“You’ve decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the city to stretch your legs in the bucolic countryside of these green and pleasant lands. You’ve read the books and watched the shows. You know what to expect: you’ll drink a pint in the sunny courtyard at the local pub. You’ll wander down charming alleyways between stone cottages. Residents will tip their flatcaps at you as they bicycle along cobblestone streets. It will be idyllic. The author respectively suggests you put aside these fantasies. It is possible that you will find yourself in a placid and tedious little corner of England; it is just as possible that you will end up in an English Murder Village. You will not know you are in a Murder Village, as they look like all 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. If you still insist on pursuing this course of action, commit the following information to memory. It may help you remain alive, if anything can.“—from Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village
Meet the buildings, events, and residents of the Murder Village that IS actively plotting to kill you. Then saunter up to The Manor for twenty-seven, or so, other ways you can die. There WILL be a quiz later, or maybe two.
Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village would make a cute gift for the Anglophile mystery fan in your life. It picks up all those traditional English village mystery tropes familiar to Agatha (both Christie and Raisin) fans everywhere. While the text is humorous, don’t forget to look closely at the illustrations. You might find one of dueling pistols in the never-open Antique Shop has been recently fired. Or that two human eyes are hidden in the Pub’s jar of pickled eggs.
Expect many snickers and sighs but only a few laugh-out-loud moments. Still, such a cute idea and great gift. 4.5 stars!
Thanks to Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.