{"id":40487,"date":"2021-11-30T00:02:57","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T04:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=40487"},"modified":"2021-11-30T00:02:57","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T04:02:57","slug":"review-of-your-guide-to-not-getting-murdered-in-a-quaint-english-village-by-maureen-johnson-and-jay-cooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=40487","title":{"rendered":"Review of Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village, by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village<\/em><\/p>\n

by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper<\/p>\n

Ten Speed Press, 2021. 128 pages.
\nReview written November 27, 2021, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

A couple years ago, I read a column by Maureen Johnson with this same theme that got me laughing hard. If you like British cozy mysteries at all (and I\u2019m a fan), then her words ring true. Every one of the scenarios you\u2019ll find in this book sounds familiar to me \u2013 I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve read books where people died in these ways in a quaint English village.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the premise, given in \u201cA Note to the Gentle Reader\u201d at the front of the book:<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve finally taken your dream trip to England and have seen London. Then the trouble begins:<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the city to stretch your legs in the bucolic countryside of these green and pleasant lands.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve read the books and watched the shows. You know what to expect: You\u2019ll drink a pint in the sunny courtyard of a local pub. You\u2019ll wander down charming alleyways between stone cottages. Residents will tip their flatcaps at you as they bicycle along cobblestone streets. It will be idyllic.<\/p>\n

The author respectfully suggests you put aside those fantasies. It is possible that you will find yourself in a placid and tedious little corner of England; it is just as possible you will end up in an English Murder Village. You will not know you are in a Murder Village, as they look like all the other villages. When you arrive in Shrimpling or Pickles-in-the-Woods or Wombat-on-Sea or wherever it is, there will be no immediate signs of danger. This is exactly the problem. You are already in the trap.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, if you fail to follow the author\u2019s advice and go to the countryside anyway, she has a bookful of things for you to watch out for \u2013 ways you may get murdered if you are not wary.<\/p>\n

These ways of being murdered are cheerfully and gruesomely illustrated by Jay Cooper.<\/p>\n

The focus is on the Village and on the Manor right outside the village, with their separate realms for bumping people off.<\/p>\n

Some examples: <\/p>\n

Under \u201cTHE VILLAGE POND\u201d:<\/p>\n

Those ducks didn\u2019t get fat on bread.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

under \u201cTHE VILLAGE HALL\u201d:<\/p>\n

Oh you giggled at Edith\u2019s sonnet? Sounds like someone\u2019s about to be found clubbed to death with a typewriter, their mouth stuffed full of poems.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Someone to avoid:<\/p>\n

ANYONE WHO LEAVES A MESSAGE<\/p>\n

All messages in a Murder Village are bad news. It means someone Knows Something. Don\u2019t leave messages. Don\u2019t hang around people who do.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the Manor, beware of \u201cTHE FOLLY\u201d:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a small, fake temple at the far side of the pond, perfect for picnics, trysts, and casual strangulations.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At \u201cTHE SHOOTING PARTY\u201d:<\/p>\n

This is supposed to be a fun day out in which some servants shake birds out of the bushes while other servants carry and reload guns, all so that the aristocracy can shoot at anything with wings. The shooting party is like the village f\u00eate \u2013 this is how the nobles weed one another out right in the open. Always assume someone is roaming the grounds with a shotgun looking for long-lost cousin Hugo who just showed up and got top billing in the will.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or \u201cTHE DINNER PARTY\u201d:<\/p>\n

For when you want to be murdered, but you don\u2019t have an entire weekend to spare.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This should give you an idea of the humor included in this informative little book. And who knows? Purchasing a copy may save your life.<\/p>\n

maureenjohnsonbooks.com<\/a>
\njaycooperbooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Nonfiction\/your_guide_to_not_getting_murdered.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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