Scan barcode
the_sassy_bookworm's review
4.0
The entire time I was reading this book, I kept thinking it would make a fantastic movie! I enjoyed this one a lot. Interesting characters. Engaging plot. Kept me guessing to the end.
barbarab's review against another edition
Ett gäng kvinnor där alla hatar varandra anländer till en herrgård där bokklubben ska umgås en helg. Alla är väldigt sarkastiska mot varandra. Antar att det ska vara humoristiskt, men för mig var det bara tröttsamt . Gav upp efter 60 sidor
mazza57's review
2.0
It took me sometime to get into this book. The characters are all mad, bad and dangerous to know but far from engaging for me as the reader. There was too much made of how much everyone "disliked" Ursula and, indeed, how much she herself set out to be disliked. The narrative got a bit lost in the constant "blacking out" of Ursula. Whilst it is far from comparable quality the mystery reminded me of [b:The Mousetrap |121655|The Mousetrap and Other Plays|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1255774464l/121655._SX50_.jpg|747005] or another of Christie's books [b:And Then There Were None|16299|And Then There Were None|Agatha Christie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391120695l/16299._SY75_.jpg|3038872]. I have read other reviews of this book which suggest it is laugh out loud I completely missed this humour if indeed it was there. For me whilst it was not a dreadful read it failed to really create any continuity in its narrative line. I did quite like the labelling of the chapters as a sort of Murder 101 / guide on what not to do. Unfortunately the author has in some ways ignored her own advice. I am willing to give the author another try in the future so its not all bad
annarella's review
3.0
Even if the plot is interesting I couldn't connect to the characters that I found unlikeable and the story fell flat.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
arkansas_equestrian's review
2.0
Discovering that I don't enjoy murder mystery (aka Clue game) storylines. I became annoyed at the constant shushing of Bridget.
thatgirljamie's review
2.0
I received an ARC from NetGalley.
I could not finish. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t. The relationship between mother and daughter just drove me nuts. There were some funny parts, but overall, I didn’t enjoy the book.
I could not finish. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn’t. The relationship between mother and daughter just drove me nuts. There were some funny parts, but overall, I didn’t enjoy the book.
verityw's review
2.0
*****copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review****
Another case of me liking the idea of a book better than the reality. The blurb is good, but all the characters are fairly awful and not in an enjoyably awful way. This is being sold as an update to the classic murder mysteries, but apart from being set in a big country house, I didn't really see the connection. Never mind. Not for me.
Another case of me liking the idea of a book better than the reality. The blurb is good, but all the characters are fairly awful and not in an enjoyably awful way. This is being sold as an update to the classic murder mysteries, but apart from being set in a big country house, I didn't really see the connection. Never mind. Not for me.
mariasmusings's review
3.0
I’m struggling to decide how I feel about ‘The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder
’ by Victoria Dowd. The novel is marketed as “a must read for fans of thrillers and crime fiction
”, and especially for fans of the respected authors of the genre such as Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz. Now, Christie and Horowitz are two of my long standing favourite authors, so of course, I had to read this book and I was excited to receive an ARC from Joffe and Netgalley.
Sadly, when a book promises so much, it can struggle to deliver – and this was the case with ‘The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder’ The story is set in an old style country mansion where a group of women gather for their book club retreat. They are a fairly rag-taggle group of friends, and along with the group, tags Ursula, as she has been encouraged (or rather dragged along) by her overbearing mother. The setup of the novel bears a striking similarity to ‘And Then There Were None’ as a killer begins to strike and those staying at the mansion behind to die one-by-one. Everyone is a suspect and everyone has a possible motive, with lies and secrets being exchanged as loyalties constantly change.
Dowd manages to racket up the tension nicely but the protagonist Ursula, who is telling the story, quickly becomes annoying as she jumps from one conspiracy theory to another. Without giving the reader the chance to delve into her thoughts and determine the likelihood of any theory being accurate. There are some laugh out loud moments which helped to hold my interest and encouraged me to continue with the story.
’ by Victoria Dowd. The novel is marketed as “a must read for fans of thrillers and crime fiction
”, and especially for fans of the respected authors of the genre such as Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz. Now, Christie and Horowitz are two of my long standing favourite authors, so of course, I had to read this book and I was excited to receive an ARC from Joffe and Netgalley.
Sadly, when a book promises so much, it can struggle to deliver – and this was the case with ‘The Smart Woman's Guide to Murder’ The story is set in an old style country mansion where a group of women gather for their book club retreat. They are a fairly rag-taggle group of friends, and along with the group, tags Ursula, as she has been encouraged (or rather dragged along) by her overbearing mother. The setup of the novel bears a striking similarity to ‘And Then There Were None’ as a killer begins to strike and those staying at the mansion behind to die one-by-one. Everyone is a suspect and everyone has a possible motive, with lies and secrets being exchanged as loyalties constantly change.
Dowd manages to racket up the tension nicely but the protagonist Ursula, who is telling the story, quickly becomes annoying as she jumps from one conspiracy theory to another. Without giving the reader the chance to delve into her thoughts and determine the likelihood of any theory being accurate. There are some laugh out loud moments which helped to hold my interest and encouraged me to continue with the story.