This was quite the whodunit! Lots of twists and some humor thrown in for fun. A bit on the unique side, it was still a very fun read that made this book really hard to put down.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different than anything else I've read recently. I couldn't put it down! I will keep an eye out for this author's future work!

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Victoria Dowd

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

I was so intrigued by the synopsis of this story and then had to stop reading after two chapters because I was so confused 😵‍💫 I felt like I had walked into a room full of people who all knew each other, mid-conversation, and then I realized this book is part of a series haha oops

Had to DNF because I was so lost, but might start from the beginning of the series some day!

The way this book is titled and marketed, it appears to be a standalone, so might be helpful to add that context to avoid people DNF-ing out of confusion (like me)

I hadn't realised this was book 5 in a series before picking it up, but found I didn't need to have read the previous ones to enjoy this. Ursula Smart is a brilliant character and whilst this is a whodunit thriller there are also a lot of laughs along the way and the setting in Finland made it an easy and quick winter read.

A good twisty book. This led me down so many wrong turns and kept me guessing. A new author for me and I enjoyed this one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A gripping and well plotted story that kept me hooked and turning pages.
A complex and unusual mystery, a chilly and well described setting that made me feel cold, good storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

I quickly felt a connection with the characters in this book, and felt kind of drawn to each of them in a different way. Once I felt the connection, I quickly became invested in the story. It wasn't a cosy festive read, but it did feel quite wintry, so it would be a good choice for the time of year, and I did find it fast-paced and easy to finish in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy to review.

Ursula Smart is astonished when Spear proposes to her. The pair try to avoid the angst of wedding planning by heading to Finland for a small ceremony with close family. But things do not do smoothly when the Smart women are involved!
Murder Most Cold is the 5th book in the Smart series of cosy murder mysteries. I have read and reviewed the previous book in the series, A Book of Murder.
Ursula and her dysfunctional family are quite delightful. The style of writing is a little quirky but also very personal as we witness Ursula's first person experiecnes. She is shocked to receive a marriage proposal from Spear but is hopeful for the future and the pair plan their nuptuals in Finland. Well, actually, it is their mums driving the wedding plans forward!
There is a lot of build up to the wedding and murder, both of which finally occur a third of the way into the book. The family are snowed in as the number of bodies grows while the possible suspects decrease. Options are limited but I was still kept guessing until the very end.
There are plenty of moments of humour and I enjoyed the banter between Ursula and her family. Her mum is a real tour de force and I loved her but would hate to meet her! I had to suspend my disbelief and incredulity as there were supernatural elements and confused experiences. The ending was tense and completedly unexpected.
Murder Most Cold has wedding jitters, murder, laughs and huge twists: something for everyone!

It started quite interesting, and the proposal scene had me in stitches. AS far as mysteries/thrillers go it wasn't too bad, but for a a fairy short book it felt bit dragging. I think if cut down a bit it would be better.

Spear proposes to Ursula and she happily accepts. As her mother Pandora (famous for her blog Death Smarts) turns into the wedding planner from hell, the couple decide on a quieter affair in the frozen wilderness of Finnish Lapland, staying in three cabins run by Londoner Tapio, his Finnish wife Aino and daughter Helmi, and two staff members. They are accompanied by Smart Women Pandora, Aunt Charlotte and Bridget (minus the monkey this time who is a star in her own right), together with Spear’s mother Angela. As the wedding day looms, Spear appears anxious, especially when his past seems to be catching up with him but it looks like more than wedding nerves that have caused him to vanish as the first body is found poisoned to death. When a second follows soon after and they find themselves cut off with no way to summon help, it’s up to the Smart Women to do what they do best – solve the murders.
There is quite a lot of dark serious stuff and sadness in this story and some very tense moments but like the other books in this series, there is also loads of superb wit and deliciously dark humour throughout, with its wonderful larger than life characters and dastardly plot. The hen and stag party was a particular favourite of mine – I’ll never see Richard Madeley in the same light again! In a cleverly written locked room type mystery with lots of twists and red herrings, you can almost feel the bitter cold and isolation of a place steeped in folklore, dark woods and a frozen lake. This is another superb modern twist on the old classic style of golden age detective fiction and I loved it!

