Laura Lippmann has done better. I didn’t like the characters or the situations. Mrs. Blossom should have and could have been smarter.

I really enjoyed thriller author Laura Lippman's cozy mystery debut and that she deliberately chose to write about Mrs Blossom, a fat older widow who was comfortable with her size and age and unapologetic about it to boot!

When Mrs Blossom decides to go on a European boat cruise vacation with her friend, she never expected to get caught up in romantic affairs, a stolen art heist and a murder mystery too!! The setting of this book was really fun, the characters were memorable and likable and the crime had me guessing til the end.

Great on audio and highly recommended for fans of cozy mysteries featuring older female amateur sleuths like Detective Aunty or A murder for Miss Hortense. I hope we get more featuring Mrs Blossom soon! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was my first Laura Lippman book, and unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. The pacing was slow, and I found it easy to put down. The main character’s constant self-deprecating remarks and flashes of jealousy felt repetitive and made it hard to stay engaged.

I did, however, appreciate Kimberly Farr’s narration. Her performance added warmth and nuance to a story that otherwise fell flat. Overall, this was a fine read and I will definitely recommend it to people looking for a cozy mystery or some vacation fiction to bring to the beach.

Thank you to Laura Lippman, Kimberly Farr, HarperAudio, and NetGalley for sending me the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Audio for the ALC.

This was cute, entertaining, lighthearted mystery. As much as one can be with murder involved. This was my first Laura Lippman so I didn't know until the author's note that this was a character from another series. The one thing that I found a bit annoying was how she was always talking about her weight, to everybody, even strangers. As a fat person myself I found it a bit too much. The narrator did an amazing job with the story. I found it very easy to listen to.

Murder Takes a Vacation is a clever and witty mystery featuring Muriel Blossom, a 68-year-old widow who was an investigator working for Tess Monahan in some of Lippman’s previous books. While listed as a cozy this is not what I typically think of as a cozy. It is a beautifully written story of international intrigue, with an interesting cast of characters and a look at the art world and artist Joan Mitchell.

Title: Murder Takes a Vacation
Author: Laura Lippman
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Kimberly Farr
Publisher: HarperAudio Adult/Harper Audio – William Marrow Publishing
Pub Date: June 17, 2025
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pages: 272


Muriel Blossom is a middle-aged widow and Grandmother who is practical and not the type to take chances. When she finds a lottery ticket in a parking she never would have guessed it would be a winning ticket!

Now with her winnings she decides to take her first international trip and go to Paris for a Parisian River cruise.
During her flight, she meets Allan. Allan is friendly and is willing to help Muriel through her first transatlantic flight. Muriel is flattered with the attention and has felt like this since her husband passed.

When they depart they agree to meet when they are both back in the states,

However while in Paris Muriel get news from the police that Allan was found dead in his hotel room. Now another man, Danny, seems to be following Muriel around Paris and believes that Muriel may have information on Allan's dealing with a rare but valuable artifact.
I thought this was going to be such fun. When I read the blurb I thought it was going to be similar to Mary Higgins Clark’s “The Lottery Winner” and the 'The Alvirah & Willy' series. They were such a fun couple. Muriel Blossom is a sixty eight lottery winner so started off somewhat similar. However, this was more a character based story and the adventure was on the slow side.

This is my Ninth Laura Lippman, I haven’t read any in several years as her stories have been hit or miss for me ~ some I loved and others ~ not so much.
I so enjoyed her ‘Author’s Notes’. Ms .Lippman tells us that she knows she has a great imagination but she thought it would be best to see Paris in person= for research purposes!. She went twice and even went on a river boat cruise. Muriel was in an earlier story and Ms. Lippman was criticized for not being understanding to ‘heavy set people’ so decided to give Muriel a starring role.
After reading her comments I like this story so much more!

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio Adult/Harper Audio and William Marrow Publishing for this audiobook..
Publishing Release Date Scheduled for June 17, 2025.

I was really disappointed in this. I didn't understand the Mrs. Blossom character - the old fashion use of her married name, too dumb to not be suspicisous of the "kindly" man who directed all her movements,.. She was old, fat, frumpy and easily confused but she is also supposed to be smart?? Few too many mentions of her weight as well!