A Beginner’s Guide to Murder

* Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2022 *

‘Guaranteed to hook you . . . At times both touching and darkly funny’ Anna Bailey, Sunday Times bestselling author of Tall Bones

‘A beguiling, beautifully crafted treat of a novel. It holds so much wisdom yet wears it so lightly. There are shades of Kate Atkinson in the way Rosalind balances dark themes with dry humour, a great plot, exquisitely realised characters, and more than a hint of feminist sensibility . . . truly everything I want in a novel’ Jessica Moor, bestselling author of Keeper

‘[An] excellent character-driven tale . . . by turns amusing, sorrowful, and thrilling. Stopps is definitely a writer to watch’ Publishers Weekly, STARRED review

‘A quirky, witty thriller that reminds us not to underestimate the older generation’ Best

‘Darkly comic and gripping’ Woman’s Own

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Grace, Meg and Daphne, all in their seventies, are minding their own business while enjoying a cup of tea in a café, when seventeen-year-old Nina stumbles in. She’s clearly distraught and running from someone, so the three women think nothing of hiding her when a suspicious-looking man starts asking if they’ve seen her.

Once alone, Nina tells the women a little of what she’s running from. The need to protect her is immediate, and Grace, Meg and Daphne vow to do just this. But how? They soon realise there really is only one answer: murder.

And so begins the tale of the three most unlikely murderers-in-the-making, and may hell protect anyone who underestimates them.

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Readers LOVE Rosalind Stopps:

‘I was hooked from the start and finished it in little more than two days, because it was truly unputdownable. Beautifully written and really quite scary in places . . . A brilliant book. More from this excellent writer please!’ Amazon 5*

‘This is how fiction should be done! A fabulous, thrilling tale and I loved it!’ NetGalley 5*

• A highly original coming-of-old novel about three women in their seventies who set out to save a young girl’s life through murder.

• Murder as black comedy. Agatha Christie crossed with MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER.

• Longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award 2022

• The literary follow-up to THE STRANGER SHE KNEW, which was shortlisted for the Paul Torday Memorial Prize 2020.

• Ideal book club fiction: It deals with loneliness in the elderly, giving a voice to the often ignored, as well as exploring dark themes of abuse in many forms.

• There has been a recent spate of media coverage about the lack of writers over 40, and this answers the call for novels written by older writers that feature older protagonists.

• Lots of PR opportunities with Rosalind. At 65, she’s the oldest author on the HQ Fiction list, and she and her books play an important role in broadening out the scope of fiction across the market.

Competition: the;stranger she knew;hostage;sanatorium;last house on needless street;girl a;night she disappeared;that night;maidens;heights;whole truth;dinner guest;how to kill your family;appeal. by;clare mackintosh;sarah pearse;abigail dean;cara hunter;b p walter;gillian mcallister;cara hunter;louise candlish