pretty good but i didn't realize i was reading this out of order haha. fun enough, may consider the rest of the series

I wasn't aware when I read this that it is actually the fourth adventure for these smart women, so it was a little jarring on occasion as II could really have done with having knowledge of the previous tales. That said I enjoyed it enough to make me want to go back to the beginning and read the first three, because if this one is anything to go by it's an intriguing series!

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in return for an honest review. I DNFd this book approximately 15% in.
First, this book is number 4 in a series. I don't think this is a series that you can pick up anywhere. I was very confused and lost.
But secondly, I don't think this writing style is for me. I had a hard time following the train of thought. It was told in first person but she would refer to multiple timelines (I met him last week.. he wrote to me 11 months after we first met). I was also confused if this was supposed to be lighthearted or dark. It just wasn't for me.

Cover really drew me in. A gripping tale that keeps you hooked from the first page all the way through to the last. Highly recommend.

A locked room mystery! Ursula and her mom are invited to a crime fiction's book launch at a private remote home. But the author is found dead next to the sushi bar. Who would kill him?

One of the nineteen invited guests did. But who? One is put on trial but Ursula is not convinced the right person is being convicted and seeks to set justice straight.

I thought this title dragged a bit although the story was very entertaining.

I sadly had to DNF this book. It just wasn’t for me. But I appreciate the chance to review. I felt like the characters weren’t relateable and the story wasn’t holding my attention.

A DNF'd this at 32% I really wanted to love it but I didn't feel invested or have the desire to pick up the novel to continue with the story.

This entry in the series is a little bit different than the others. It's got a dual timeline for one thing, taking us to a courtroom where the wife of a famous author is on trial for his murder, and to the crime scene, said author's book launch. There are plenty of suspects, as usual, and a very unusual murder weapon: a fugu fillet, deadly poisonous, and prepared carefully as the highlight of the dinner at the book launch.

As the trial continues and more evidence appears, Ursula begins to question her recollection of the evening and whether the right person is on trial.

This whole series is very clever, and this one particularly so with its twists and turns. The murderer was definitely a surprise, and well-hidden with subtle clues. Very much looking forward to the next one!

I didn't realize that this was book #4 in a series, as a result I feel as if I didn't connect with the characters as well as I would have if I'd read the other books. The story moved slow, but overall was a fun cozy mystery. I did enjoy the final twist as well.
While I was able to read this book as a stand alone, I would recommend reading all of the books in the series first, I plan to go back and catch up.

I got this book from NetGalley as an advanced reader copy

A Book of Murder is the fourth book in a cozy murder series set in England.
Even though I have not read the other books in the series I was able to follow the story. I found it kind of slow and it did not grasp my full attention from the start. I had a hard time reading it but I plugged along. At some times the plot detail was so much that I found myself skimming the pages.

It was ok.. but does not prompt me to read the other books in the series.

Thanks to Joffe and netgalley in exchange for review.

I received this just before it was published this year. I found this book to be about average. It was interesting and I kind of liked it. But I didn't realize it was part of a series so I felt like that kind of made it hard for me to follow. Some people didn't feel like it did. I think I may have to go back to the first one and then see if I can enjoy the series. I try to only pick books to request that are in the beginning of a series if possible. So I give this 3.5 stars. I might give this a reread after I finish the first book. It's on my book list for this year.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Victoria Dowd’s excellent crime thrillers are modern-day homages to classic Golden Age mysteries and in her latest novel, A Book of Murder, this talented writer has penned another complex, compelling and wholly unputdownable whodunnit featuring the indomitable Smart women.

Ursula Smart and her mother Pandora are on the guest list for the hottest ticket in town: crime writer supremo Anthony Lovell’s book launch for his latest novel at his private island home. The Smart women are looking forward to a weekend of wining, dining and hobnobbing with the great and the good of the crime fiction world, but Ursula and Pandora should know by now that wherever they go, trouble always seems to follow!

Ursula is awoken in the middle of the night by the sound of blood-curling screams. Anthony has been found dead after being poisoned by the highlight of the evening feast: the fugu fillet, a rare Japanese delicacy that could prove fatal if prepared incorrectly. Which one of the guests at his private island home killed Anthony Lovell? What had driven them to commit murder? And what lengths will they go to to keep their identity a secret?

The police think that they’ve found the culprit, but Ursula is not convinced. Unable to resist doing her own investigating, will Ursula get to the bottom of this case? Or will her curiosity end up putting her directly in the line of fire?

Victoria Dowd is an immensely talented writer of crime fiction. In her Smart Women mystery series, she cleverly gives a nod to the past and uses the traditional conventions of the crime novel and breathes new life into the genre by creating complex characters who engage in solving ingeniously plotted puzzles that keep readers guessing and desperate to uncover what happens next.

A Book of Murder is a terrific mystery packed with delicious twists and turns and mind-boggling red herrings. Ursula and Pandora are Smart by name and even smarter by nature and their quest to solve this case is sure to satisfy aficionados of the genre.

Victoria Dowd’s A Book of Murder is a fun and enjoyable mystery I absolutely loved and I hope it won’t be too long before we get to see the Smart women back in action in another nail-biting crime novel.

