The Next Deadly Chapter

By V. M. Burns

Samantha (Sam) Washington, bookstore owner and author of the historical cozy mystery Murder at Wickfield Lodge, is heckled by a man at a book talk presented on land owned by the Pontolomas in Michigan. The embarrassed leader of the tribal council of this newly recognized Native American tribe gives Sam  and several of her friends a weekend at the fancy resort and casino owned by the tribe. 

This gift is perfect as a retreat from pre-wedding chaos for Sam, her grandmother Nana Jo, and her grandmother’s friends. Well, perfect until a dead body shows up in the future mother-in-law’s suite…and then disappears. The book, of course, focuses on finding the body and the murderer.

This series uses a technique of a book within a book. When Sam is restless or searching her brain for clues, she turns to writing her historical mystery series. The brilliant thing about this stress reliever is that it usually provides Sam with insights into untapped avenues of investigation. The use of this tool gets mixed reactions from me in this particular book. I think it is very clever, but the characters in the book Sam is writing have very long names and/or two completely different names due to the alternative use of titles like “Lord” and “Lady.” This cumbersome name assignment bogged the writing down for me. The other issue is that the historical mystery is less important and therefore is assigned less space in The Next Deadly Chapter. If the interspersed passages were combined, they would be about the length of a novella, not allowing enough space for plot or character development. 

Sam’s future mother-in-law, a doctor, is intimidating at first, but loosens up during the course of the book. The change in her character is a little too sudden to be convincing. Dawson is a young man that Sam has taken under her wing. He is approached by his father who is newly released from jail. They have a troubled relationship which the author writes about very effectively, and then the whole plot thread is dropped. It seems like a missed opportunity to involve the young man in the story and delve into some social issues.

In general, the main plot and mystery were good. I didn’t figure out the perpetrator until the reveal at the end of the book. There were lots of relationship complications and twists in the story.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. #10 in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series. I have only read a few of the books in this series, but I had no problem dropping in at this point.

  2. Don’t expect to see much of Sam’s two small poodles in this volume. She goes to a resort and leaves the dogs at home.

Publication:  February 25, 2025—Kensington

Memorable Lines:

“When you read a cozy, the author won’t describe the murder in graphic detail….If you think about Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, she always just stumbled across a dead body. The important thing wasn’t the body. The important thing was the puzzle. It’s about figuring out the clues to determine whodunit.”

Leon’s battle with cancer was short, and it taught me that life is too short not to spend it doing what you love.

Baking was how Dawson reduced stress and worked through his problems. My stress reliever was writing. I sat down at my laptop and took a trip back in time to 1939 and the British countryside to relieve my own stress.