I found this tiringly descriptive, to the point that it pulled away from the plot of the book. The story itself was ... okay, but it wasn't as much of a mystery as I was expecting and the narrator's attempts at being dry and biting were exhausting.

When I began Victoria Dowd's debut crime mystery, I was expecting a cosy-crime mystery in the style of Sunday-night Poirot mysteries and Gosford Park. Although we have elements of that, with the large country house, the slightly weird staff and an eclectic cast of characters that you wouldn't normally imagine in the same room together, we are presented with a much darker mystery that has you guessing over and over.

Our narrator is Ursula, who has been dragged along to her mother's book club weekend away under duress. It is set up to be this rather dull affair, until they discover the body in the snow and a fun long weekend turns into a much more bloody business.

I enjoyed reading THE SMART WOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER, with each chapter outlined by a "rule": "Rule 1: Never stay in an isolated country house with a disparate group of possible sociopaths ... or a book club." Dowd has a talent for creating fun and memorable characters, although personally I didn't find any of them particularly likeable. (Except perhaps Mr Bojangles...) But I think that's the point in this novel; everyone is so detestable that you think any of them could have done it. The mystery is just pinning down who...

A promising debut and I look forward to reading more from Dowd.

Thank you to the publisher and author for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

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

The first impression I got reading this was, "Wow, this is very Rick Riordan-esque" Boy, was I about to be proven wrong. These heading can actually be used as a guide to murder (to solve one, not commit one). They are things you usually hear in detective shows, and to have such a mystery in book form was heaven for me.

Victoria Dowd writes a murder mystery with surprising objectivity. What I'm meaning to say is, when I read it, I was able to keep myself at a distance from the events that unfolded. Usually with the first person point of view, I find myself immersed in the character and their surroundings; here, I was watching from the other side of the glass, still able to see and hear what these people were feeling, but also able to walk away unscathed. This is Good Writing.

Dowd manages to write thoroughly unlikable characters that we still want to read about. Never was I thinking, "Why do we need to learn/read about this character; they bring nothing to the story." It was always awe at how much I wanted to know them despite not liking them. Again another example of Good Writing.

The plot twist at the end is not as much as a twist as you would expect in mysteries but it is still good. I wasn't expecting it, but I wasn't really surprised by it. It seemed a natural turn of events, which was a good surprise because usually in mysteries and thrillers, plot twists are sudden and jarring even if they do end up making sense,

Overall, this was a very enjoyable and light read, which is something I never thought I would say about murder mysteries but here we are.

I tried on this one, I really did. But after getting around 15% into it, I just could not continue. I was unable to figure out exactly what the point of this story was. The author spends around half the time describing the house, and I honestly don’t care. Just say old Victorian House with weird decor and move on. I’ve watched Knives Out, I know what an eccentric mansion looks like. The protagonist also hates everyone around her, including her mother. She thinks that they’re all evil or stupid as well. Not sure why she bothered to come then. But her constant complaining got on my nerves very fast. There is some sharp writing, but it all seems weightless and unimportant because nothing is happening. The writing is overly flowery and seemed like it was just trying to fill up space. The pseudonyms also bugged me because … why? Names like Ursula don’t exactly roll off the tongue, you see.
I was really hoping for something like Knives Out, but this book just took so long to build up the scene that I just gave up. The overly complicated backstories and dramatic entrances for each character were just taking way too long. I don’t even understand how you can have a killing spree when there’s literally only five characters. Unfortunately, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder did not live up to my expectations.

I read the first couple of chapters and cannot get into this book, so far it's been about a twenty five year old woman and her condescending, high maintenance, hateful mother who has the philosophy "life is awful and we should just accept that". She also tells her daughter to keep her opinions to herself at the retreat with her book club and that the daughter "just had to come piss on her weekend". What a terrible way to treat your own flesh and blood. This also has the beginning of a cozy mystery and I like my books to be suspenseful from the very first page, not a lighthearted whodunit. Thanks for the free sample Net Galley, but this was not for me.

This was a fun and light hearted book. It was a very easy read that I flew through one night in bed, I mean it did disrupt my early night because I could not put it down so the author has a lot to answer for!

I love the idea of gate crashing a book club and it has definitely gone onto my bucket list especially if it ends up like it did for Ursula. I mean you have to feel sorry for the girl who just wants a quiet and peaceful life, but I wanted to be her at parts of this book. Her mother is a dragon, I really wanted to punch her mother at points in this book, she is so horrible to her. PSA I would like to say that I do not condone violence regularly however you cant argue that Pandora deserved it.

This is definitely a whodunnit book which will keep you on the edge of your seat. Make sure you have plenty of time to devour it when you sit down because you will not want to stop reading once you have started. 100% recommend and interested in reading more from this author.

The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder is about a women's book club that has booked a weekend at an isolated country mansion. One woman's adult daughter has invited herself along. The butler suggests they hire a local psychic for entertainment the first evening. It begins to snow and roads are closed. There is no internet or phone line. The women are cut off from the nearest village and all outside contact. When bodies start turning up, it is up to the women themselves to figure out who is doing the killing before they all die.
A little slow starting and the daughter, although necessary to the plot was annoying. Picked up speed later and totally unexpected solution. Then seemed to end abruptly. Still well worth the read.

