The Marlow Murder Club: A Novel

by Robert Thorogood

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

If you enjoyed Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, then here’s ANOTHER club for you to join! Grab a pencil, a tumbler of scotch and deep need to solve a local murder. Make that TWO local murders. On second thought, make that THREE local murders. This is a fast and fun read.

2023 EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE, LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN AWARD

"An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining, and beautifully written." —B. A. Paris, New York Times bestselling author

A delightfully clever new mystery from creator of BBC One's hilarious murder mystery series Death in Paradise

Meet Judith: a seventy-seven-year-old whiskey drinking, crossword puzzle author living her best life in a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of Marlow.

Nothing ever happens in Marlow. That is, until Judith hears her neighbor shot while skinny-dipping in the Thames. The local police don't believe her story. It's an open and shut case, of course. Ha! Stefan can't be left for dead like that.

Judith investigates and picks up a crew of sidekicks: Suzie the dogwalker and Becks the vicar's wife. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.

When another body turns up, they realize they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…

Robert Thorogood, has turned the Christie-mystery on its head with this ever-so-sly cozy perfect for readers who love Richard Osmond's Thursday Murder Club and An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good.

"Lightweight but no-nonsense and genuinely brainy"—Kirkus Reviews

"Damn right funny and heartwarming…great fun"—Crime Time

"I love Robert Thorogood's writing."—Peter James, international bestselling author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728250533
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Series:	The Marlow Murder Club , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	738
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Robert Thorogood is an English screenwriter and novelist. He is the creator of the BBC One murder mystery series Death in Paradise.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/07/2022

Judith Potts, the 77-year-old protagonist of this witty series launch from British author Thorogood (A Meditation on Murder), enjoys the occasional nude swim in the Thames, which runs past her mansion on the outskirts of the town of Marlow. One evening while out for a dip, Judith hears a gunshot coming from the vicinity of her neighbor Stefan Dunwoody’s garden. She calls the police, who do a cursory check and conclude there’s no cause for alarm. Incensed at their lackadaisical approach, she decides to investigate and finds Stefan with a bullet hole in his forehead. Other murders with the same m.o. that follow suggest a serial killer is on the loose. Judith is joined in her detecting pursuits by no-nonsense dog walker Suzie Harris; Becks Starling, the vicar’s efficient if insecure wife; and Det. Sgt. Tanika Malik, who, due to budget cuts, leads the police investigation rather than a more experienced officer. How these women of a certain age unite to solve the crime is as entertaining and intriguing as the fair play mystery itself. The way the characters evolve as their relationships grow sets this light mystery above the pack. Agent: Ginger Clark, Ginger Clark Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"The finale and its grand solution are worthy of Agatha Christie." — Library Journal, Starred Review

"[A] witty series launch from British author Thorogood...How these women of a certain age unite to solve the crime is as entertaining and intriguing as the fair play mystery itself. The way the characters evolve as their relationships grow sets this light mystery above the pack." — Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"The creator of the Death in Paradise series crafts a triple-decker puzzle in a Thames-side English village...Lightweight but no-nonsense and genuinely brainy, like Anthony Horowitz without all the meta." — Kirkus Reviews

"An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining, and beautifully written." — B. A. Paris, New York Times bestselling author

"Damn right funny and heartwarming…great fun." — Crime Time

"A hugely enjoyable murder mystery written with wonderful verve, humour and compassion. Utterly delightful." — Robert Webb

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2022

At 77, Mrs. Judith Potts is totally satisfied with her life. She lives in a mansion in Marlow, England, and she skinny-dips at night in the Thames. In fact, she's swimming when she hears her neighbor Stefan Dunwoody cry out in protest, and then a gunshot. Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik and her team call Stefan's death a suicide, but with no weapon in sight Judith is convinced it must have been murder. She recruits two other women to her team of amateur sleuths: Becks, the local vicar's wife, who seems unhappy with her life, and could use an outlet; and dog walker Suzie. While the police fail to find any clues to Stefan's death, the women of the Marlow Murder Club search for suspects. However, Judith's plan to identify Stefan's killer to the police doesn't work out as expected. VERDICT Fans of Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club will like the amateur sleuths introduced in this puzzle from Thorogood (author of the "Death in Paradise" mysteries, which have been turned into a BBC TV series). While avid mystery readers might recognize the twist, the finale and its grand solution are worthy of Agatha Christie.—Lesa Holstine

Library Journal

2022-01-26
The creator of the Death in Paradise series (Murder in the Caribbean, 2018, etc.) crafts a triple-decker puzzle in a Thames-side English village.

When crossword compiler Judith Potts hears a shout and a bang from the yard of neighboring art gallery owner Stefan Dunwoody, she’s convinced he’s been shot. But DS Tanika Malik, of the Maidenhead Police Station, brushes off her report as a likely car backfire. Next morning, when Judith finds her neighbor shot in the head, Malik naturally says his death was probably an accident or suicide. So Judith, struck by the Faith medallion adorning Stefan’s body, decides to investigate on her own—or rather, with the help of Becks Starling, wife of the vicar of All Saints Church, and dogwalker Suzie Harris. Briefly discouraged when the obvious suspect, auction house owner Elliot Howard, with whom Stefan had publicly quarreled, proves to have an ironclad alibi, they redouble their efforts when cabdriver Iqbal Kassam is found shot to death in his home wearing a Hope medallion. Now even Malik is persuaded that the two men have been killed by someone who’s presumably targeting a third victim, and over the objections of her own staff, she deputizes the amateur sleuths to work with her. Since Andy Bishop, the solicitor who seems to have robbed Iqbal of a hefty legacy from the late Ezra Harrington, also produces an alibi for his murder, the four women have their work cut out for them. Are the deaths linked by a common school background, a fondness for rowing, or a Mark Rothko painting Elliot sold to Stefan more than 30 years ago?

Lightweight but no-nonsense and genuinely brainy, like Anthony Horowitz without all the meta.

Kirkus Reviews