Maureen Johnson and Jay Cooper
With a murder rate in the fictional Midsomer County something akin to Detroit’s, and with a solid trope canon spanning a hundred years, mystery readers know that the small English village is the most deadly of places. And yet, we are drawn in by fantasies of thatch cottages, ancient wooden-beamed pubs, and the village fetes with a tea (and cake) tent. Don’t let these wondrous images lure you in!
Johnson and Cooper provide a solid, sobering guide to the extreme danger posed to an outsider in any quaint English village. If you must go (and they highly recommend against it), this handy guide points out the myriad places and people that will try to kill you. For instance “The Village Pond: Those ducks didn’t get fat on bread” and “The Person Who Opens the Door and Says, ‘Oh, It’s You.’ Well, they were right.” In addition to highly useful advice, each page is illustrated in a style reminiscent of Edward Gorey. Hey, you’ve been warned!