Anyone who thought this might be yet another on the theme of a bunch of dodgy old people gathering to solve a few forgettable murders might want to think again. Definitely a more serious backdrop to this trio of OAPs who agree to combine their 'talents' and help a young girl escape from a ghastly situation. Very satisfactory result! Thanks to Netgalley.

A Beginners Guide To Murder by Rosalind Stopps – wow what a roller coaster read, absolutely thrilling – I read with heart racing and pulse rising.
The plotline is unique and well executed. There are serious themes but they are sensitively portrayed.
All the characters were well drawn and mainly likable. They are an eclectic mix of seventy year old ladies, a teen, ex cons and a homeless couple – who all band together to fight criminal acts. Their suggestions may not always be lawful but their hearts are in the right place.
We are a product of our past but we must not let our past define us. We need to throw off the shackles of our past and live in the light of who we are and not in the light of who others have said we are. We need to listen to those who speak positivity into our lives.
The three leading ladies met over pilates and coffee but they forge a bond that will remain forever.
We get glimpses into the ladies past lives. In their early days of living in Britain, two of the ladies suffered from prejudice and racism as well as personal heart ache. They are all overcomers.
A Beginners Guide To Murder was absolutely engrossing. It was uniquely constructed and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am looking forward to more from Rosalind Stopps.
I received a free copy from Harper Collins via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

I found this a strange mix of cosy crime and brutal realism - although there are no descriptions of the awful things that the young girls including Nina have to endure. The main characters are three elderly women who have formed an unlikely friendship and are confronted by Anna running away from a nasty looking man. The women decide to help the girl and confront their own pasts at the same time. Despite some cartoon-like characters and pantomime villains, this is entertaining and gives food for thought.

Three women in their seventies find themselves rescuing seventeen year old Nina from the Toad, in a cafe. They realise all is not right. It then turns out that Nina is just one of a group being held for sexual deviance. The three women, whose characters are well drawn, plot her rescue and the murder of any of the other men they find. The obvious thing would have been to go to the police of corse but perhaps that would have been too easy. This is another in the genre of the elderly applying the law! It has it amusing moments but it is also without any real momentum.

Three ladies in their 70's who barely know each other are drawn into the dangerous and murky world of people trafficking when they encounter an escaped teen girl. The evil and ruthless gangster targets them to get the girl back, but these three relative strangers are more capable than they or him can believe. A great and humour thriller.

This was an absolutely wonderful read which I devoured in a couple of days. It was darkly humorous with a cast of amazing characters whom I’d really love to meet in real life.
Meg, Grace and Daphne are having a cup of coffee after their Pilates class when a young scared teenager dashes into the cafe begging for help. They send her to the toilet at the back and when a nasty looking man comes in, claiming to be her father they say they haven’t seen her.
The three elderly ladies take young Nina home to Meg’s house and so their adventure begins. The septuagenarians all have difficult and sad back stories which come out in the course of the novel and Nina’s awful plight is revealed too. The story is mainly narrated in the first person by Meg who is recently widowed and still talks to her late husband, Henry who sounds as if he was rather overbearing when alive.
The women themselves and their past problems were well described and it gradually becomes obvious why they are so willing to help a stranger in distress. As the novel progresses we meet some other very strange people who throw in their lot with Meg and her friends, eager to help save Nina.
This is a novel about a very serious subject but it is told with such humour and aplomb that the reader almost forgets this.
What a fantastic book! I’d love to meet these wonderful ladies again- I was quite sad when I reached the end of the story.
This is definitely a five star read for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

Very unusual story, sad, funny, uplifting and chilling. Some great characters here with interesting back stories. I would have loved to follow the stories of these people and see what happens next for them. I guess that because I want more, it proves that these characters are very well written.

I really enjoyed this book, the characters were well written, believable and really funny. The author did a great job at showing the thee older ladies inner thoughts and fears, making younger people realise that no matter how old you get, you’re still just winging it and trying to get by.

Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a café when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She’s clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they’ve seen her. This is a fun, witty, well-written book with excellent plotting and characterisation this is a thriller with a difference that entranced and enthralled me in equal doses. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

The story is about three friends all in their seventies who come across a young girl who is very upset and is on the run, They decide to help her and get caught up in everything in the process. Lots of action, twists and turns the ending was good.

There are a lot of good things about this book which is the first I have read by this author. The characters are well drawn and 3D. the writing is excellent. A bonus is the over 70s at the forefront. The book, as a whole however, didn't completely grab me which made me rather sad as I loved the premise so much. Nina is a great character as are the three "old biddies". I just felt as though it was rather slow going and my mind had a tendency to wander. Such a shame

Imagine your nan and her two best mates sitting over a cup of tea and plotting murder.

That is exactly what this book is about! Very well written and interesting!

I finished the book but only because I wanted to know what happened in the end. Serious issues covered in what is overall light reading just didn’t work for me. The story of Nina always held my interest, the chapters in which Nina featured were just right I thought. They told her story with sensitivity but at the same time conveying the sense of complete hopelessness and abuse that Nina was experiencing.

