The Marlow Murder Club (The Marlow Murder Club, 1)

The Marlow Murder Club is the first in a new series by Robert Thorogood, best known for A Death in Paradise produced by the BBC. This series is going to be a charming cozy mystery series set in England and features, first and foremost, a 77 year-old author of crossword puzzles. She was unique in many ways: she kept to herself in the huge old house she'd inherited from her great-aunt. Every evening she stripped out of all of her clothing, donned her multi-use, floor-length cape, and made her way to the river for an evening swim. One evening as she swam she heard a shot from the other side of the river at the home of her neighbor, Stefan Dunwoody. She tried to climb ashore but unable to and so returned home to call the police. After waiting 20 minutes someone arrived, gave the place a cursory walk-around, and left. That wouldn't do so the next day she thrust her punt across the water and checked herself. There, in a very unlikely spot, she found the body of Stefan, in the water, with a hole in his forehead. She called the police again. During the course of her investigation, Judith Potts was joined by two others: Becks Starling, the middle-aged, dissatisfied wife of the vicar, and Suzie Harris, a middle-aged dog walker who was all alone in life. Life was changing for the three of them and they bonded over that and the murders; yes, there were several now. What a fabulous example of the genre as well as the traditional English mystery. Eventually the police asked for their help as they were making more progress than the inspectors. Only three inexperienced amateurs could solve this one. They each had their own, very divergent personalities but, whether they knew if or not, were each very much in need of a friend. Judith had a very logical, mathematical mind, so she thought everything through; Becks was more emotional and more conservative but was a quick thinker; Suzie knew everyone in Marlow and so had a never-ending stream of resources. They were a fabulous team that succeeded in solving these difficult murders. The police DS, Tanika Malik brought her own sets of talents and issues to the table. This was a terrific book. Well-written with insightful characterizations and a lovely setting. I look forward to more. I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Marlow Murder Club by the Poisoned Pen Press, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #poisonedpenpress #robertthorogood #themarlowmurderclub

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Robert Thorogood’s The Marlowe Murder club. All opinions are my own. I have recently read several lovely and enjoyable murder mysteries featuring a cast of elderly detectives. I knew as soon as I read the description that I had to read The Marlowe Murder Club next. Judith is a seventy seven year old woman, living in a mansion on the Thames. She does not fit into the stereotypical expectation of an elderly person. She skinny dips, she drinks, she wears a cape (!), and she takes flack from no one. She is also sharp as a tack. During her nightly swim, she believes she overhears her neighbor’s murder. Of course she reports it, but the police department brushes her off. Well, Judith is not going to sit by and do nothing about the local police’s failure to take it seriously. She sets out to investigate herself, and soon forms a ragtag group dedicated to solving the murder. I appreciated Thorogood’s characterization of our cast of characters. Judith was well drawn, she was fierce, and I admired her grit and determination. I also really enjoyed the setting, which was instantly intriguing. I did have some issues with the book; the police department’s bumbling and complete departure from normal protocol made it a bit hard to suspend disbelief. Also, the mystery was not much of a mystery, which means there was a decided lack of tension and suspense. Ultimately, I felt the book held a lot of promise based on the premise, but it didn’t pan out to be as enjoyable as I’d hoped. More mystery, less cozy would be my hope for the next book.

I had been looking forward to this, and I was not disappointed.