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* Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2022 *
‘Guaranteed to hook you . . . At times both touching and darkly funny’ Anna Bailey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Tall Bones
‘A beguiling, beautifully crafted treat of a novel. It holds so much wisdom yet wears it so lightly. There are shades of Kate Atkinson in the way Rosalind balances dark themes with dry humour, a great plot, exquisitely realised characters, and more than a hint of feminist sensibility . . . truly everything I want in a novel’ Jessica Moor, bestselling author of Keeper
‘[An] excellent character-driven tale . . . by turns amusing, sorrowful, and thrilling. Stopps is definitely a writer to watch’ Publishers Weekly, STARRED review
‘A quirky, witty thriller that reminds us not to underestimate the older generation’ Best
‘Darkly comic and gripping’ Woman’s Own
* * *
Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a café, when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She’s clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they’ve seen her.
Once alone, Nina tells the women a little of what she’s running from. The need to protect her is immediate, and Grace, Meg and Daphne vow to do just this. But how? They soon realise there really is only one answer: murder.
And so begins the tale of the three most unlikely murderers-in-the-making, and may hell protect anyone who underestimates them.
* * *
Readers LOVE Rosalind Stopps:
‘I was hooked from the start and finished it in little more than two days, because it was truly unputdownable. Beautifully written and really quite scary in places . . . A brilliant book. More from this excellent writer please!’ Amazon 5*
‘This is how fiction should be done! A fabulous, thrilling tale and I loved it!’ NetGalley 5*
ASIN : B08M23F4R7
Publisher : HQ (July 22, 2021)
Publication date : July 22, 2021
Language : English
File size : 1887 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 348 pages
Reviewer: Cat Momma
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: heartwarming
Review: The book starts with a bang and continues on till the end. I loved all the different stories and how connected they became. Itâs different but really enjoyable.
Reviewer: book lover
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Quirky - losers finding a purpose and doing good.
Review: This was slow to warm to but in the end I was rooting for success. Three "old" women having coffee run into a teen in need of help. They form a friendship and go all out to help her, with some growth among all. I enjoyed the characters, there's subtle humor, losers finding strength, and it was very enjoyable.
Reviewer: Steve A. Rush
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Love the characters
Review: The best thing about this story is the characters. The author gave life and spunk to them in a believable way. Good story with a satisfying denouement.
Reviewer: GC
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Captivating, mysterious, well-written psychological thriller
Review: Three seventy-something women, Grace, Daphne, and Meg, acquaintances from taking a Pilates class for seniors, decide to go for tea together after class. A terrified young teen named Nina races in, improperly dressed for the cold, begging them to help her. They see how desperate she is, and send her to the ladiesâ room to collect herself. It is when she has gone that a man who resembles a toad with no neck barges in, demanding to know if anyone saw her and claiming her as his âdaughter.â They all deny she came in, including the shop owner, who sends him away. The owner then promptly demands that the four of them leave, telling them she wants no trouble brought to her by them or the man chasing the girl.After the new friends discover what a horrible, criminal man âToadâ actually is, they decide to drive to to Daphneâs place on the water to keep Nina safe, only to be followed and stopped on the road by Toad and his cronies. They grab Nina out of the car and take off with her, threatening the ladies and leaving them to ponder their next move. As they begin to share their stories, the women discover the many things that both bind them together and make them so different; but one thing they agree on is that Toad must be murdered. Their decision is hire a hit man to remove him from the picture, and get their now-beloved Nina back safely. Itâs easy to see how one might underestimate these three older women, but that person will do so at their own perilâ¦Captivating, imaginative, mysterious, compelling, and most importantly, the one word I use infrequently: unputdownable! A psychological suspense novel, âA Beginnerâs Guide to Murder,â has many twists and turns; some stunning, some a bit more predictable, but itâs full of dark humor, and I quite literally laughed out loud at some parts, which was unexpected. The main characters a beautifully written, fully fleshed-out, and Iâm sure that every reader will see a bit of his-/herself in Grace, Daphne, and Meg, and quite probably the supporting cast of characters as well. There are triggers throughout the book to be aware of, including rape and trafficking of young women. That being said, it was an absolutely entertaining, clever, compelling book at âfamilyâ and what that means to each individual, and how much one is willing to risk to save someone they truly love.Iâd like to thank NetGalley, HQ/HarperCollins Publisher, and Rosalind Stopps for the ability to read and review this ARC.
Reviewer: Tracy Richings
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: easy read, keeps up the pace.
Review: A really easy to follow thriller- background information dropped in throughout the book - not an entirely unexpected ending.Enjoy
Reviewer: High Heeled One
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Tense and Compelling
Review: A trio of septuagenarians combine wits and resources to help a troubled teen in danger.Nina has run away from a menacing beast of a man nicknamed âToadâ who isnât easily letting go. Heâs actively searching for her to return and is almost at their doorstep. What the three need now is a plan.The book begins in the moment and the backstories of Meg, Daphne, and Grace are filled in as the book progresses. The focus on Meg really drew me in because of her movement from quiet church mouse to more assuredly. I loved watching her growth and discovering her past.This isnât a cozy mystery. Inexperienced non street wise women in their seventies fumbling about planning a murder portends to be a light read. Itâs anything but - with dark subject matter and a sinister element.I figured out Ninaâs situation early on and if anything, I was more tense knowing what was to come. The author did surprise me with a delightful twist at the end.I loved the writing style. There was a soulful element with insightful comments regarding perceptions about aging and becoming invisible to others.Iâll definitely read more by Rosalind Stopps and am happy to own a hardback copy to re-read at some point. Itâs that good.
Reviewer: Callahanâs Books
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: @CallahansBooks Review
Review: As an Anglophile I may be predisposed to sum up the moral of this book way, way down into two beautiful words: âsod it.â A story that is a secret handshake to the insecure. The introverted, the self-aware and the over-thinkers. A lifetime of second-guessing and pacing one half-step back when whatâs needed is a leap.Three âold pussies,â as Agatha Christie would have called them, are exhaling in a coffee shop for post-Pilates small talk when duty comes bursting through the door in thinly disguised hysterics. A young âbird,â teenaged and in way over her head; hints of abuse that make a reader wish Nina, our victim, had an old Northern Irish type to pick up a phone and elucidate on her behalf: âI have a very specific set of skills...I will find youâ¦â But Ninaâs Liam Neeson had already had his coffee that morning. Instead, she found something better.Engrossing from top to tail, âA Beginnerâs Guide to Murderâ is a bit of a misnomer. The heroic septuagenarian troika make plenty of mistakes on their way to a thrilling conclusion; by the time theyâve made them, the reader is all but certain to have fallen in love with these surrogate grand-guardians and the indomitable camaraderie they find together.Suspense haunts every move made in this book, from the captivating opening line onward. Like afikomen, the deeper meaning is hidden but easy to locate. These women werenât the heroes needed. But push came to shove. They said âsod it,â they leapt, and Iâm glad author Rosalind Stopps chose to take us along for the ride.
Reviewer: Rhiannon
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A Decent Read
Review: I enjoyed this book. A few times it felt a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed the plot and the characters.
Reviewer: Juliette Clark
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I loved this story, got very involved with the characters and found the premise believable. It was a real page turner, I kept reading on, keen to know what happened next. I thoroughly recommend this book.
Reviewer: Jane Sadr-Hashemi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Such well written characters and how lovely that they are not your standard ones but people who would usually be overlooked and underestimated, being of "a certain age". A lovely portrayal of friendship as they come to the aid of a young abused girl. Some dark topics but handled so beautifully. Well worth a read! Very enjoyable.