grandmother from spending her golden years in an orange jumpsuit . . .


The Novel Art of Murder (Mystery Bookshop)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Kensington (November 27, 2018)
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 1496711858
ISBN-13: 978-1496711854
Digital ASIN: B07B7B4C8Q

 
The small town of North Harbor, Michigan, is just not big enough for the two of them: flamboyant phony Maria Romanov and feisty Nana Jo. The insufferable Maria claims she’s descended from Russian royalty and even had a fling with King Edward VIII back in the day. She’s not just a lousy liar, she’s a bad actress, so when she nabs the lead in the Shady Acres Senior Follies—a part Nana Jo plays every year in their retirement village production—Nana Jo blows a gasket and reads her the riot act in front of everyone.
Of course, when Maria is silenced with a bullet to the head, Nana Jo lands the leading role on the suspects list. Sam’s been writing her newest mystery, set in England between the wars, with her intrepid heroine Lady Daphne drawn into murder and scandal in the household of Winston Churchill. But now she has to prove that Nana Jo’s been framed. With help from her grandmother’s posse of rambunctious retirees, Sam shines a spotlight on Maria’s secrets, hoping to draw the real killer out of the shadows.
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About the Author

V.M. Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest, she went in search of milder winters and currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her poodles. Her debut novel, The Plot is Murder was nominated for a 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Valerie is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and a lifetime member of Sisters in Crime. Readers can learn more by visiting her website at vmburns.com

Author Links:

Website: http://www.vmburns.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vmburnsbooks/
Twitter: @vmburns
Purchase Links:

AmazonBarnes & NobleIndieBound: – Books-A-MillionHudson Booksellers