I always love when an author who writes a popular series dedicates a novel to one of the “lesser” characters and allows them to take the lead. That is indeed the case with Laura Lippman’s MURDER TAKES A VACATION, which features as its protagonist the 68-year-old and highly weight-conscious Muriel Blossom.

Fans of Lippman’s terrific Tess Monaghan series will recall Mrs. Blossom, who made her first appearance back in 2008 in ANOTHER THING TO FALL. No longer assisting Tess, she is a recent lottery winner enjoying her newfound riches with a fancy trip to Paris. The first page of the novel bears the itinerary for this exciting excursion, which begins with a plane ride from Baltimore to the UK before venturing to France for a cruise upon the MS Solitaire.

"The brief appearances by Tess Monaghan are a great reminder of her finest literary creation, and we are very fortunate to be traveling with Tess’ old friend and former employee."

Mrs. Blossom often thinks fondly of her late husband, Harold, especially his belief that most people are inherently decent. This allows her to open up to her first-class seat mate on her flight to Heathrow Airport. Allan Turner is ready to share travel tips with her. The first one is that she should catch some sleep on the plane to make the physical time change adjustment easier once they arrive in the UK. He assists her by offering her a loaded gummy bear.

The gummy is stronger than expected and, coupled with a flight delay, causes Mrs. Blossom to miss her connection at Heathrow. Feeling guilty, Allan insists on treating her to dinner before seeing her off for the underground tunnel ride to France. As her European tour begins, Mrs. Blossom phones Tess, who warns her to watch out for gigolos and to read Henry James, being an attractive older woman who is quite wealthy.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Blossom does not take these words to heart. It begins when she is approached by a young Indian gentleman, Danny, who sits with her to dine on their first day of the Paris tour. She had remembered him from the train ride over from the UK and is only relieved about his intentions when he identifies himself as a hairdresser. He makes some style suggestions for her, some of which she follows.

Mrs. Blossom's world is somewhat rocked when she learns that Allan was killed after falling from his hotel balcony in Paris. He had told her that his business was in London, and the matter is being treated as a potential homicide. At this point, she has her radar up as it appears that Allan was not the businessman he claimed to be, and she wonders why he followed her to Paris.

The next shock comes when Mrs. Blossom finds her hotel room tossed like someone was looking for something. She knows that Danny is somehow connected to every odd thing that has happened to her in Paris. This only intensifies when he ends up on the MS Solitaire. At least she is meeting up with her old friend, Elinor, for this leg of the trip, so she has some level of insulation against the strangers who all seem extremely interested in her. Could it be because she’s a recent lottery winner, or might it be something more sinister?

This is the point where MURDER TAKES A VACATION becomes a pure murder mystery, with each newly introduced character a potential suspect. I will not reveal the motive here as I want readers to discover it for themselves. Trust me, it’s a remarkably interesting one. Suspicious and highly questionable occurrences continue during the cruise, and Mrs. Blossom finds herself caught in the middle of an extremely deadly situation where she could end up being the next victim.

Lippman keeps the plot moving with additional clues and interactions that will please all mystery lovers. The brief appearances by Tess Monaghan are a great reminder of her finest literary creation, and we are very fortunate to be traveling with Tess’ old friend and former employee.