Murder Takes a Vacation

A TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF 2025 A CRIME READS BEST BOOK OF 2025 'A top-notch holiday read.' GUARDIAN 'Effortlessly absorbing.' TANA FRENCH 'A page-turner.' KATE ATKINSON 'Playful and witty and completely absorbing.' ANN CLEEVES 'The master.' GILLIAN FLYNN Meet Mrs Blossom. . . A widow who has never left the US A grandmother with a knack for blending in A lottery winner with an unexpected fortune Determined to finally see the world, she's starting with a cruise along the Seine. Just twenty-four hours into Mrs Blossom's trip, however, a man is dead, a precious artefact is missing, and a mysterious stranger is claiming her life is in danger. Surrounded by luxury food, quaint towns and people with staggeringly high net worths, she has no idea who she can trust. But maybe blending into the background has its perks - whoever is responsible will never see this most unlikely of detectives coming. Readers loved Murder Takes a Vacation : 'Mrs. Blossom is a delight!' 'Charming, fun, a little sassy, and always observant. What a lovely treasure of a read.' 'Every single person I know needs to read this book immediately. . . Imagine The Maltese Falcon starring Miss Marple and Tom Ripley.' 'A fun mystery, Laura really shares some poignant observations about age, body image and just feeling invisible as a woman. Definitely recommend!'

A TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF 2025 A CRIME READS BEST BOOK OF 2025 'A top-notch holiday read.' GUARDIAN 'Effortlessly absorbing.' TANA FRENCH 'A page-turner.' KATE ATKINSON 'Playful and witty and completely absorbing.' ANN CLEEVES 'The master.' GILLIAN FLYNN Meet Mrs Blossom. . . A widow who has never left the US A grandmother with a knack for blending in A lottery winner with an unexpected fortune Determined to finally see the world, she's starting with a cruise along the Seine. Just twenty-four hours into Mrs Blossom's trip, however, a man is dead, a precious artefact is missing, and a mysterious stranger is claiming her life is in danger. Surrounded by luxury food, quaint towns and people with staggeringly high net worths, she has no idea who she can trust. But maybe blending into the background has its perks - whoever is responsible will never see this most unlikely of detectives coming. Readers loved Murder Takes a Vacation : 'Mrs. Blossom is a delight!' 'Charming, fun, a little sassy, and always observant. What a lovely treasure of a read.' 'Every single person I know needs to read this book immediately. . . Imagine The Maltese Falcon starring Miss Marple and Tom Ripley.' 'A fun mystery, Laura really shares some poignant observations about age, body image and just feeling invisible as a woman. Definitely recommend!'

Highly acclaimed New York Times bestseller 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 is not the kind of woman to play the lottery. She is practical, a devoted grandmother, and has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when Mrs. Blossom finds a winning ticket in a parking lot, everything changes...including Mrs. Blossom. She is determined to see the world that sometimes feels as if it's passing her by. But 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 new, mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He claims that Allan was involved in the transport of a stolen, precious piece of art, and he's convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan's murder. 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? What follows is a charming one-of-a-kind mystery from one of Time magazine's "essential crime writers of the last 100 years." The perfect combination of cozy and thrilling, this novel and the delightful Mrs. Blossom are sure to be unforgettable.

Highly acclaimed New York Times bestseller 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 is not the kind of woman to play the lottery. She is practical, a devoted grandmother, and has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. But when Mrs. Blossom finds a winning ticket in a parking lot, everything changes...including Mrs. Blossom. She is determined to see the world that sometimes feels as if it's passing her by. But 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 new, mystifying man, Danny, keeps popping up around every corner, always present when things go awry. He claims that Allan was involved in the transport of a stolen, precious piece of art, and he's convinced that Mrs. Blossom knows more than she lets on, regarding both the artifact and Allan's murder. 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? What follows is a charming one-of-a-kind mystery from one of Time magazine's "essential crime writers of the last 100 years." The perfect combination of cozy and thrilling, this novel and the delightful Mrs. Blossom are sure to be unforgettable.