This is a book for the patient, as the descriptions are very extensive and close to rantings. You will, however, be rewarded with a great story and a fantastic plot, and it's quite amusing as well.

Dowds debut novel is a fun and quirky take on the classic whodunit mystery! If you enjoy reading the works of Agatha Christie then I highly recommend you give this book a try.

Pandora decides to book a creepy old mansion in BFE for a book club getaway. This is the start of murderous weekend. Why you ask? Please refer to rule 1 below: ⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇⬇


Rule 1: Never stay in an isolated country house with a disparate group of possible sociopaths . . . or a book club

The book has an interesting cast of characters although none of them are very likeable. There is Pandora ( mother and book club leader), Ursula ( daughter and smart ass), Aunt Charlotte ( Pandoras dense sister), Mirabelle ( Pandoras BFF) Less ( the thief who no one truly likes), Bridget ( the only one who seems to read), Mr. Bojangles ( Bridgets yappy furry companion) and the house staff (The Angels). Honestly though I cant help but picture "RiffRaff" and "Magenta " everytime I read their names.

The plot was well developed and kept me guessing all the way to the end. There was no shortage of twist and turns. The writing itself was witty and laced with plenty of dark humor. Overall I really loved this book and Am confident many others will too!



I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

What a cute, witty, suspenseful, quirky and dark sense of humour type of story. As a debut novel, I thought it was great and everything I expected from the title and look of the cover! Easy reading and a great WHODUNNIT escape novel to pass the time.

Thank you so much Joffe Books & NetGalley for my complimentary eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder by Victoria Dowd
#thesmartwomansguidetomurder #netgalley.

Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for the opportunity of reading an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Women’s Crime Book Club have met up for their book club retreat at Ambergris Towers in November. In should have been just the members in attendance: Pandora (not her real name), her sister Charlotte, her childhood friend Mirabelle and the book club’s number one fan – Bridget, with her dog Mr Bojangles. Ursula, Pandora’s daughter (not her real name), was included at the last moment, with the delightful Angel & Mrs Angel near at hand. The arrival of Joy (Less) Cowdale, turns an already uncomfortable atmosphere, unbearable.

The quirky dialogue was very cleverly written and left me with a distinct dislike for a number of the characters. Despite the fact, there were a one or two unresolved plotlines, the twists and turns of the story left you guessing all the way through.

An enjoyable read.

Starting with the positives I loved the initial idea of this book, the book club, the characters, the isolated setting and the humour. I enjoyed the style of writing and the chapters and ‘rules’ etc but unfortunately this book fell flat in terms of content for me. The plot and the ending I just found a little boring and although I finished the book I was left disappointed and finding that it didn’t live up to what I had initially expected. On balance I’d give this one 3🌟

This book was atmospheric, and creepy. Ursula joins her mother and friends at a weekend retreat for their book club. One by one, people around them die. Are they trapped inside with a murderer? If so who is next?

Overall, I enjoyed most of this book. It was more of an old-fashioned mystery, where you really had to think through the motives & reasoning as the characters presented clues. The plot was well done, some surprises, but usually easy enough to follow the twists. One thing that bothered me was that the characters all really seemed to hate each other. I'm guessing it was to show that any of them could be a suspect, but it also made them all really hard to like, and it was hard to believe that Pandora would allow her "friends' to treat her daughter that way, or that Pandora cared about her daughter if she didn't care her that her friends treated Ursula like that. There were also a few plot points that were never really resolved, not sure if that was intentional or not. The story is billed as comical, but it really wasn't funny at any point.

This was a very well written story in the vein of a golden age of crime book. Yes the characters are quirky and at times I either laughed or thought 'really'. However I loved this book. The murders themselves were original and the fact there is a further underlying story that only becomes clear at the end was a bonus. I for one am looking forward to the next outing of Pandora and Ursula and hope it will not be to long to wait.
Please if you have a spare couple of days and want a jolly old read buy this and enjoy.

I was worried at first that it might be a bit too slow but after the first chapter, you are instantly thrown into the drama and this book is definitely full of it. I have different thoughts of who the killer was the whole way through, but I did not come close to working it out.

I love the way the story was written, especially the little 'rules' at the beginning of each chapter. The book is fast paced and gripping & keeps you engaged the whole way through which isn't always easy with murder mystery books.

The characters are all intriguing and annoying, which is what I think makes the book so good. You start to root for certain characters (such as Ursula) and really start to dislike others (Mirabelle, I am talking about you!).

I would definitely recommend this to any murder mystery fan, and definitely give this 5 stars!

What's the first thing you do when you find a dead body? Call for help? What if the phones and the internet are out? What if there are more dead bodies?

This updated take on the snowed-in murder mystery reminded me of an episode of Saved by the Bell when the crew went to a murder mystery weekend (without real murders). Of course, this idea isn't original, but Victoria Dowd gave it an update.

I liked the book but wish there had been some twist that set it apart from all of the other books and shows that have done this scenario.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this. This is my voluntary honest review.

In The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, twenty-five year old Ursula accompanies her mother’s book club to a remote mansion called Ambergris Towers. The mansion dreary, grim, and run by a morose butler and housekeeper. Ursula is less than keen to spend time with the book club, stating that “you cannot chose your mother’s friends – or kill them. That doesn’t exclude harbouring malevolent thoughts”. When someone turns up dead, Ursula must solve a mystery: is there someone stalking the book club, or is there a killer at Ambergris Towers?

This book is SHARP. Ursula’s inner dialogue is brash and hilarious, and I wish I was there standing next to her so we could lock glances and roll our eyes at each other. Each member of the book club – Pandora, Mirabelle, Bridget, Less, and Aunt Charlotte – takes turns being comic relief. Each person has a distinct personality that makes it so entertaining to see them all butt heads. You’re so enthralled by the dynamic between characters that you almost don’t mind that there’s been a murder!

