“Murder Takes a Vacation,” by Laura Lippman, William Morrow, 272 pages, June 17, 2025.

Muriel Blossom, a former private investigator and middle-aged widow, goes on a Parisian river cruise on the MS Solitaire.

She has a knack for blending into the background, which was an asset during her days assisting private investigator Tess Monaghan. She hasn’t traveled much since her husband, Harold, died. She found a winning lottery ticket in a parking lot and decided to take the trip.

While waiting for her flight, she meets Allan, a lawyer. But 24 hours after she arrives in Paris, police tell her that Allan was found dead. Did he fall from his hotel balcony or was he pushed?

Now Muriel continues on her trip. She doesn’t know who to trust, especially when a man named Danny keeps showing up. He asks her questions about Allan and about art.

This is a cozy mystery, but the main drawback is the constant focus on Muriel’s weight and age. Muriel veers from being naive to being courageous. This relies too heavily on coincidence. The plot is easy to solve.

I rate it three out of five stars.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 269 / Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: June 17, 2025
🥳#HappyPubDay!🎉

Mrs. Blossom (whose first name is Muriel but she likes to refer herself as Mrs. Blossom) is a 68-year-old widow, who just won the lottery and is splurging on a luxurious cruise through France with her best friend. During the first half of the trip, she traveled alone for the first time in her life. She ended up meeting two very different men who turned her vacation into a murder mystery that landed Mrs. Blossom in the very center of all the chaos.

This was a delightful murder mystery. I liked seeing Mrs. Blossom grow out of her shell and prove herself as a capable woman, not some helpless old lady. And as an avid cruiser myself, I especially loved the vacation part of this story on the cruise ship.

Thank you, @LauraMLippman and @WilliamMorrowBooks for my free advanced copy.

Muriel is a older woman, not exactly a recent widow, but winning a lottery has encouraged her to begin living again. She miraculously gets upgraded to business class on her flight to a wonderful cruise in Europe. She gets befriended by an interesting and kind man. But I was suspicious of him because he was too solicitous and somehow changed Muriel's travel agenda. Hmm. Why was that?

Muriel finds out that he's dead after a visit from police and she gets acquainted with another man who is eager to help her. Exactly what's happening here, who is authentic, what are their intentions?

This is a not-too-deep mystery story, but not exactly a cozy. It's a fairly quick, light read.

In MURDER TAKES A VACATION, written by Laura Lippman, Mrs. Muriel Blossom gets bumped up to business class on her airline travel to London. She is planning to end up in Paris and cruise up the Seine. She meets a man, a businessman named Allan Turner, who insists on helping her. Why is Allan so attentive to Mrs. Blossom? Do the two of them have a romantic future? I read on.

I am immediately interested in the characters and care about what might happen to them. The plot keeps me riveted to the story and is quite exciting during the second part of Mrs. Blossom’s trip. I like this book and look forward to reading other books written by Laura Lippman. Thank you, William Morrow and NetGalley, for the chance to read and review an advance reader copy of MURDER TAKES A VACATION.

Love Laura Lippman but murder takes a vacation isn’t one of my favorites. Focusing on miss blossom was an understandable choice-but this doesn’t play to lippmans strengths. Lippman excels at gritty and noir style writing. This one borders more on a cozy style, which I found somewhat boring. While the plot isn’t as strong here as I’m used to from lippman, the other strengths in her writing-vividly drawn characters and witty dialogue are still on display and do elevate the plot. This is sure to please Lippmans legion of other fans and readers of softer mysteries, this just wasn’t for me!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved following this mystery and Mrs Blossom's next steps after the murder. Overall it was a compelling and exciting read.

Award winning mystery author Laura Lippman revisits a character from her Tess Monaghan books. Mrs. Muriel Blossom was a side character but now the widow who excels at surveillance wants to be the main character in her life. After finding a winning lottery ticket she has the funds to take a vacation of a lifetime with her childhood friend Elinor.

But like a classic Hollywood movie things don’t go quite as planned. As Muriel is checking in for her flight she is bumped up to first class and helped by the man behind her in line. A kind and handsome gentleman named Allan who is a lawyer on a business trip, helps Mrs. Blossom find the first class lounge and make her flight. Once on the plane Allan give her a melatonin gummie so she can sleep on the plane. However Muriel oversleeps and misses her connecting flight to Paris. Allan the perfect gentleman feels bad and takes Mrs. Blossom on a lovely day out in London and pays for her hotel room. It seems weird that he has two phones but he explains one is for the US and the other is on his European plan. Allan sees Muriel off on a train to Paris.

