A Widows' Detective Club crime novel, The Widow's Guide to Skulduggery (2025) begins and ends with a wedding. The group of women friends who are also widows are back, with Ginny, JM, Hen, and Tuppence caught up in a twenty-year-old murder, when a dog digs up a skull. A podcaster influencer gets involved in the happenings of Little Shaw village and the supposed curse, which is reinforced by events, including another murder. This enjoyable gentle crime mystery with village rivalries, secrets, and an unfriendly new police inspector makes for a three and a half star crime read rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement. With thanks to Storm Publising and the author for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

The protagonist is the heart of the story — witty, curious, and just bold enough to chase down the truth, even if it means ruffling some feathers. I loved watching her piece together the puzzle, often with help (and hilarious commentary) from a cast of colorful supporting characters.

This is the 3rd in this series, and this one reads as a police procedural rather than a cosy mystery, what it was advertised as. The OAPs in this case now call themselves the murder club, and basically, one village is a bit posher than the other village, and the bride was from the poor side of the village about to marry a man from the posh side.
But what really finished it for me is that the other village characters answered their questions as if they were the police. Now, there seems to be a lack of police in the whole story, not like the first book, where the OAPs got told off for interfering.
I have given it 3 stars as the concept of cosy mystery has all but disappeared.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Storm Publishing for an ARC copy to read, and this review is entirely my view of this novel.

The Widow's Guide to Skulduggery follows our librarian and amatuer sleuth Ginny as she tries to get to the bottom of who may have sabotaged a friend's wedding. We head back to Little Shaw in this 3rd book in the series, where Ginny and her friends investigate the discovery of a skull found at the wedding of a prominent son of the neighbouring village and girl that has ties to Little Shaw's most notorious family.

Who would want to stop the wedding? Is it part of a curse? Whose skull is it? So many mysteries to unravel - All while dealing with a police detective who has a bias against Little Shaw and an absent DI Wallace to help out Ginny and her friends. I love the friendships in this series and of course I love edgar the cat. Ginny is a gem. A fun mystery to keep you entertained and guessing.

Ginny Cole just wanted to attend her friend’s wedding in peace. Instead, the ceremony grinds to a halt when the ring-bearer dog unearths a skull in the churchyard—and drops it right at the bride’s feet. With curses, family rivalries, and a 20-year-old unsolved murder suddenly back in the spotlight, it’s up to Ginny and the Widows’ Detective Club to uncover the truth before old secrets ruin more than just a marriage.

This is the third entry in Amanda Ashby’s Widows’ Detective Club series, and it might be the most entertaining yet. The setup is delightfully dramatic—sabotaged wedding, feuding villages, and a mystery buried (literally) for decades. Ginny and her friends are as witty and resourceful as ever, each bringing a different strength to the sleuthing. I particularly enjoyed how their investigation stretched beyond Little Shaw, giving us fresh settings and an even wider cast of colorful, suspicious characters.

What makes this series shine, though, is the heart beneath the humor. Ginny continues to grow—moving forward from grief, finding her voice, and leaning into her unexpected role as an amateur detective. And of course, Edgar the cat once again adds his own brand of snarky paw prints to the mystery.

The pacing was spot on, with plenty of twists to keep me guessing, and the final reveal tied the decades-old crime neatly back to the present-day drama. If I had one quibble, it’s that DI Wallace only makes a small appearance this time—but the widows more than carry the story themselves.

Verdict: A witty, heartwarming, and delightfully twisty cozy mystery. Fans of small-town intrigue and sharp, clever sleuths will love diving into this one.

The third entry in the Widows' Guide series opens with a wedding between two people from very different backgrounds: Grace is from Little Shaw and her family is known for their criminal ways, while Theo comes from a noble family in a neighbouring town, Walton, and his mother is not happy about the marriage. Neither is his best man or his former girlfriend, also in attendance.

Right before the ceremony, a dog locates and drops a skull down in front of the wedding party, calling a halt to the proceedings, as police must now be called in.

