Toured to Death

December 22, 2014
This convoluted first in a new travel whodunit series from Conrad (Mr. Monk Helps Himself) introduces tour operator Amy Abel, who is in Europe to supervise the Monte Carlo to Rome Mystery Road Rally. Amy’s mother and business partner, Fanny, hired the odd Otto Ingo to create this mystery game in New York. Shortly after Otto gave Fanny the first installment (also emailed to Amy in Monte Carlo), he was shot dead in his dingy Manhattan apartment. It turns out that the reclusive Otto based his game on a real case in San Diego, and—surprise, surprise—two of the participants in the road rally were involved in the original case. The attractive Marcus Alvarez, who has joined the group as the companion to a wealthy heiress and becomes Amy’s potential love interest, could be implicated in the crime. Readers may struggle to keep track of the many backstories, but armchair travelers should enjoy the romp through France and Italy. Agent: Allison Cohen, Gersh Agency.

February 1, 2015

Most daughters don't expect to move back in with their mothers later in life, but as both Amy and Fanny have lost their men, living--and working as travel agents--together seems like an ideal solution to their singleness. As Amy heads to Monte Carlo to launch their first tour, mom Fanny deals with the business back home in New York. Their Monte Carlo to Rome Mystery Road Rally trip starts with a bang, but then the script becomes reality when it is discovered that Otto Ingo, their writer, was murdered. Amy and Fanny may be on different continents, but they are ready to give their all to discover who is messing with their first joint endeavor. Mother and daughter will have to work fast, however, as the killer might just make this excursion their last. VERDICT Smart, snappy dialog and fun, likable characters keep this series debut moving right along. Conrad served as the former coexecutive producer for the television series Monk, and his authorship of the "Monk" mysteries (Mr. Monk Helps Himself) translates flawlessly to this cozy launch. [This title was first released in 2012 as Rally 'Round the Corpse by Seven Realms Publishing.--Ed.]

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 1, 2015
Amy and her mother, Fanny, launch a business in which Amy leads tours with a mystery theme: all those on the tour attempt to solve a fictional murder while traveling to exotic locales. A writer is hired to create the mystery and deliver clues that Amy can supply the tourist-sleuths as they gallivant about Italy. All fine, except that, as Amy is just beginning to greet her guests at the first location, she learns that the writer was murdered in his apartmentbefore telling Amy and Fanny whodunit. As the tour continues, it becomes clear that the story is based on a real-life unsolved crime and that some of the guests were involved in the incident. On the final night of the tour, a guest is poisoned, and another guest, Marcus, is held in Italy for the crime. Amy believes Marcus is innocent and works with several of the other guests to investigate a new crime. Fast paced with an appealing international flair, this story will likely cross gender and genre lines, appealing to both men and women as well as to readers of more than just cozies. Characters with plenty of flaws offer enough red herrings to keep the ending a surprise, even for seasoned mystery fans. A delightful new series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)