Murder Most Cold by Victoria Dowd

 

MURDER MOST COLD by Victoria Dowd- crime  (book 5 in the Smart women series)

(standalone book)

Ursula has just been proposed to by her boyfriend Spear and her family can't wait to get the celebrations started. Her family, for anyone who knows them will testify to, are rather an unusual lot. They tend to have an attraction for murder. The group travel to Lapland for their festivities on the edge of a lake, now frozen and soon things take a turn away from weddings to survival when one by one people are murdered. Ursula's mother Pandora is quite something- far from the loving mother you might imagine, but still Ursula can't help but have a soft spot for her. When Ursula sees a face under the ice, her future collapses around her. Who is doing this and why?

Although one of the series, this happily stands alone ( I haven’t read all of the others). It's a cozy crime style read with a smile. Some of the characters are larger than life and those of a certain age will understand the references (eg. Margaret Rutherford) and the type of mother in Pandora. This is fun, it's rather quirky (in a good way) and a wonderful easy read. There are brilliant dialogues from the humorous to the snarky and some cracking one liners. A fun take on a locked room type scenario. 

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MURDER MOST COLD by Victoria Dowd DISCOVER THE FIENDISHLY TWISTY, UTTERLY ADDICTIVE CRIME FICTION OF VICTORIA DOWD. **FROM THE WINNER OF THE PEOPLE’S BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION 2021 AND SHORTLISTEE OF THE CWA DAGGER AWARD 2023** A winter wedding. A mysterious disappearance. A body under the ice. Handsome Spear proposes marriage and Ursula Smart suddenly has a glimpse of the sort of happy life she had never imagined for herself. Beginning with a small winter wedding, on the edge of a secluded, frozen lake, away from it all. But trouble is never far from the Smart women, especially when the atmosphere is already so frosty. Tensions start rising as soon as they arrive and it’s not just Ursula’s mother Pandora getting cabin fever. Poisoning. Stabbing. A mysterious disappearance. Who’s targeting the wedding party? Then on a midnight jaunt, Ursula sees a face trapped under the ice, eyes staring in frozen horror. And her happy future begins to fall apart. Weddings should be joyous occasions. But there’s a murderer at this one. A GOLDEN AGE MURDER MYSTERY BROUGHT BANG UP TO DATE. Funny and shocking in equal turn, Victoria Dowd's brilliant whodunnit is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Anthony Horowitz, Liane Moriarty, Faith Martin, Frances Lloyd and Stuart Turton. READERS LOVE VICTORIA DOWD AND THE SMART WOMEN  ‘A modern take on the classic whodunnit!’ Anja Jager, bestselling author of A Cold Death in Amsterdam  ‘Original, intriguing, great fun. Can you tell I loved it? Hugely recommended.’ CWA Silver Dagger winner, Barbara Nadel  ‘A rip-roaring murder mystery that grabs the reader from the start.’ Louise Mumford, bestselling author of Sleepless  ‘Witty, dark and gripping. I could read the Smart Women every second of every day and still want more.’ Tim Ewins, author of We Are Animals  ‘A pacey, atmospheric and deliciously creepy murder mystery, laced with laugh-out-loud humour and a cast of larger-than-life characters. Loved it!’ Philippa East, author of Little White Lies and Safe and Sound  ‘A little literary delight.’ Liz W., NetGalley

VICTORIA DOWD

After graduating from Cambridge, Victoria was a criminal law barrister on the London circuit for many years, where many of her cases were much stranger than fiction.

Victoria is now an award winning writer, having won the Go Gothic Short Story Award for 2019. She has had short fiction published in places such as Aesthetica: A Review of Contemporary Artists and was chosen as the runner up in The New Writer’s writer of the year award. Her work was Highly Commended by The Writers’ Forum and long-listed for The Willesden Herald International Short Story Competition. She has had short stories published in the BTS Literary and Arts Annual, Dream Catcher arts journal and Gold Dust Literary Magazine.

Victoria lives with her husband and two children. She writes full time, splitting her time between London and Devon, where she can indulge her passion for all things Agatha Christie.

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GOODREADS

ALSO BY VICTORIA DOWD SMART WOMAN’S MYSTERY Book 1: THE SMART WOMAN’S GUIDE TO MURDER Book 2: BODY ON THE ISLAND Book 3: THE SUPPER CLUB MURDERS Book 4: A BOOK OF MURDER Book 5: MURDER MOST COLD