Grace, convinced that this is a sign that she's not meant to marry Theo, calls off the wedding and goes into hiding at Ginny's, while Ginny and the other widows decide to investigate. Ginny is apprised that there is a longstanding curse on anyone attempting to get involved with those in Theo's town, and acrimony has reigned between the two towns for centuries.

Wading through superstition, Ginny and company slowly tease out various motives and secrets, and, not only solve who put the skull in the churchyard, but who also killed the person whose skull it is (a twenty-year-old mystery).

It's another enjoyable, cozy mystery from author Amanda Ashby, and I was entertained throughout. Ginny continues to grow in confidence.,DI Wallace makes only a small appearance, though Ginny's amusing and opinionated cat Edgar gets his little paw prints on things, and I hope there are more adventures in store for these widows and good friends.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Widows' Guide to Skulduggery is the 3rd-book in Amanda Ashby's Cozy Mystery series, The Widows' Detective Club. As the name suggests, the stories center around a group of older women, all widowed, who work together and end up solving mysteries in their local area. Our MC is Ginny Cole, who after recently losing her husband, moves to the village of Little Shaw looking for a fresh start.

We get all of the stories from Ginny's perspective and I think Ashby has done an incredible job building out her character. I adore her so much.
When Ginny moves to the area, she gets a new job at the local library, and also gets befriended by a group of women, who really take her under their wings, as she begins the process of trying to move on with her life after the loss of her beloved husband. At this point, she's solved a couple of cases with her friends and they're all becoming quite comfortable with their new labels as amateur sleuths.

The mystery kicks off at wedding, when the canine ringbearer uncovers a skull that happens to have belonged to a local woman who was killed 20-years prior. The wedding was already tense, as the two families hail from rival villages, so the skull is the nail in the coffin so to speak. The police get called in, and the ceremony gets called off.

Ginny and the rest of the widow detectives feel terribly for their young friend who has called off her wedding. They suspect that someone may have placed the skull there purposefully in order to break the couple up, but who would do such a terrible thing?

With a few suspects in mind, they kick off another stellar investigation, which ends up spanning 2-towns, 2-decades and involves a colorfully-catty set of characters. While I wouldn't say the mystery of this 3rd-installment, was the most intriguing for me, probably my least favorite of the series thus far, TBH, I'm nevertheless so comfortable with this group of characters at this point, I hardly minded.

I like being with them. I'd be down for any mystery they want to get involved in. Additionally, I feel like every series has books you connect with more than others, and even though this wasn't my favorite, it was still a lot of fun. It could just be that it is a different sort of mystery. It doesn't read as a straight up murder mystery from the start, though it does eventually turn in that direction.

I'm genuinely pleased with it overall. It got wild, and I loved how the Widows really put themselves out there in this one. They were each following leads, thinking on their feet and working together in a super compelling way.

Thank you, Storm Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am quite fond of this series at this point, and as mentioned, love the women in this group. I hope they're back in many more mysteries to come!!

Ginny Cole the librarian / amateur sleuth is attending the wedding of her friend Grace .
There is already a fair bit of acrimony between the wedding parties , and a dog digging up a skull puts the icing on the ( wedding ) cake .
The police are called and the wedding doesn't take place .
The wedding is called off due to the hatred between the two families.
Ginny and her close knit group of friends try hard to find out how the skull got there and try their best to get the wedding back on track .
Can they do it?
Another enjoyable read from Amanda Ashby .
A great series for lovers of the cosy mystery genre .
Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing.

This is really my favorite new series.. I am not normally a fan of British mysteries. The characters in this series just work. The mystery was strong, and I love following along with the widows' adventures. The supporting characters add to the book. It is a great, light cozy mystery with unlikely crime fighters. I look forward to the next book.

I love Amanda Ashbys writing. This is such another great cozy mystery which I loved so much. I can't wait to read more in this series as the first 3 are triumphs

The Widows Guide to Skulduggery is a great book. I absolutely love Amanda Ashby. This is such a fantastic series!! Such a cozy book. As always, I love the characters and the shenanigans that they get themselves in to. I would highly recommended!!