I wasn't sure about this book at first but it quickly grew on me. I really wanted to find out who the killer was. I wouldn't really call this a comedy, and none of the characters were likeable, but I got the impression that was the point.

It was an easy read, and I could imagine the characters. I could see this being turned into a play. It's a bit like a modern day An Inspector Calls.

Love everything about this book. The names of the characters the story and the ending. Made me laugh and kept me guessing and wondering. Perfect book to catch a breath if fresh air and some time to relax. Great read for an actual book club.

Well the importance of reading the book for book club has never been more important than in this locked door mystery.

The characters are wholly unlikable, but at the same time they, as they are, made the story enjoyable. The murder plot was very Christie-esque and was well done. Everyone is a suspect, yet no-one could possibly have done it. Could they?

I don’t get it, why have these ladies form a book club when they all hated each other with a vengeance, what was the attraction besides hatred that is?. Ursula was as bad has the lot who was her mother’s frienemy, they sure do have a strange relationship. They sound like a bunch of harpies I tell you. So my takeaway point from this story, is that everyone is angry at each other and the love wasn’t flowing much if any at all. A bit of an unusual read where the murderers killed each other, what a strange outcome. This has been quite a weird and interesting ride.

I found this book to be interesting, with some very quirky characters. A book club weekend, where, whatever else they do, they won't be talking about the book - which is one that's been chosen - and not talked about a couple of times before. There is no-one else in the house apart from the group and a couple who are there as housekeeper and butler - so who is doing the killing?

Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read an advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley, Victoria Dowd and the publisher for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed the concept of this book but struggled to finish it. It didn’t grip me as much as others. I think the majority of people will enjoy it though.

I enjoyed this title so much! I thought the plot was so intriguing, and the characterization very strong! The description used by the author was so evocative I felt transported, and I kept turning until the very last page. I think the cover is very cute - I'll be sure to purchase this for my store!

I started “The smart woman’s guide to murder” with some trepidation, the quirky Stella Gibbons-esque style is unusual and the characters unsympathetic, however attention to Chekov’s smoking gun early on pays dividends as the bodies pile up and the pieces fall into place. Dowd’s writing is sharp and observant and the final denouement is genius.

Did not finish this book. The characters were not likable. The plot was weak and took too long to go anywhere. The beginning read obnoxiously, like someone trying too hard to amuse the reader. It just wasn’t a good reading experience and even after giving plenty of time to get into it, I didn’t care about the characters or the book as a whole, to be honest.

I absolutely loved how witty this book was! I laughed way more that I thought I would during this book, it was light and had a satisfying end. My favorite parts of this book were the details in how the rooms were described as well as the chapter headings! I can’t wait to read more from Victoria Dowd!

I'm not exactly sure what the author was trying to get at with this book. Was she trying to be funny or trying to write a whodunnit thriller? I'm not sure, but she didn't succeed well in either. This was an absurd story of a collection of women gathered for a book club weekend. The characters were all unlikeable and unrelatable. The most annoying character aside from the narrator, was Brigitte and her dog. How many times did they have to mention the book "Gone Girl"? Answer: enough to make one vomit.

This book is neither comedy nor thriller, so not really sure how it should be categorized.

Thank you to Victoria Dowd, Joffe Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book! This review was also published on Goodreads.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to review this in exchange for an honest review.
Sadly I found this very disjointed, difficult to read and enjoy and with foul language for what seemed no reason.
Not for me and didn’t enjoy this.

Misleading description, but still an entertaining read.

I’m a huge fan of Golden Age mysteries, of Christie, Sayers, Marsh, Allingham. I picked this book expecting it to be something one of them might have written, with a few modern updates. I got through the first chapter then gave up. After a day or so trying to figure out why I was having so much trouble with this book, I realized that it’s not a Golden Age mystery. Sure it has a few ties to the genre with an isolated, snowbound group and the denouement at the end, but there were too many other characteristics that weren’t, all least to this fan. I think I had the most issues with the narrator. She’s too introverted, too damaged, too obviously unreliable (she calls herself, her mother, and her mother’s friends by other names; I’m still not sure if others call them by those names, or is she just thinking of them by those names.) for it to be a Golden Age Mystery. With that realization in mind, I started reading it again from the beginning again, but not as a classic mystery.

And I really enjoyed this darkly humorous, warped story. Ursula, the narrator, has issues stemming from her father dying in her arms when she was thirteen, and it some respects, it feels like she’s still a thirteen year old in her dress and attitude. I also think her mother’s reaction at the time exacerbated some of Ursula’s issues. But because of them, Ursula has crashed her mother’s retreat with her book club at a remote mansion that conveniently has no cell service. There’s a lot of tension in the group - Ursula’s mother isn’t happy Ursula’s with them; Ursula doesn’t like many of her mother’s friends; the food sounds horrible. To add to it, the first evening a mysterious fortune teller entertains the group, leaving as it begins to start snowing. By the morning, they’re snowed in, and the fortune teller is found dead in the yard.

Overall, I’d recommend this book, but not as a Golden Age mystery. I read that Dowd was already working on a sequel. I’m looking forward to it.

I received a free reader's copy of this book from NetGalley.com and voluntarily chose to review.