Destination: Murder: A Travelogue of Cozy Mysteries by Abby L. Vandiver

Destination: Murder: A Travelogue of Cozy Mysteries Reviews

• 
  Jillian

  I think I got this set for free, but I wouldn't recommend paying for it (not that you can buy it anymore--more on that later). I read it to fulfill a "multiple author" requirement for a reading challenge here on GoodReads, and figured that if I also found a new author to read, then so much the better.
  
  First, here is a list of the stories (which will not match the list on GoodReads--more on this later too), a brief summary of their plots, and any thoughts I may have had about each one.
  
  A Ticket to Murder by Abby L. Vandiver (Brazil): A woman recovering from heartbreak gets a mysterious note while she is vacationing alone in Rome. She rushes to Brazil in hope of reuniting with her ex-fiance and instead finds the dead body of a stranger in the room in which she was to meet him, becoming embroiled in an international murder mystery. 3 stars.
  
  Murder in Marrakech by Kathryn Dionne (Marrakech): A chef and her sous chef are learning how to prepare Moroccan food by working at a restaurant in Marrakech for a while. Right before it's time to head home, a swimsuit model's boyfriend dies and the chef decides to stay and help the model find out who dunnit. 4 stars.
  
  Camp Pain by Wendy Meadows (Georgia): A travel writer goes to Atlanta for a gig, finds a well-dressed dead body outside her RV in a campground, befriends a local detective, and helps him solve the mystery while at the same time gathering more fodder for her article about points of interest in the area. 4 stars.
  
  The Last Stop: A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery by Sonia Parin (Australia): A woman returning to Australia after visiting her mom in Iowa has to keep her mom constantly connected on FaceTime because the mom is so worried about her, but for some reason can't be bothered to just GO WITH DAUGHTER TO VISIT instead of having this ludicrous setup that I cannot believe any grown woman would allow their mother to impose on them. Got maybe 20% in and I could not finish this one. The overbearing and nosy nature of the mother, the daughter's unwillingness to set any boundaries with her, the craziness of the daughter asking the whole town (and them agreeing) to participate in a ruse to help her mother think everything is hunky-dory so she doesn't worry (otherwise apparently her mother will make her come home even though she is a GROWN WOMAN??), and everyone pretending this visit is really in person (going so far as the mom turning down her air conditioning and putting on a sweater so she can dress appropriately and the townspeople carrying on conversations like she is actually staying in their town) was seriously painful. I think it is meant to be charming and cute, but it just did not come off that way for me. I almost finished reading it to see if there was some character growth between the mother and the daughter (maybe daughter learns to set boundaries and that by trying so hard to not hurt someone you only end up hurting them more, and maybe the mother learns to let daughter go and be more independent), but I just couldn't. I can only imagine this ridiculous plot with the mother somehow leads to the mystery being solved, but I couldn't bear to finish the story to see if that was the case, either. 1 star.
  
  Perils in Provence by Carolyn L. Dean (France): A chef with CIA training is sent to an old house in France to surreptitiously determine the value of the property and all things in it for a property development person who wants to buy and renovate it. While exploring the estate, she finds a Medieval crypt with gold coins and other treasures that has recently been disturbed, then hears a cry while walking at night when she couldn't sleep and discovers a body. This one was okay, but the body wasn't found until basically the end of the story so the solution to the mystery felt sort of rushed. Also, the author tried very hard to make this protagonist seem like a ninja badass, but it felt unnatural and awkward to me. 3 stars.
  
  Matsuri and Murder by S.J. Pajonas (Japan): This was the only series I had heard of before reading this anthology. I had planned to read this, anyway, so being able to combine it with these other authors was handy. Two friends accompany a third friend who visits her family and hometown for a festival, only for all of them to have no rest or relaxation when a promising young musician and actress is killed in the family's brewery. Best written and most engaging of all of these stories. 5 stars.
  
  A Dash Through Dubai by Angela C. Blackmoore (Dubai): Two middle-aged women head to Dubai for a cooking competition meant to engender cultural understanding and appreciation of "comfort food," but a belligerent judge dies while tasting one of the first dishes served in the contest. Overall it was fine, but two things stood out: I wasn't totally clear how the protagonist connected the killer to the killing (she just kind of had an "epiphany" of some sort but never really explained HOW she knew it was him) and I did feel the ending was a liiiiiittle unrealistic (no matter how nice the Sheik was, I couldn't see him being THAT generous). 4 stars.
  
  Murder Goes Overboard by Sylvia Selfman & Leigh Selfman: A middle-aged woman, her boyfriend, and her friend go on a cruise and solve the mystery of a murdered singer and jewelry theft. 3 stars.
  
