Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper

On 30th October it was my very great pleasure to attend a wonderful evening hosted by Bloomsbury Raven looking at some of their latest crime fiction. At that event I received a brilliant goody bag and one of the books it contained was Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson with illustrations by Jay Cooper. It’s my pleasure to share my review of Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village today.

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village was published by Raven Books on 26th September 2024 and is available for purchase in all the usual places including directly from the publisher here.

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village

Your essential guide to not getting murdered in a quaint English village, where danger lurks around each cobblestoned corner and every bite of scone or sip of tea may be your last.

If you insist on visiting, do yourself a favour and bring along a copy of this guide book. It may just keep you alive

Brought to life with dozens of Edward Gorey-esque drawings and peppered with allusions to classic crime fiction, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village gives you the tools you need to stay alive.

Repeat after us: don’t look in the pond, keep away from the maze and never trust the vicar.

Good luck. You’re going to need it.

My Review of Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village

A handy guide to staying alive!

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered is brilliant. I have to comment on the physical properties of the book to begin with as they are so, so good. The cover of the hardback is incredibly robust and weighty (so that it might easily be used as a murder weapon itself). The end papers embody the elements one might expect in a Quaint English Village – from tea cups through cricket bats to croquet sets – all interspersed with threatening skulls! The monochrome illustrations have a feeling of doom just right for the subject matter and each, like the cover, has an iterative use of red, reminiscent of blood, danger and, consequently, murder!

The book is split into two main sections. Firstly, The Village where curtain twitchers, note writers and cake makers might all be getting ready to drown the unsuspecting in a vat of some kind, and secondly, The Manor where tradition and murder go hand in hand. I confess, according to my attempts at the two quiz sections, I’m likely to end up murdered (or murdering) in either setting…

The text itself is hilarious. Anyone who has ever wondered what it must be like to live in a place like Agatha Christie’s St Mary Mead where there seems to be an inordinate number of murders will fully appreciate the tongue-in-cheek humour and the scenarios depicted. And don’t be fooled. There’s an ending to Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered that might take you by surprise…

Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered is witty, and clever. Filled with recognisible stereotypes, poking fun at village life and drawing on all the crime fiction we’ve ever read, Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered would make a superb gift book for a crime fiction lover. It’s enormous fun to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it – though I’ll never look at a vicar in the same way.

About Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow (with John Green and Lauren Myracle), and The Bane Chronicles (with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan). Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian, and she has also served as a scriptwriter for EA Games. She has an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and lives in New York City.

For further information about Maureen, visit her website, follow her on Twitter/X @maureenjohnson and find Maureen on Facebook and Instagram.

About Jay Cooper

Jay Cooper is the illustrator and writer of over 20 books for kids young and old, including the national best-seller Your Guide To Not Getting Murdered In A Quaint English Village—and a contributor to the New York Times #1 best-selling series, The Last Kids on Earth. Jay is also a graphic designer and creative director of theatrical advertising, having crafted art and advertising for more than 100 Broadway shows, including a number of Tony and Pulitzer Prize winners. Most importantly, his dog is named Bradley Cooper Cooper.

For further information about Jay, visit his website, follow him on Twitter/X @jaycooperart and find Jay on Facebook and Instagram.