I loved the sprinkles of clues here and there. You think you’ll have an idea of where the story is going, and then you’ll be completely turned around. Small, minute details at the beginning of the story turn out to be important clues later on. There is so much thought and careful plotting in this book, which will keep you hooked until the very end.

This book is great for fans of Agatha Christie or the movie Knives Out. Thank you to Netgalley for lending me this book in exchange for my review!

This is a classic murder mystery set in an old rundown mansion which is completely cut off from the rest of the world by a snowstorm.

The story is told by Ursula, who has turned up to her mothers book club retreat uninvited and most unwelcome.

There is a fantastic cast of characters, all very different from each other, who provide some great laugh out loud moments.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it if anyone is looking for a quick, easy read.

Thank you to Joffe Books, Netgalley and Victoria Dowd for allowing me to review this book. I look forward to the sequel!

This book is due to be published in the UK on 6 May 2020

#THESMARTWOMANSGUIDETOMURDER #netgalley

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

Pandora Smart arranges a weekend away for the members of her book club to Ambergris Tower. But her daughter, Urusla decides to tags along with them. But once they are there there's a snow storm and they get snowed in. Theres no phone signal or wifi. Then they discover a dead body, then there's more dead bodies. Who will be next? The group must find out who the murderer is before they strike again.

This is another whodunnit and debut novel. The story is narrated by Ursula. The story has some humor buts theres plenty of suspense and mystery. There is six people staying in the rented house plus the butler and a housekeeper. As they try to solve the mystery, we find out more about the characters. I look forward to reading more from this author in future.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author Victoria Dowd for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and Net galley for an arc of this book.

The smart woman’s guide to murder is about a girl called Ursula who is travelling with her mother as well as her mother’s book club to a mansion in the English countryside. However after a murder has taken place on the grounds, people start dropping like flies which leaves Ursula and the rest of the book club to investigate and figure how who is the killer and if it’s one of them?

I enjoyed the entirety of this book and it left me being the detective and trying to figure how who was behind all of the murders which left me intrigued and wanting to read more and more. I was a little thrown off by the end but still thought it was an adequate murder mystery and took me right to the beautiful mansion itself.

Rating: 4/5 stars

I really need to stop requesting books that self-proclaim in their title...

I wanted to like this one SO MUCH. I loved the idea, was excited for something dark but funny, and thought the snark in the beginning was fantastic. Unfortunately, said snark quickly felt highly repetitive, the characters felt like caricatures (and yes, I get that this was most likely intentional as the whole book was a pastiche on closed-room mysteries, but that didn't change the fact that it made it near impossible to connect with any of them). Everyone was mean and petty and I didn't care if they were killed off, and that's never a good place to find yourself...

The plot was much slower than I expected from the setup and blurb, and when Things Started Happening, it didn't ramp up the excitement the way I hoped it would. Ultimately I found it too much work for what I wanted from it (which was a darkly comic quick read riffing off of the classic mysteries I love), and I gave up. This one just wasn't for me - or at least, not for me right now....

My daughter has currently developed a liking for classic whodunnits so this was a timely book to appear on the horizon.

This is a country house murder mystery in the Agatha Christie mold. Our narrator, Ursula Smart (not her real name) gate-crashes her mother’s book club at an isolated country house for a long weekend retreat. Much to Mother’s chagrin. Joining them are Mother’s best friend, Mirabelle, Aunts Charlotte and Less, and Bridget with her dog Mr Bojangles. A couple of members of staff, the Angels, who do little to take the chill off the atmosphere; an atmosphere that gets worse as deaths begin to occur.

There is lot to enjoy in this book, especially the humour. The fact the book club has read Gone Girl three times this year already; the repeated joke of characters shutting down the character of Bridget any time she want to discuss 'the book' (we never find out what this book is); and also witty lines such as: "Aunt Charlotte has always had a taste for the dramatic. Mother puts it down to her being dropped on her head as a baby. Mother did the dropping of course." Indeed, the book gets off the rollicking and very funny start, but is then let down a bit by a slightly baggy and draggy middle third that is less snappy and page turning, and often fells like it is treading water. It does just about recover at the end, whilst never quite recapturing the excellence of its beginnings.

That said, overall I found the Smart Woman's Guide to Murder an enjoyable read, with enough in it too make me mark Victoria Dowd as one to watch for the future, and to look forward the next book: The Smart Woman's Guide to Survival.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for review.

A nice take on the classic murder mystery in a country house.
Amusing,especially when Ursula is talking about anything to do with her mother.
Good escapism for a few hours.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. Had high expectations for this novel after reading the synopsis but it was not met. It is an adequate thriller but lacks sophisticated. Characters are not fully developed and the imagery tries to be clever, but as we see from the first page, is often contrived e.g “violet snow”; “black twigs of the tree clawed the sky.” This was a shame as there was potential here but it needed a firmer hand during the editing process.

I had high hopes as I love closed room mysteries but this fell really flat for me. Partially it was due to the writing style, there was a lot of facts that were repeated over and over again. Also, I'm not one who needs to like the characters but almost everyone was so rude to each other, it just wasn't very pleasant to read.

What a quirky, fun take on the traditional English Country House murder mystery! There's a wonderfully wacky cast of characters with differing ideas as to how a book club should be run. The nature steps in, and the guests are snowed in. One-by-one, murders begin. Is there a single killer that's hunting them all? Or is one of the book club members on a killing spree?

I found this to be charming, authentically golden age era style murder mystery, yet set in present day. I was delighted by this book and found myself laughing aloud at parts while simultaneously trying to figure out whodunit. I thoroughly recommend this book.

I would like to thank Victoria Dowd, Joffee Books and netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.