Amanda Ashby is on to a winner with this series - 4 widows in a cosy village righting wrongs and solving crimes by generally getting in the way!

This is a common review for the three instalments out of this series. A lovely, entertaining, and fast paced series featuring a twisty, surprising and entertaining mystery
Loved it, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was my first book by the author, and while I’d heard great things, it didn’t fully meet my expectations. The premise is fun and cozy—a village wedding interrupted by the unexpected discovery of a human skull, prompting a group of witty widows to investigate.

The mystery unfolds in a lighthearted way, with no grisly details, and the cast of characters has charm. That said, the pacing dragged at times, and I struggled to stay fully engaged. It reads like a warm, familiar hug—perfect for fans of gentle whodunits—but it lacked the spark I was hoping for. Still, it’s readable as a standalone, and those who enjoy small-town cozies may find this one comforting.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Storm Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review of "The Widow's guide to skulduggery" by Amanda Ashby - Storm publishing - review copy

It is my first book from the author, and I have heard good things about the author and her books. I can't wait to start this book.

When a human skull gatecrashes her friends' big day, it officially becomes the worst wedding Ginny Cole has ever been to. But as the assembled guests await the police, the two families staring daggers at each other across the aisle, Ginny starts to suspect that these nuptials were deliberately sabotaged. Together with her fellow widows in crime-solving, JM, Tuppence and Hen, she decides to uncover who wanted this marriage dead on arrival.

The police have no interest in a twenty-year-old skull, so Ginny and her friends have free reign to investigate. But untangling a web of family feuds and ancient village rivalries soon escalates into much more when a new body turns up...

The widows have stumbled into a devious plot decades in the making, but can they find their way to the truth before one of them joins the village body count...?

Rating:
I should have just opened the book before Ginny took me in and that was a huge plus. Ginny and her friends who are widows take on a case where they have to solve a twenty-year-old case that the police have abandoned. Ginny and the others find a clue that may be the crucial piece in the solution. The book is written in easy language, where it is balanced with half humor and half seriousness which works really well. I am an invisible character who helps solve the mystery and I have a party.

I give 5 hearts out of 5 hearts because I had a special reading experience and I will definitely read more of the author and this series.
💜💜💜💜💜

Another cosy village drama for the indefatigable group of widows to unravel. We get to meet up again with some old faces and meet some new ones. It like a cup of hot chocolate or a hug in a book. You just know that although there may be murder and upset, you’re not going to be made to read grizzly descriptions (although in other books I admit to liking the macabre and gruesome). This book, although part of a series could be read as a stand alone.

An ill-fated wedding provides a new case for The Widows' Detective Club. It's a cosy-style mystery that investigates ancient curses and family rivalries, with a cast of vivid characters and twisty mystery. I like the characterisation, the dynamic between the widows and the balance of humour, mystery and suspense in this story.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

This is book 3 of the series - it certainly works as a standalone, but I would advise reading the previous books to fully understand the characters and their relationships.

The Widow's Guide to Skulduggery sees the return of the crime solving widows Ginny, JM, Tuppence and Hen. This time round, a skull is uncovered at a wedding - when the police are not interested, can the gang solve the mystery?

I really like this group of characters, they are all very different but all very entertaining. I loved the rivalry portrayed between the two villages in this story, but I did miss DI Wallace (the character was away for most of the book), and there definitely wasn't enough of Edgar the cat for me! I look forward to book 4 to see what the women get up to next time.

Thank you Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC! When the skull of a murdered woman is dug up at a wedding- this can’t be good. Ginny Cole and her friends dubbed the widows detective club are thrust into yet another investigation that also takes place in the snobby village next door. What happens next in this twisty cozy mystery will be getting the girls in trouble but that’s what they do right? Can’t wait for more from this lovely group and they’re trusty town friends!

I hadn't read the previous two books and don't think they were necessary to understand the characters and relationships, but perhaps I might have been more invested in them. I just didn't care about anyone in this book and was so bored I gave up at 87.9%. I probably only had another half hour, but I kept putting it down and trying to get back into it with no luck.

Kudos though for the very up to date use of a social media influencer in the plot.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.