The Widows' Guide to Murder is the first book in a village cozy mystery series by Amanda Ashby. Released 3rd March 2025, it's 264 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also currently available on KU.
Small village cozies are perennially popular and it's lovely to find a new series entry. The book is populated by small town eccentrics, undercurrents of rage, jealousy, and scandal, into which the new local village library assistant has been unceremoniously thrust without warning. It checks all the boxes: intelligent late middle aged sensible widow/librarian, small town gossip, an outlandish ensemble cast of apparently harmless oddball characters, and a satisfying resolution and epilogue.
It's not derivative, but fans of Robert Thorogood (Marlow Murder Club), Janice Hallett, and Richard Osman will find a lot to like here. The author has a genuinely good grasp of character and setting, good pacing, and a satisfying denouement and conclusion.
The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 8 hours 33 minutes and is capably read by Diana Croft. She has a well modulated alto voice and an impressive command of regional accents (East London, Midlands, etc), and switches seamlessly between a range of ages and male and female (even Scottish) without a hiccup. Sound and production quality are high throughout the read.
Four and a half stars. It's a diverting read. It would be a great choice for home library, or a binge/buddy read. There are two books extant in the series, with a third due out at the end of June 2025.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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