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A review by saltygalreads
The Supper Club Murders by Victoria Dowd
3.0
This is the third installment in the series about the Smart women - Pandora, her sister Charlotte, daughter Ursula and their friends, Bridget and Mirabelle. The opening chapters of this book were very promising - quirky (dare I say weird), dark and hilarious. The premise of the novel is that the women journey to a small village to visit Pandora's friend, Lady Marsha Black, and her husband in their bizarre gothic castle to partake in a village "safari" supper. This involves travelling around the village from house to house, with a different course of the meal served in each house. Things take a turn for the worse when a miserable and rainy gale descend upon the village, soaking the supper participants. Then events become more grim as murder victims begin piling up.
The most entertaining character by far is Aunt Charlotte, whose commentary left me cackling and guffawing in my easy chair. A sample: " 'Tony Voyeur, remember? Our resident magician. You'll meet him later. He is doing a very controversial gazpacho.' 'Are we all expected to join in?' Aunt Charlotte looked worried. 'I'm not very nimble.'" The visions and fainting spells experienced by Ursula began to wear on my nerves slightly as the story progressed however, and the friendship dynamics between Bridget, Mirabelle and Pandora were rather confusing since I had not read books one and two. The tone of the book was also rather inconsistent, with the later chapters having a darker and more serious tone than the early chapters. The novel ends rather abruptly, with an obscure reference to events which will presumably occur in the next installment.
Despite some confusion and inconsistencies, I did enjoy The Supper Club Murders and would be interested in reading the earlier books, which might alleviate some of my confusion around Bridget and Mirabelle. My overall impression is that author has not yet struck the right balance between humour, sadness and menace for the Smart women, but I am interested enough to keep reading. Many thanks to Joffe and NetGalley for this entertaining read.
The most entertaining character by far is Aunt Charlotte, whose commentary left me cackling and guffawing in my easy chair. A sample: " 'Tony Voyeur, remember? Our resident magician. You'll meet him later. He is doing a very controversial gazpacho.' 'Are we all expected to join in?' Aunt Charlotte looked worried. 'I'm not very nimble.'" The visions and fainting spells experienced by Ursula began to wear on my nerves slightly as the story progressed however, and the friendship dynamics between Bridget, Mirabelle and Pandora were rather confusing since I had not read books one and two. The tone of the book was also rather inconsistent, with the later chapters having a darker and more serious tone than the early chapters. The novel ends rather abruptly, with an obscure reference to events which will presumably occur in the next installment.
Despite some confusion and inconsistencies, I did enjoy The Supper Club Murders and would be interested in reading the earlier books, which might alleviate some of my confusion around Bridget and Mirabelle. My overall impression is that author has not yet struck the right balance between humour, sadness and menace for the Smart women, but I am interested enough to keep reading. Many thanks to Joffe and NetGalley for this entertaining read.