Arriving in Paris Muriel decides to keep the dinner reservations Allan suggested that is close to her hotel. At the restaurant she sees a man who was on the train with her and strikes up a conversation with him. Danny Johnson seems like a nice young man who offers Muriel fashion advice since he is a stylist. He walks her back to the hotel where the police are waiting for her. The officers tell Muriel that Allan followed her to Paris, was staying at a different hotel. Allan fell from the balcony of his room and is dead. One of the last texts he received was from Muriel and they have questions for her. Muriel has no idea what is going on.

Over the next few days weird things keep happening. Thankfully it is almost time to meet her fiend Elinor and begin their river cruise. After all what could happen on a small private cruise. A murder mystery that reminds me of the great Christie novel Death on the Nile but with a feisty senior citizen that isn’t as naive as everyone thinks.

I hope this one becomes a series.

"Meet Mrs Blossom. . .
A widower 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."

Adorable!! I have always loved Miss Marple in Murder She Wrote and I do believe Muriel Blossum could have teamed up to solve some murder mysteries with her. In fact, even her tone was a constant reminder of Miss Marple. She could be snarky, but charming with some sass...I loved it and highly recommend it if you love an older character with some wit to read it. She is 68 years old and has been a widow for the last ten years. She is a little self conscious about her weight, considered plump...a constant reminder throughout the book that she is not petite. Muriel Blossom could be found as a minor character and assistant to detective Tess Monaghan, in Lippman’s crime novels. She is excellent at surveillance because of an uncanny ability to blend into the background. Her life has always been close to home, so when she wins the lottery after finding a ticket in the parking lot, her life abroad is about to change.
There are some positives and negatives about her trip to Paris.
Positives: Enjoy the luxurious food, see the sights of some quaint little towns, rub shoulders with some high society folks and meet a few friends, as well as a dashing stranger, Allan Turner and spends a romantic evening with him.
Within 24 hours of her trip...
Negatives: Receives news Allan was found dead in his hotel room, she is questioned, an artifact is missing, and a stranger says her life is in danger. Without anyone to trust and the friends she made all become suspects, she must piece the info together.
This is excellent and when I finished I was thinking maybe a four star, but as I began to write the review, it had time to sink in and decided I really love this book and the character! She is a hoot!!
Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for this delightful ARC in exchange for my review!

Murder She Wrote meets Miss Marple with a modern twist—and a cruise ship setting! I was excited for this cozy mystery concept, but unfortunately, Murder Takes a Vacation fell a bit flat for me.

Muriel, a retired PI and the novel’s middle-aged heroine, had potential as a strong, sharp lead. However, nearly every new interaction fixated on her age or body size, which became overwhelmingly repetitive. While I appreciate plus-size representation, this portrayal felt reductive—Muriel’s identity seemed to revolve almost entirely around her weight, and it was hard to connect with her character beyond that. The frequent commentary (both internal and external) on her body disrupted the flow of the story and pulled focus from the mystery itself.

Laura Lippman’s attention to weight and appearance isn’t new—fans of her Tess Monaghan series will recognize this—but here, it bordered on fixation. It was also a bit jarring to see Tess reappear and act as though she’s still in her thirties, when by the math, she’s well into her sixties.

That said, the cruise ship setting was delightful, and I enjoyed the plot thread involving a stolen artifact and Muriel's investigation into who she could trust amid the strange events on board. While the mystery itself was a bit convoluted and the ending predictable, it still made for a light, escapist read.

Bravo, Mrs. Blossom! What a fun cozy mystery, with a picture perfect setting on a riverboat cruise in France and a lively cast of characters, this is perfect if you love Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express or her Caribbean Mystery. Or any of the Agatha Raisin novels. Laura Lippman elevates Muriel Blossom from the side character she was in her Tess Monaghan series and gives the mature widow a juicy mystery of her own. I highly recommend Murder Takes a Vacation!

