Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there's no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don't believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local vicar. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. I had previously only known this writer through his Death in Paradise series....one of my favorite shows. But this story and these characters need a show of their own. So immensely clever and the characters are a hoot! I loved every minute of this story and was actually sad when it ended. I want more of Judith and her posse immediately! Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood is a fantastic fun mystery with older characters that I absolutely LOVED and read in LESS than 24 hours!!!!

Judith Potts is the 77 year old protagonist. She lives alone in a gorgeous mansion left to her by her Aunt. She loves being single, no one to tell her what she can or can't do. She creates (sets) Crosswords for the local newspaper and does jigsaw puzzles she gets at the charity shop even though she clearly wants for nothing.

Judith LOVES to swim and one night she witnesses a murder and of course the police don't believe the elderly woman. And that simply won't do! She teams up with Suzie a dog walker and Becks, a quite formal and clean-cut wife of the local Vicar. They ARE the Marlow Muder Club.

The characters are so well written, I absolutely LOVED these women and their shenanegans!

The story is perfectly paced revealing small juicy pieces a little at a time.

There are quite a few twists and let me say when the killer was revealed my jaw was on the floor.

This was such a wonderfully written perfectly unique mystery featuring older sleuths

If it’s one thing I discovered that I love during this last year is that I love a cozy mystery. Especially with old folks forming their own Murder Mystery clubs. Yes, this book is similar to The Thursday Murder Club, there is no escaping that comparison. However, this book was enjoyable despite that. I enjoy any stories that include a rag tag cast of characters and this fulfilled that checkbox. The book did lose a bit of steam towards the end but I can overlook that and suspend my belief the police department will rely on amateur sleuths to solve a crime. Overall a fun read.

This is my first book in this series and with this author. I love that the main character is 77. She is full of life and I hope I am like Judith at that age. Overall this is a fun and lighthearted mystery. It is a bit slow in the beginning.
#TheMarlowMysteryClub #PosionedPenPress #NetGalley

Every once in a while, I enjoy a cozy, and I did find The Marlow Murder Club fun, in large part because the main character is 77, wears a cape, and loves good whiskey. :)

I'm drawn to older eccentric protagonist and Judith Potts fits the description. Having introduced the characters and setting, this new series has the potential, but isn't quite there.

NetGalley/Poisoned Pen Press
Cozy Mystery. Jan. 7, 2021. Print length: 340 pages.

Judith Potts is a 77-year-old English pensioner who lives in a house on the Thames she inherited from her Great Aunt Betty. To keep herself busy and make a little money, the widow makes crosswords for national newspapers. When she hears a gunshot that seems to have come from her neighbor's house in Marlow while swimming and being disappointed with the police response, she puts her crossword logic to work. While "helping" Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik, she makes friends with two other neighbor women to solve that murder and subsequent crimes. The characters are of various ages and backgrounds and there is also humor sprinkled throughout. I hope there is a sequel. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
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SO much fun. I think this one would be perfect for fans of The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules.

Oh, I adored this! This is what a proper murder mystery thriller should be. Twists and turns with an unexpected ending - bring on Book 2!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this cozy mystery. There was not a single dull moment as we ride along with Judith, Suzie, and Becks to solve the murders and reach the quite unexpected ending. I look forward to reading The Marlow Murder Club 2.

This was a cute cozy mystery that was light hearted but still kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what happens next. It was like a mix between The Thursday Murder Club and Only Murders in the Building. I really enjoyed the characters and I was excited to read that there was going to be a second story! I hope this becuase a new series.

This book was terrific fun. It features three amateur women detectives widely varied in age and background, a delightfully
light and humorous tone, a thrilling climax and a very ingenious solution right up there with the best of Golden Age mysteries
I highly recommend it and look forward to the next in the series

This was a fun mystery! It was a bit like a cozy with the amateur sleuthing but it had a more serious tone and was less silly/humorous than most cozies. It reminded me a lot of The Thursday Murder Club in tone and character. Overall, it was an enjoyable fast-paced mystery that was easy to read without getting depressing. I'd definitely read another one in this series.

I love Robert Thorogood series on television "Death in Paradise " unfortunately the books are not easily available in Australia, so when this one came on Netgalley I was thrilled. And yes it is as good as the only other book I was able to get my hands on here.
The story starts with a 77yr old women swimming naked in a river and ends with .......well you will need to read it, all I"ll say is It is a fabulous and funny story that just kept me captivated from the start to finish, and I was so sorry when it did. Another winner book, plenty of excitement, human characters and a great ending.

crosswords, small-town, murder, murder-investigation, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, sleuthing-seniors, sly-humor, situational-humor, verbal-humor, England, friendship, theft, cosy-mystery*****

Fun!
There's the puzzle maker, the dog walker, the rector's wife, and the police detective?! Judith starts the sleuthing after hearing voices and a gunshot at her neighbor's while swimming naked in the Thames (she's 77). The police disregard her but she is determined to follow up and make them listen. The detective only listens after the rector's wife pipes up, the second murder occurs, and the dogwalker joins in. This book is as much fun as the characters and has plenty of plot twists and red herrings. Loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

If you are like me, you dream of someday solving mysteries, perhaps joining or starting your own detective agency. If that's you, this is surely a book for you!