Crime writer Anthony Lovell hosts an exclusive book launch and has some big surprises in store for his guests. But he is shockingly murdered by pufferfish poison and his widow ends upon trial for murder. Ursula Smart is convinced of her innocence...
A Book of Murder is the fourth book in the Smart series but the first that I have read. The women have a clearly established relationship. There are repeated references to a deceased character Mirabelle but I have no idea how she relates to the characters so I would advise reading the books in order.
It took me a little while to get used to the style of writing but then I was hooked. At first I thought it was quirky but then began to enjoy the personal and unique nature of the narrative. The book is written from Ursula's first person perspective as she describes the events leading up to the murder as well as the present day trial. There is plenty of humour in the book, often at the expense of Ursula's family members.
I ended up really liking the mix of murder mystery and court case drama. The murder looks like an open and shut case but Ursula has her doubts. She challenges her own recollections as well as the supposed factswhich could imprison an innocent woman. The plot maintained my interest, with plenty of twists and turns, and the mystery of the culprit was sustained until revealed in the final chapters.
A Book of Murder is an enjoyable murder mystery and I hope to catch up with the previous books in the series.

In a Book of Murder by Victoria Dowd, we follow a group of women known collectively as “the Smart Women” in a dual timeline reveal of an intriguing mystery. Told thru the eyes of Ursula Smart one timeline follows the present in which the wife of the victim is on trial for his murder, the second timeline bounces back a couple weeks(?) months(?) to a dinner party hosted by renowned crime author Adrian Lovell at his private fort on an island, and attended by people who were close to him in his writing career – agent, publisher, promoters etc. The main highlight of the dinner was a specially prepared Fugu presentation for the braver guests to sample and then at the dinner Lovell drops a bombshell which angers some of his guests enough that they storm out. By the next morning, Lovell is dead.

Part of me feels that this should have been an awesome read. However, I did not know that this was the latest book in a series, and so obviously hadn’t read any of the previous installments, so a lot of character references had me confused as to how was this contributing to the mystery, references like characters grieving or mentioning the death of Mirabelle. Being that the story follows a dual timeline format, I thought maybe Mirabelle’s death would be addressed at some point. I ended up looking at some of the reviews to try and get some inspiration to continue the story, which is when I discovered this was the fourth in the series. Knowing that helped me to overlook most of the references to something that had had not happened in this book, by assuming it had explained in one of the three previous mysteries, but still the constant mentioning of Mirabelle, Ursula’s dads ghost and “the look” was irritating and made it very challenging to keep focused on the mystery.

On the positive - the author does do a good job describing her characters that so you could visualize them, and each have little quirks that helps them to stand uniquely from each other. The switch back and forth between timelines was cleanly done, so that the time periods did not confuse each other. The mystery setup was really good, reminds me of “the Dream” by Agatha Christie.

On the other hand beside the irritating references I mentioned earlier, I was also disappointed with the reveal on how the murder was carried out, but more so the confession and motive of the murderer especially with so many possible suspects on hand that I felt could have.

On the fence with this one. Not really inspired to read the three previous books, but it was all in all a good mystery but I would totally recommend reading the series in order and not treating this as a standalone novel.

Thanks to #Netgalley and #Joffe Books for a free arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t realize when I requested this ARC that it was book four in a series (I like to read books in order) but I was able to figure things out pretty quickly.. I felt it was an extremely slow read and found it hard to finish.

A Book of Murder is the fourth book featuring the Smart Women (and Bridget!), a cozy murder series set in England. This is a fact I overlooked when requesting my ARC, and so I was slightly confused when I started reading it. However, I'm happy to announce that the book is written sharply enough that I was able to follow along just fine, and it didn't stop my enjoyment of the story at all.

This story flips between the night of the murder of Anthony Lovell at a dinner party the Smart Women attend, and the resulting court case in which his wife is on trial for murder. I knew it would be good from the instant a snake skin is mistaken for a condom! There are red herrings and distinct characters, and the book zips along with a propulsive energy. I changed my mind on what I thought happened several times, and was not at all correct on the ending.

The characters are distinct, and I really enjoyed Ursula and her perspectives. I don't think the ghost element added much (and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to think it's a hallucination or real), but I'm not sure if this is an element specific to this book or the series as a whole.

Either way, I look forward to checking out the first three installments of this series! This is a good one for fans of series like The Thursday Murder Club, Stephanie Plum, or Finlay Donovan. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy!

A lonely fort at sea. Nineteen guests with secrets to hide. An invitation to die for? This is the 4th in a series about the Smart women. I didn’t know that when I read but fortunately the writer gives us enough background that we don’t feel a need to catch up. This can read as a stand-alone. However, this book is slooow. It was hard to finish because it just slogged through almost half the book. Not the most compelling mystery but after the first half it did get more interesting. Not the best book I’ve read lately but not the worst. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This was an okay book, this was part of a series book 4, I hadn't read any of the others in this series, wish I had it would of made it easier to follow and know more about the characters.
Thanks to Joffe, netgalley, and the author in exchange for review.
Publishing date May 11th 2022

I love a good mystery, this book is a part of a series and although I haven’t read the previous books, the author provides plenty of backstory.
My attention was not held earlier in the story, I found the pace a bit too slow and hard to read.
Although the plot should have been enough to keep me turning the pages, I struggled and unfortunately became distracted.
The characters did appeal but for me, too much drawn out detail for my liking.

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of this book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this story a bit of a mixed bag. The pace of the plot developed over the course of the book, from being painfully slow, bogged down by unnecessary plot detail, to building to a good pace in the final third. The final plot twist was interesting, but required a lot of explanation, because there was no overt signalling through the body of the book.