I wasn't crazy about this in the beginning, and I was absolutely planning on giving this book a solid 3. The main character, Ursula, seems flaky, and I think that it would have helped if I had realized that this is like book 5 in a series. There really is a lot of background about the characters that would have made it easier to understand them.
However. When it got toward the end, and there was so much about the Northern Lights, and the mystery started coming together, and there was legitimately a moment that I laughed out loud while reading. The descriptions are good enough that you can see what's happening, and as another reviewer said, this would make a terrific film based on the visuals alone.
The solution made sense, and the writer played fair with clues. So I decided it was 3.5 and rounded it up to 4.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This is a fantastic read that had me on the edge of my seat and not knowing what to believe. A classic whodunnit with a new twist. I really enjoyed it

Different themes in this book, a wedding, a body under a frozen lake.
I was drawn firstly to the plot and enjoyed it overall. Ursula Smart is engaged
and planning a magical wedding.
The writing was fine and I enjoyed this one from a new author to me and would read again.


3 stars

Murder most cold by Victoria Dowd.
Smart women mystery series book 5.
I really am enjoying this series. I love Charlotte as father Christmas. I loved Pandora and how she was. I also love Bridget. This was twisty and gripping and tense. I certainly didn't see that coming. I do hope there is more to come. 5*.

Not quite my cup of tea, but a cleverly plotted mystery.

A wedding getaway turns very nasty in this page-turning mystery as multiple murders start to occur. The Smart women always seem to attract death, and this time is no exception.

I liked something about this book, even though overall it wasn't for me. The dark humour was laugh-out-loud funny, and the mystery was well done. It also had a lot of emotion; the Smarts are an extremely dysfunctional family but you could tell they were close nonetheless. I think what put me off was partly the level of violence, it was a bit too grim for me. On the whole, though, it's worth a read if you like the series or enjoy snowy settings.

This was book five in a series and I haven't read the others, but there was enough recap to bring me up to date while not totally spoiling the plots of the earlier books. I liked this because it meant you could theoretically start here and go back after, but of course it is always better to begin a series with book one.

I'd like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for kindly providing me with an advance release copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I have been a fan of Victoria's work for a while now. In fact I have been a fan ever since I had the good fortune to pick up to pick up the first book in the 'Smart Woman's Mystery Series' , which is called 'The Smart Woman's Guide To Murder'. Since then I have read and loved each book that has been released. 'Murder Most Cold' is the fifth book in the series and it's a cracking read, which I really enjoyed but more about that in a bit.

It took me next to no time to get into 'Murder Most Cold'. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first couple of pages, I knew that I was in for a treat and that this was a story that I was going to become addicted to. So it proved to be. When I first picked the book up I only intended to read a chapter or two but I became so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I was still sat there reading several chapters and an hour or so later. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. My Kindle wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story. I loved the varied cast of characters in this book and I loved the way in which they interacted (or not as the case might be) with each other. All too quickly I reached the end of 'Murder Most Cold'. I found 'Murder Most Cold' to be a gripping cosy mystery with twists and turns aplenty.

'Murder Most Cold' is extremely well written and then some. Victoria certainly knows how to grab the reader's attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a story and then some. Victoria clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I.; In some respects I felt as though I had reunited with old friends in the shape of the Smart family. I love the way in which the author has combined the drama with the humour and on more than one occasion I found myself chuckling away at something I had read. I love the way in which the author makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. That's how I felt anyway.

In short, I really enjoyed reading 'Murder Most Cold' and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Victoria's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

I thought this mystery was very well written and cleverly executed. It's a twist on a "locked room" mystery with limited suspects and does a good job with that classic format, which is hard to do! However, I felt like I missed getting to know the characters and background as I read this as a stand alone novel instead of part of the series. There were lots of allusions to past murders and relationships that I didn't get, and while the story still made sense, it felt like I would have cared more about the marriage proposal and general dynamics if I had read the previous books in the series.

However, the setting is eerily cold and appropriately spooky, and characters are endearing (I'm sure even more so if you've read all the books in the series), the dialogue is funny and well written, and most importantly, the mystery unfolds well and is figured out in a believable, but still thrilling way. So I still enjoyed it, I just left like I was missing a lot of background and investment in the story.

This is just such a beautifully written book! I hadn't read the rest of the series so didn't know what to expect but this surpassed my expectations none the less. Its so funny, the characters are so well written and introduced... even for those like me who weren't familiar with them from previous books. The scenes are so perfectly depicted that you can see each expression and feel the chill of the winter cold. A must read for this winter