Thank you to NetGalley and William and Morrow for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

There was a day when I couldn't wait for the next Tess Monaghan mystery to come out. I loved those books. I read some of the other Laura Lippman books but they never grabbed my attention like the Monaghan books did. I requested this book on #netgalley to take another chance. On this trip Mrs. Blossom an older widow has won the lottery, literally. She found a lose ticket blowing in the wind. Over $8,000,000! So Mrs. Blossom has moved to her old hometown Baltimore and has decided to take some adventures. Her childhood friend will join her on a river cruise in France. But meanwhile Mrs. Blossom begins her trip flying to London. Before boarding time she is friended by Allan who seems committed to making her flight easier than she imagined. As they land in London late, Allan once again takes over booking her into a hotel and rescheduling the next leg of the trip. In the meantime, Mrs. Blossom is beginning to feel a little romantic interest. When Mrs. Blossom as she calls herself arrives in Paris she encounters Danny. How many helpful men will she find in her life? Believe it or not Mrs. Blossom finds herself entangled in a international art mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it. I'm hoping there may be more Mrs. Blossom in my future.

Murder Takes A Vacation by Laura Lipman, due to a lucky fine Muriel blossom is treating herself and her best friend to a cruise down the Seine in France she arrives a week earlier. On the flight she meets Alan, a handsome age-appropriate man who not since the death of Mr. blossom as she felt such an attraction to he even convinced her to stay in England an extra day to spend time with him when the plane arrives late, which she does. while heading to France she can’t stop thinking about their kiss but she also can’t help but to notice she sees a familiar face one that seems to continuously pop up since her trip started. She’ll soon learn that John has been murdered and he sent a picture of her with where she was staying to someone else and all this before the cruise even starts and her friend Eleanor arrives. all Miss Blossom wanted was a quiet vacation with Eleanor but that will be the last thing she gets. A stolen statue a money grubber and a young investigator will keep her on her toes. there was a lot I really liked about this story and a few things that irritated me but the irritation was minor as opposed to the overall book. First off I thought it was odd that she would take drugs from a relative stranger while in a strange country and although I get the relation to the story I just thought that was an odd thing for an older woman to do. I am much younger than Miss Blossom and would never take a pill that someone I just met gave me but I digress reading these stories really makes me want to read the test Monaghan stories I love stories about older protagonist and I really found Muriel to be a good one and so worth rooting for. I also want to say that I’ve read reviews where they mention she was a PI but she never said that she was a private investigator she said she was the secretary of a PI so I didn’t get why everybody kept framing it so different in their reviews but either way this is a great book and one I definitely recommend.#NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #LauraLipman, #MurderTakesAVacation,

What delightful book! Mrs. Blossom has literally won the lottery (a found ticket) and when her daughter husband has announced they are moving to Tokyo with their two children and there is no room for her, she decides to spend some of her money on a trip with her best friend. Things are not dull and a mystery arises, not to mention murders and attempted murders. I really liked the character of Mrs. Blossom and I especially liked that she was a "big woman".

Laura Lippman goes cozy? I'm a dedicated reader of Lippman's psychological suspense novels, but I'm willing to try anything she writes. Unfortunately, this lightweight mystery didn't engage my interest. The main character, revived from the Tess Monaghan P.I. series, is a little tiresome with her constant worries about her weight and her tendency to trust strangers too easily. Cozy readers might love it, but I will eagerly await the next dark and serious Lippman suspense tale.

She just wanted to treat herself to a nice vacation...

Muriel Blossom is a widow in her sixties whose life is undergoing some pretty big changes. Born and raised in Baltimore, she had moved to Arizona to live near her married daughter and grandchildren, but her son-in-law has just announced that they are moving to Tokyo (and incidentally that there won't be room for Mrs. Blossom there). She also recently came into a large sum of money by finding a lottery ticket in a parking lot, and is getting used to the fact that she doesn't have to watch her pennies as much as she once did. She has decided to splurge on a trip overseas, her first time out of the country, flying to Paris and taking a cruise down the Seine with her longtime friend Elinor who will meet her in Paris. Mrs. Blossom's trip gets off to an interesting start when she gets bumped up to business class and is taken under the wing of a charming fellow passenger named Allan with whom she hits it off. A missed connection has her overnighting in London, where she spends the day with Allan and starts thinking that maybe she's not too old for a little romance after all. She heads to Paris, leaving Allan behind to attend to the work that brought him to London, and things start unravelling. Allan is dead, probably not by accident, there in Paris even though he was supposedly staying in London; she is being followed by Danny who claims to be a stylist (and does give great fashion advice) but is somehow involved in an art theft investigation; and Elinor (still as boy crazy now as she was when they were younger, and is on the hunt for husband #3) is spending more time with a handsome man on their ship than she is with Mrs. Blossom. For all that she seems to be an innocent abroad, there are layers to Mrs. Blossom that aren't immediately apparent...she was once an assistant to (and skilled surveillance operative for) Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan, and she is not going to stand by and let her vacation be ruined, even if she has to solve the mystery of what's going on herself.
What a hoot! As a reader of author Laura Lippman's more gritty Tess Monaghan series I was expecting a story more along those lines, but was delighted to find instead a Miss Marple-esque cozy tinged with elements of a thriller with an engaging protagonist and other quirky characters. Mrs. Blossom is a delight, a woman who is used to being overlooked by the world as an older woman whose ample weight bothers others more than it does herself, who misses her late husband and regrets a brief fling she had during the marriage. The enigmatic Danny, who whisks her to a Parisian atelier and with whom she shares snappy back-and-forth banter, could be either friend or foe. As Mrs Blossom and company visit locales that have connections to artists and historical figures along their river journey, eat delicious food and drink more than a little wine, there are possible dalliances and new friendships along with disappearances and cabin ransacking. The plot is quite clever, and I enjoyed the humor and fun characters even though I guessed fairly accurately who the bad actors were early on. Readers of Agatha Christie (of course), Richard Osman and Ann Ross as well as those who enjoy Murder She Wrote (tv show or book) will enjoy Mrs. Blossom, and fans of the Tess Monaghan series might enjoy getting to see a bit more of Mrs. Blossom in action. My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Book for allowing me access to what I hope will be the first in a series featuring the unassuming Mrs. Blossom in exchange for my honest review.