  Overall, this could have used an edit, as there were a lot of typos and misspellings (including an unforgivable misspelling of "espresso" as "expresso"--serious pet peeve of mine), an unfinished sentence, some tracked changes remnants (something I've never seen before in a Kindle book), and some areas of repeated text. It just felt thrown together like an afterthought, which I guess supports the weirdness I noticed surrounding this anthology:
  
  - It is not listed on LibraryThing as a... thing, kind of like it never existed.
  
  - When I tried to go to Amazon to look at the plot descriptions and get more information in general, it was no longer available from there (link broken). So, maybe it was pulled and I just happened to get it while it was available for a short time before it was retracted.
  
  - The GoodReads description states that Sherri Bryan wrote a story taking place in London, but the anthology I received has instead the story by the Selfmans, so I'm not sure what happened there.
  
  - Not all of these authors have this anthology and/or the short story they wrote for it attached to their author profile on GoodReads. I realize this could just be differences in how they organize their profiles, but it is still strange.
  
  -- For some reason, Vandiver, though she seems to be the head of this whole thing as the primary author, does not have A Ticket to Murder listed anywhere on her profile, though she does have the anthology listed. As far as I can tell, it's a standalone story or maybe it's an intro to a new series.
  
  -- Dionne has Murder In Marrakech and the anthology listed on her official author profile. Her story for this appears to be standalone or possibly an intro for a new series.
  
  -- Meadows does not have Camp Pain listed anywhere on her author profile, but the anthology is there. As far as I can tell, her story is standalone or maybe an introduction to a new series.
  
  -- Parin has The Last Stop listed on her profile along with the anthology. This story is a part of her Dear Abby series.
  
  -- Dean has Perils in Provence and the anthology listed on her profile. This appears to be a spin-off of her Ravenwood series, which is a new one called World Travel.
  
  -- Pajonas has Matsuri and Murder listed on her official author profile, but for some reason the anthology is linked to some random profile for Pajonas that is not related to her other works. Her story is tied to her Miso Cozy Mystery series.
  
  -- Blackmoore has the anthology listed but not the A Dash Through Dubai story. As far as I can tell, it's a standalone story.
  
  -- Sylvia Selfman has Murder Goes Overboard listed on her official author profile, but not the anthology. Her story is tied to her Izzy Green series.
  
  I don't really have an interest in reading anything further from these authors, aside from Pajonas (who I was already familiar with) and maybe Meadows. The stories were fine, but none of the characters or premises really captivated me. I enjoyed the descriptions of the unfamiliar places, but that was about all I got out of it. Even though it sort of averaged 4 stars, I could not ignore the oddness surrounding the publication of this anthology and the rampant typos, which brought it down to 3 stars.
• 
  Karen

  Several of these stories needed serious editing and formatting. A couple were worth my time but most were a disappointment.
• 
  Dana

  Reading this really only for SJ Pajonas'
  Matsuri and Murder, but I'm willing to give the other authors a read.
  
  UPDATE: Finished. This collection doesn't seem to be available for sale anymore, which is probably a good thing. It clearly wasn't edited or proofread, as it is full of typos and misspellings. Really I should have just bought Matsuri on its own and called it a day. I may still do that. I liked two of the other stories. Two stories were not worth anyone's time (one I couldn't finish because it was so bad) and the others were just okay. A typical mixed bag for what looks like self-published works.
  
  A Ticket to Murder by Abby L. Vandiver - Not a good start for the anthology if you didn't buy it for a specific story. The main character (MC) is annoying and the situation is implausible. After being dumped by her her no-good boyfriend before a trip to Rome, MC goes to Rome anyway. She gets a letter from someone who she thinks is her boyfriend, included with plane tickets to Brazil and a hotel key. So naturally, she decides to go, and walks into the hotel room to find a dead body. Stupidity escalates from there. The only reason I finished it and continued on was because I knew there was at least one better story waiting for me. If I hadn't, I might have just deleted the anthology and not looked back. Which is a shame for some of the other authors who might have been using this as a way to find new readers.
  
  Murder in Marrakech by Kathryn Dionne - First of the okays. MC is a traveling chef working temporarily in a Moroccan hotel. She meets one of the guests - a swimsuit model with a dirt bike racer boyfriend. The boyfriend dies and MC decides to investigate because she can't seem to leave well enough alone. Highly unlikely ending, but a decent story.
  
  Camp Pain by Wendy Meadows - One I liked. MC is a travel writer who's in Atlanta for an article. She literally stumbles one night over a dead body lying outside her RV, and detecting ensues. The descriptions of Atlanta made me want to pack my bags. I liked the characters, and would like to see more of them, but it doesn't appear to be part of a series.
  