Judith Potts is an iconic figure in Marlow, her village. he resides in a great mansion and writes crossword puzzles for a living. At 77, she is still able to swim in the Thames and walk to town when necessary. When Judith witnesses a murder in her neighborhood, she is unable to interest the police. Undeterred, she begins her own investigation which sends her directly in to the path of two other unlikely detectives who all together, the make an excellent squad.

Really enjoyed this story. If you love Richard Osman , enjoyed Suburban Dicks, or just love a rollicking British mystery than this is a novel for you! Here's hoping for many more featuring the MMC, they are charming and entertaining for sure! #TheMarlowMysteryClub #PosionedPenPress #NetGalley

Genuinely brilliant and intriguing! I loved Judith from page one, and was hooked into her story immediately. With plenty of twists and turns, I would not hesitate to recommend this brilliant book to anyone.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It wasn't the type of mystery/thriller book that caused any stress or anxiety while reading it. I'd describe it as cozy more than anything. I was surprised by the plot twist and how I didn't see it coming, but it felt slightly like I had been cheated. There was no way for the reader to really solve the mystery themselves, which is half the fun with a mystery novel.

In terms of criticisms, I'd say this book is definitely cheesy. The dialogue is cartoonish, and I never really felt myself getting attached to any of the characters. There were points where I found myself skimming because I simply didn't care about the minutiae, and the final chapter with the grand reveal included a monologue so incredibly long that I skipped through most of it. The most unrealistic part was that that monologue was allowed to go on for so long.

However, it was an entertaining read and if you enjoy a mystery, no matter how cheesy, then this book might be for you.

This was such a good fun book, with likeable characters. It is uplifting and light hearted despite the murders, and it kept me turning the pages. A lovely cosy read.

A delight! Perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club. A recommended first purchase for most fiction collections.

FOCUS ON The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Thorogood, Robert. The Marlow Murder Club: A Novel. Poisoned Pen Press (Harper Collins imprint), Naperville, IL. 2021. [ISBN-10: 000843591X; ISBN-13:‎ 978-0008435912.]


In the television series 1883 (Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Origin Story), as James Dutton (Tim McGraw) is about to take their daughter Elsa (Isabel May) to assist him with a particularly difficult and dangerous task, Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) asks her husband, “How am I supposed to make her a lady if you keep treating her like a man?” James responds, “Plenty of ladies in this world, but we're short on decent men.” This isn’t an insult; it is actually a testament to the competence and character of Elsa who balances her masculine and feminine sides very well. This is what Robert Thorogood has done with the potential lady characters in The Marlow Murder Club; he unleashes their inner derring-do.

Seventy-seven-year-old Judith Potts, who generates crossword puzzles for a living, witnesses what she thinks is a murder; she didn’t observe it yet heard it. She contacts the police who do a cursory inspection of the location, do not find a dead body or anything remarkable, then leave. Judith isn’t having it; she knew what she heard. If the police weren’t going to investigate, she would. She proceeds to visit all the places frequented by the potential victim.

Before long, the inexperienced yet determined acting DIO (Detective Inspector Officer) Tanika Malik contacts Judith and asks her to back off and let the police do their job. By the way, what exactly did Judith hear?

“Not just a gunshot. I heard someone call out something like, ‘Hey, no!’ and then I heard the gunshot.” [p. 13]

The author paints a pretty picture of the town of Marlow with beautiful homes, colorful gardens, and rowers on the river. There couldn’t possibly be a murder in Marlow, muses DIO Malik. Could there?

In the course of her exploits, Judith befriends Suzie Harris, a dogwalker, who knows just about everyone in town, a valuable quality when you’re searching for a murderer. And before long, Becks Starling, the prudent and reluctant-to-get involved vicar’s wife, rounds out the trio. Each has her own secrets as well.

Word gets around and DIO Malik again asks Judith to butt out and let the police handle things. Judith agrees but fails to live up to her promise; it isn’t in her nature.

What with three expert amateur sleuths and a rookie acting DIO, the prestigious Royal Henley Regatta and a possible fine art heist, and a whole host of dirty rotten scoundrels—what’s not to like? If you’re of a less serious bent, you may just find The Marlow Murder Club an entertaining read.

Robert Thorogood titles are available on Amazon.


ROBERT THOROGOOD
Detective Inspector Richard Poole murder mysteries
(Standalones)

ROBERT THOROGOOD
Death in Paradise (BBC)

A Meditation on Murder (2015)
The Killing of Polly Carter (2015)
Death Knocks Twice (2017)
Murder in the Caribbean (2018)

Twitter at @robtho


Peggy McGibney is a performance enhancement consultant, professional and personal development coach, and published author of numerous articles about healthcare, education, and business. She also served as chair and member of Writers’ Bloc. This organization provided information about writers and writing in the Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties in Florida, and sponsored lectures and workshops. PM has a master’s degree in educational psychology and in systemic studies with expertise in cognitive, behavioral, systemic, and linguistic disciplines and was a previous faculty member in health sciences, communications, and faculty development disciplines. She is a NetGalley member and professional reader. Her interviews and reviews may be found at Peggy McGibney Authors and Books on Facebook.