It was the three main characters Grace, Meg and Daphne whose narrative didn’t hold my interest. I think there’s a very fine line in portraying the over 70’s in fiction. I’ve read some brilliant books with elderly protagonists, but sadly this one failed to capture my heart.

The last part of the book was very suspenseful and I was really getting into it, but then the conclusion had me disappointed all over again.

I loved the sound of this story, it seemed like it was going to be really good, although for me I found it a little slow, there is a dark theme with humour, but it is a well balanced and written story. I liked all the characters and hoped that Grace, Meg and Daphne would be able to help Nina. The story is about three friends all in their seventies who come across a young girl who is very upset and is on the run, They decide to help her and get caught up in everything in the process. I tell you what they won't take no rubbish from anyone, I think these ladies were Nina's best bet. The ending was good.

Sadly not a book for me. The characters were interesting but I found it very difficult to get into the story line.
The book was well written.

#ABeginersGuideToMurder #NetGalley
Awesome read from the author of Stranger She Knew.
Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a café, when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She’s clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they’ve seen her.
Once alone, Nina tells the women a little of what she’s running from. The need to protect her is immediate, and Grace, Meg and Daphne vow to do just this. But how? They soon realise there really is only one answer: murder. And so begins the tale of the three most unlikely murderers-in-the-making, and may hell protect anyone who underestimates them.
I loved it and definitely received it to everyone.
Thanks to NetGalley and HQ for giving me an advanced copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for a copy of A .Beginner's Guide to Murder.

Unfortunately I struggled through this. All the characters were well fleshed out and I liked the premise (especially 3 of the main characters being in their 70s) but unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

Three elderly women, Meg, Grace and Daphne make the most unlikely band of people to be plotting murder you're ever likely to meet. After pilates one day, they are sitting in a cafe when a young woman Nina bursts in and asks for help. They don't hesitate and try to protect her from from the loathsome Toad, a people trafficker and pimp. But he soon grabs her back and so they decide he has to go.

I loved the characters in this book. Meg, Grace and Daphne are all complex people each with much more to them than meets the eye. They all have their own demons to deal with which makes the course of action they take much more likely (although as usual in books of this sort you have to suspend disbelief. Nina too is a wonderful character, bright and resilient and determined to make the most of life although life, to be frank, has been pretty awful to her so far. The book deals with horrible subjects but avoids going into graphic detail. At times I wondered whether the tone of the book wasn't a little too light for the dark subject matter but it didn't detract from my appreciation of the novel. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Complete Perfection....
Have the fates intervened to create the most unlikely group of murderers? Quite possibly. Engaging from start to finish with a supremely well crafted cast of characters and a wholly entertaining and engaging storyline that the reader won’t want to let go of. With a perfect balance of suspense and sheer dry wit this is simply complete perfection.

Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are sitting quietly in a coffee shop planning a murder. They want to save young Nina from The Toad because they have taken her into their hearts. They discuss and hatch a daring plot which all three seem remarkably ill suited for but as the book points out so cleverly, appearances can be so deceptive. The story is told from the perspectives of all four women.

I loved ‘Stranger she knew’ by the author so began to read this one with high expectations which are so not disappointed, in fact, I think this book is even better! The plot certainly has a very dark side to it and the narrative makes these points of shock and horror clear but without ever being unnecessarily graphic. You know what’s going on, you don’t need it spelling out but you hate the lack of humanity. The book is very well written, it has a darkly humorous vibe which works so well alongside the black themes. The characterisation is superb. Grace gets right to the heart of a situation and is clear minded, Meg is ‘said’ by her late husband Henry to be a ditherer, inept and incompetent but for me she’s more than rather wonderful. She may give off a ‘dumpy grandma vibe’ but she’s astute, caring and much braver than the odious Henry ever gave her credit for. Daphne is also wonderful and like all the women she carries a weighty ton of baggage. Their back stories emerge as we progress through and all their stories are sad. The three older women compliment each other, before Nina they knew each other vaguely through Pilates (strengthen those cores, dear hearts!) but their growing camaraderie and friendship aligned through Nina is heartwarming. They become like the Three Musketeers, ‘All for Nina and Nina for all’. Nina’s life story is sad but she’s an amazingly resilient young woman. I love that all four main characters are on the perceived periphery of society. The older ones are part of the invisible brigade written off because of beige, age, wrinkles or race that marginalises and pushes to the edge. I like it that more authors are making those at the upper end of the age spectrum central to the storytelling- lets break the mould! The book shines a light on those issues but also the power and beauty of friendship which leads to lighter or cast off burdens. There’s so much in the book you could mention, it has every element a good thriller should have and more. I loved it from start to finish. It’s compelling, wonderful, heartwarming, heart stopping, brave, funny and a simply great read with some fantastic characters to brighten your day.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HQ for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.