  The Last Stop: A Dear Abby Cozy Mystery by Sonia Parin - SKIP! Just don't even bother. This is the worst of the bunch. MC's mother is such a helicopter mom that MC carries her around all the time on the phone so Mom in Iowa knows MC lives in a decent town in Australia. Once Mom got "passed off" to a group of tourists, I couldn't take anymore and skipped the rest of the story. No idea who died, or why, nor do I care.
  
  Perils in Provence by Carolyn L. Dean - My second favorite. MC is hired by a rich property developer to investigate whether he should purchase and renovate an old vineyard estate in France. Most of the story is about the investigation, and the murder is towards the end of the book. This does seem have a second related book, and I might need to go hunt it down.
  
  Matsuri and Murder by S.J. Pajonas - What I came here for! This is a novella to go along with Pajonas' Daydreamer Detective Mystery series. Mei is taking a girls weekend to the hometown of her friend Kayo for a matsuri festival. But a death in Kayo's family's brewery, plus another the next day, puts a damper on the fun and it's up to Mei & Co. to figure out whodunnit.
  
  A Dash Through Dubai by Angela C. Blackmoore - Second of the okays. MC is a chef from Idaho who gets invited to take part in a cooking competition in Dubai. One of the other contestants dies while sampling her entry, and MC needs to figure out who killed him. It would have been better if the ending was plausible, but it's not a deal breaker.
  
  Murder Goes Overboard by Sylvia Selfman & Leigh Selfman - Last of the okays. MC is a nosey old biddy who wins a Caribbean cruise. There's a jewel heist and a dead body, and a twist or two. Something about the fact that MC and her sidekick stop every chapter to eat everything in sight and they call themselves the Senior Snoops really annoyed me. It just seemed super clichéd to me, and didn't make me like either character.
  
• 
  Lola

  I plan to buy a copy of this one on release day so I can read all the stories in this one. I am updating this review when I finish another novella. At this point I have read one story Matsuri and Murder of which I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
  
  Matsuri and Murder by SJ Pajonas
  This was such a fun read. It’s amazing how Pajonas manages to fit everything in this fun novella length story without it feeling rushed. We follow familiar characters Mei, Akiko and Kayo to Kayo’s home town in this story. There’s a festival, a well done murder mystery, new side characters and more. It’s a great read that works well as continuation of the series as well as for people new to series as it can work nicely as standalone. There are almost no spoilers for earlier books, but fans of the series will understand a bit more about the situations they hint and talk about in this book. The mystery was a good one and kept me guessing for quite a bit. There are multiple suspects and for a long time it isn’t clear who is the murderer. I wasn’t too surprised when we found out who the murderer was, but I also didn’t have a clear suspect yet, and there’s a great twist there that I hadn’t expected. I am really impressed how the author not only put a great mystery in this novella, but also made this town come alive and introduce us to a bunch of new side character as well. I especially liked Kayo’s parent, who are so quirky and fun to read about. All in all this is a treat for fans of the series and also works great as a standalone read for those new to this series.
• 
  Ericka N.Blackwell

  Couldn't get past the first 7 percent of the first book. I may come back to this set as there are other authors but if the idea is you put the best book first to draw you in - then this silly beginning does not set the right tone.
• 
  Donna

  A good range of stories
  
  A good range of cozy mysteries taking the reader all around the world. Some are easier to guess “whodunnit” than others, but all are good reads and offer some good giggles along the way.
• 
  Judith Wong

  Fun and diverse!
  
  The different settings to all of the mysteries was very pleasing and reflected the different cultures depicted wonderfully. Truly enjoyable!
• 
  Suzanne Homeier-poe

  I loved it.
  
  Some of the stories seemed to get bogged down in the beginning. I loved the writing and would like to see each written in a series. I loved all the characters.
• 
  Cheryl A.

  The best traveling I've never done!
  
  Absolutely loved these stories from some of the best authors writing cozy mysteries. Characters were introduced easily and descriptions of scenery was amazing. Murder and mayhem happens along every story and keeps the reader entertained throughout each. Great plots allowing you to see what the author was thinking. All included twists along the way and I was surprised at the end of who the perpetrators and who was innocent. Must have for anyone who are interested in whodunits!
• 
  Jerri Cachero

  Mystery, murder, humor, and travel...what a great combination for cozy mystery readers!
  
  I enjoyed reading mysteries set in different stateside locations and in other countries and this collection of stories kept me guessing and entertained!
  
  All of the mysteries were well written and I enjoyed the "spunk" of the main characters - solving mysteries, getting into and out of trouble and being far from home.
  
  Books like this are a wonderful way to "catch up with" authors you know and discover your "new favorite authors"....I can't wait to take another trip!