The Queen of Poisons: A Novel

by Robert Thorogood

Overview

The Marlow Murder Club is on the hunt for a killer...

Geoffrey Lushington, Mayor of Marlow, dies suddenly during a town council meeting. When traces of aconite—also known as the queen of poisons—are found in his coffee cup, the police realize he was murdered. But who did it? And why?

The police bring Judith, Suzie, and Becks in to investigate the murder as civilian advisors right from the start, so they have free rein to interview suspects and follow the evidence to their heart's content… which is perfect because Judith has no time for rules and standard procedure. But this case has the Marlow Murder Club stumped. Who would want to kill the affable mayor of Marlow? How did they even get the poison into his coffee? And is anyone else in danger? The Marlow Murder Club is about to face their most difficult case yet...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728284477
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	06/04/2024
Series:	The Marlow Murder Club , #3
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	6,919
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

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

"What the world needs now is more Robert Thorogood and the three heroes of the Marlow Murder Club...This is nothing less than the ultimate in cozies." — First Clue

"Ingenious, ultracivilized mental gymnastics guaranteed not to disturb your sleep." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-03-23
The cozy yet high-mortality English village of Marlow is once again roiled by murder, this time involving a victim at the very top of the local food chain.

Seeking zoning approval for the pod hotel she’s convinced will make her a mint, dog walker Suzie Harris attends a meeting of the Marlow town council to get the lay of the land. Her attempt to pass herself off as having official business before the council is much less successful than the fatal poisoning of Marlow mayor Geoffrey Lushington, who gets a dose of aconite in his coffee, or maybe in his sugar, that stops the meeting before it starts. The obvious suspects are the four other council members who were present in the room where it happened: estate agent Marcus Percival, accountant Debbie Bell, architect Jeremy Wessel, and late-arriving Sophia De Castro, a homeopathic podcaster who actually grows aconite in her garden. But once DI Tanika Malik appoints Suzie and her partners in crime detection, Judith Potts and Becks Starling, as civilian advisers, they start asking nosy questions and moving from one suspect to the next with disconcerting dispatch, broadening the field to consider Alec Miller, the retiree who served tea at all the council meetings except this one, and an unknown blond man “average in…height and in weight” spotted in the immediate environs. In the end, Judith carries off sleuthing honors, though at a certain cost to her domicile.

Ingenious, ultracivilized mental gymnastics guaranteed not to disturb your sleep.

Kirkus Reviews