When I requested this ARC I had the author Laura Lippman confused with Elinor Lipman. What a lucky mistake because I enjoyed this cozy mystery set largely on a Seine river cruise very much indeed. I’ll definitely be trying some more of LAURA Lippman with two Ps books.

I’d say this book is similar in style to the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman (which I love) - it features an older woman who is more savvy than she at first appears. It also dips in to what it means to be older and to feel less visible, and a bit irrelevant, yet to still yearn for meaning, companionship, romance, and friendship.

The setting in France will appeal to Francophiles, and the very accurate portrayal of cruise life and cruise romances and friendships will make cruisers smile and nod in recognition. (I’ve just returned from a solo trip on a cruise and certainly LL gets that very right. Including the Gaston-puss.)

Some parts of the actual “mystery” around the stolen artifact confused me, but I’m sure mystery buffs will be much less mystified than I.

The only aspect of this book that I didn’t enjoy were the many references to the character’s weight. In the acknowledgments the author explains this was a deliberate exploration of “antifat” culture. It left me confused because certainly this character feels stigmatized about her weight but I don’t know what the author was really trying to say about this (if anything). But I found all the weight perseveration to be distracting to the story at times.

Otherwise, I smiled a lot reading this charming story with a MAIN CHARACTER who has the last SO THERE.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Muriel Blossom was finally doing it. After years of playing it safe, she was taking her first real adventure abroad. A lottery win gave her the chance to stop watching life from the sidelines and actually live it. She was nervous, sure. Who wouldn’t be? New country, new experiences, and maybe even a little harmless vacation flirting. She was not, however, expecting to walk straight into international art theft, multiple suspicious men, and her new travel companion turning up dead less than 24 hours after they met.

Look, Mrs. Blossom was not built for this level of drama. She’s 68, recently widowed, politely invisible most of her life, and she finally wins the damn lottery with a ticket she found in a parking lot. She was supposed to be living her best cozy vacation life. Instead, she meets Allan (handsome, charming, very not alive within 24 hours) and suddenly finds herself swept into a weirdly convoluted mystery involving stolen antiquities, questionable sleep aids, and people who somehow know way too much about her.

Danny shows up next, claiming to be an FBI agent, which… sure, buddy. He seems to think Muriel knows something about Allan’s little side hustle smuggling art, and instead of anyone just sitting down and having a normal conversation, we spiral into full spy movie chaos where everyone’s shady, the cruise ship is one big crime scene, and Muriel’s just trying to figure out who she can trust while also not missing her dinner reservations.

Now let’s talk about "The Thing". The book cannot shut up about Muriel’s size and age. It’s like every interaction comes with a little reminder that she’s “old and fat,” as if the reader somehow forgot since the last paragraph. Look, I am here for older, plus-size women starring in mysteries. I am not here for constant “old lady but she’s still desirable, isn’t that shocking?!” energy. Muriel deserved better — give me more of her PI skills, her wit, her actual personality. She’s smart, she’s kind, she’s been through hell, and frankly, she’s far more interesting than the story sometimes allows her to be.

