The Supper Club Murders, by Victoria Dowd, is a zany, tongue-in-cheek murder mystery.
Writing comedy is a difficult thing to do, and since this novel is set in England, it is possible that some of the humor washed over my American head. There were some funny moments, though, and a few times I thought that the dialogue might be funnier if it were acted out.
Since I hadn't read the first books, and did not know the Smart women, I had to learn certain things about their characters along the way. Pandora and her daughter Ursula Smart are a couple of women who are so strange, I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to invite them anywhere. However, the rest of the characters at this dinner party were even stranger, some of them downright mean, creepy, insane, or all three. In short, I did not care what happened to any of them. These people don't even enjoy each other.
As this dinner party progresses, we meet the joyless villagers, and hear their resentments and bickering. Some of the conversation was amusing, but I was waiting for the murder mystery, which did not begin until almost halfway through the book.
When the dead bodies are found, the plot suddenly moves faster. There are secrets learned and a mystery solved, but in the end, nothing was very surprising.
Thank you, Netgalley and Joffe Books for this interesting opportunity.
