Sometimes the best way to know a person is by asking questions, where you can learn more about what makes them tick. Let’s see what Samantha has to say.

What is your name?
– – Samantha Washington

How old are you?
– – I’m in my mid 30’s.

What is your profession?
– – I was an English Teacher. However, after my husband died, I realized life is too short not to follow your dream. So, I retired from teaching and took the insurance money and opened the mystery bookstore we always dreamed of opening. Now, I own a Mystery Bookshop in North Harbor, Michigan. I also write British historic cozy mysteries on the side.

Do you have a significant other?
– – I’m a widow, but have recently started dating again.

What is his name?
– – Frank Patterson

What is his profession?
– – Frank owns a bar/restaurant down the street from my bookstore, however he used be involved in covert operations for the government, but he’s not allowed to talk about it.

Any children?
– – Not human. Unfortunately, I wasn’t blessed with children but have an assistant who feels like a member of my family and two twin nephews that I love.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
– – I have one older sister, Jenna Rutherford. She is an attorney and is known as a ‘pitbull’ for good reason.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
– – I have two chocolate toy poodles, Snickers and Oreo. They are definitely a bit spoiled.

What town do you live in?
– – I live in North Harbor, Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Do you rent or own?
– – After my husband, Leon died, I sold the house we lived in and bought the building we’d always dreamed of turning into a mystery bookstore. My bookstore is downstairs and I renovated the upstairs and moved in.

House or building complex?
– – It’s a brownstone building that the locals refer to as the Gargoyle building due to architectural adornments.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
– – My favorite spot is the Kitchen. The area is open to the living room and it has 17 foot tall ceilings, brick walls and exposed duct work. I enjoy sitting at the breakfast bar drinking coffee or tea.

Who is your best friend?
– – My best friend is my grandmother, Nana Jo. She’s a crack shot, has a brown belt in aikido and is spunky and full of energy.

Amateur sleuth or professional?
– – I’m purely an amateur sleuth, although I’ve learned a lot from a lifetime of reading mysteries.

Whom do you work with when sleuthing?
– – My Nana Jo started me on my love of mysteries and she is a great sidekick. She lives in a retirement village and has three good friends, Irma, Dorothy and Ruby Mae who help. The Girls, as I refer to them, have a lot of connections and use them to help get information which has been vital in solving mysteries.

Favorite meal?
– – I love good food, but my favorite meal is anything with bacon.

Favorite dessert?
– – My assistant, Dawson Alexander, is an excellent baker and he makes a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Plus, I’m pretty fond of just about anything with chocolate.

Favorite hobby?
– – My favorite hobby would have to be reading and writing mysteries. I love cozies, especially British historic cozies.

Favorite vacation spot?
– – When I turned thirty I got a chance to go to England. I finally got a chance to enjoy high tea and see so many places I’d only imagined in books.

Favorite color?
– – I’m very fond of red.

Favorite author?
– – I have a lot of favorite authors. I can’t pick one, but my two favorites are Jane Austen and Agatha Christie.

Favorite sports team?
– – I’m not big on sports, but my assistant is the quarterback for the Michigan Southwest University Tigers. So, I’m becoming a fan.

Movies or Broadway?
– – I prefer Broadway. In the Read Herring Hunt, I meet a very talented dancer/performer at the university and get to enjoy watching her perform in the ballet and musicals.

Are you a morning or a night person?
– – If I have to pick one, I’d say I’m more of a night person. Sleuthing with Nana Jo and the girls often finds me spending many late nights at the Four Feather’s Casino or hanging out at bars. They have a very active social life and someone has to make sure they make it home safely.

In two to three sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
– – A typical day in my life involves taking care of my dogs, Snickers and Oreo and then working in my bookstore, Market Street Mysteries alongside my nephew’s Christopher and Zaq and my Nana Jo. If I’m lucky, I’ll get to spend a little time with my boyfriend, Frank Patterson or hang out with Nana Jo and the girls. At the end of the day, you’ll find me at my laptop writing the next adventure in my British historic cozy mystery.

You can read about Samantha in Read Herring Hunt, the second book in the “Mystery Bookshop” mystery series. The first book in the series is The Plot Is Murder.

Mystery bookstore owner Samantha Washington is about to find out it’s not so easy to play Monday morning quarterback when it comes to murder. . .

To the town of North Harbor, Michigan, MISU quarterback Dawson Alexander is a local hero. To Samantha Washington, owner of the Market Street Mysteries Bookstore, Dawson is more than a tenant—he’s like an adopted son. But to the police, he is their prime suspect after his ex-girlfriend is found murdered. It’s more than enough real-life drama for Sam to tackle, but her role as a mystery writer also calls. Returning to the English countryside between the wars, she finds Lady Daphne Marsh in quite the quandary. Someone has tried to murder the scandalous American divorcée Wallis Simpson, for whom Edward VIII so recently abdicated his throne. It seems finding a suspect is no small challenge when most of England has a motive. . .

While Sam’s lawyer sister Jenna rushes in to build Dawson’s defense, Sam and her lively grandmother, Nana Jo, huddle up to solve the mystery and blow the whistle on the real killer. With the tenacious members of the Sleuthing Senior Book Club eager to come off the sidelines, Sam and her team just might stop a killer from completing another deadly play . . .

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About the author
V.M. Burns was born in Northwestern Indiana and spent many years in Southwestern Michigan on the Lake Michigan shoreline. She is a lover of dogs, British historic cozies, and scones with clotted cream. After many years in the Midwest she went in search of milder winters. She currently lives in Eastern Tennessee with her two poodles. The Read Herring Hunt is the second book in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. Her debut novel, The Plot is Murder is nominated for a 2017 Agatha Award for Best First Novel.

All comments are welcomed.