The mystery itself lands somewhere between cozy and not. There’s no real danger to the reader's blood pressure, but also, it’s not particularly twisty. It’s less “who could it be?” and more “how is this still happening?” The resolution is fine, if not entirely surprising. And yes, it’s convoluted. The plot basically demands you stop asking too many questions and just let it vibe like an extended episode of "Murder, She Booked A Flight".

Still, there’s something deeply charming about watching Muriel step into the main character role. She’s navigating grief, independence, and this absolutely bonkers mystery with a kind of sweet determination that makes you want to root for her even when you’re yelling, “Muriel, stop trusting random men who show up with mysterious credentials and melatonin gummies!”

3.5 stars for cozy vacation chaos, international intrigue, and a heroine who honestly deserves a better vacation next time. Preferably one without murder, art theft, or grown men following her to every cafe.

Whodunity Award: For Surviving Men, Murder, And Mystery On The MS Red Flag

Huge thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for the ARC of "Murder Takes a Vacation".

4.5 stars
I loved this book so much! Mrs. Blossom, a widow who hasn't traveled much, decides to go on a cruise through France. She meets an attentive man on the flight from the U.S. to London who helps her navigate all the pitfalls of international travel. He stays at his destination in London and she goes on to France. She is shocked to learn that Allan was found dead in Paris, when he wasn't even supposed to be there. Mrs. Blossom's adventures continue on board the ship. Since she isn't sure who she can trust, Muriel has to learn to trust her own instincts and capabilities.

Mrs. Muriel Blossom was a side character in the author's Tess Monaghan series, and I love that Tess even makes a brief appearance in this book. However, it's not necessary to have read any of those books to enjoy this one. I don't remember a lot about Mrs. Blossom from the Tess Monaghan series, but I enjoyed getting to know her in this book.

Mrs. Blossom used to do surveillance work for Tess, where blending into the background was a benefit, Now trying to move on after her beloved husband's death, Muriel is tired of being invisible. Her age and her weight is mentioned quite often in the story, but I think it shows that Muriel is tired of being underestimated because of her age (68) and judged for being heavier than average. Muriel has to learn some things the hard way, but she proved to be a capable investigator when she finds herself in the middle of an international art theft and maybe being in the sights of a killer. The plot of the book is fun and Muriel is smart, if sometimes too trusting, and very relatable. The book has a fantastic ending, and I really hope there is a sequel to this perfect summer read.

I received an advance review copy of this ebook from William Morrow Books and NetGalley, but review is voluntary and unbiased.

Best-selling author Laura Lippman took two trips to France as research for her latest offering, Murder Takes a Vacation, available June 17. This charming standalone novel elevates Muriel Blossom, a supporting character from Lippman's acclaimed Tess Monaghan series, into a compelling protagonist whose late-in-life journey of self-discovery unfolds against the backdrop of a Parisian river cruise vacation.
At 68, widow Muriel, a former private investigator's assistant who has spent much of her life blending into the background, is able to splurge on this excursion through France thanks to the discovery of a thrown-away lottery ticket that happens to be a BIG winner. She is not expecting romance but a fellow traveler named Allan who she meets on her transatlantic flight from Baltimore does spark her interest.
She also did not suppose that same man to be found dead from a fall off a balcony in Paris 24 hours after their meeting. Muriel soon becomes emerged in a tangle of art theft, deception, and quite possibly murder.
While she expects to be questioned about Allan’s death because investigators will find her photograph on his phone, that does not happen. Instead, a man named Danny keeps appearing everywhere she goes on the ship as well as on land excursions. Danny clues Muriel in about Allan being involved in transporting stolen art, thinking she knows more about Allan and the art than she actually does.
Muriel ponders about just how she got involved in this intrigue when she only wanted to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Why did Allan insist she take his bottle of melatonin to help her sleep as she adjusts to the jet lag? Was his fall an accident or was he pushed? Can this Danny character really be who he says he is, an art crime investigator? All Muriel wants to do is have fun yet those investigative juices have been awakened in this cozy mystery.
Laura Lippman, former writer for the Baltimore Sun, is an Edgar Award-winning crime novelist. She has written more than two-dozen novels, a novella, a children’s book, and collections of short stories. She lives in Baltimore.
My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 13, 2025.
I would like to thank William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

What a delightful read! This is my first Laura Lippman book, and I look forward to getting to her other books. It was refreshing to have a main character who was "of a certain age," instead of someone in their twenties. The writing was excellent, and I really enjoyed the setting and the character development. I look forward to recommending this one to our patrons.