Overall rating: 4.5 rounded down

This was such a fun and delightful cozy mystery! Plus if you like British humor, which I really do, it is quite funny as well! Recommended for lovers of cozy mysteries, especially if you appreciate the journey as much as the destination.

I will definitely be reading the future books in this series!

While this was a mystery first and foremost, I really loved all the protagonists. There's Judith Potts the 77 year old cryptic crossword creator, Suzie the blunt dog walker, Becks the too proper wife of a Vicar and Tanika the by-the-books detective. They were flawed but loveable. I really enjoyed their found family/murder club. I loved how they pushed each other outside their comfort zones and empowered one another to take control of their lives.

I especially loved the main character Judith Potts. She was so independent, brilliant, and quite an introvert too. And just like the other members of the murder club I liked that she wasn't static, she changed throughout the book and started to let other people in.

Overall I appreciated the focus on women being brilliant, strong and empowered. I always worry about men writing women but this one I thought was done very well.

Now, onto the mystery, while I did figure out who dun it, too early on, I still enjoyed the journey very much, and the book still managed to give me a bunch of edge-of-my-seat moments. And I enjoyed the path our intrepid amateur sleuths took to solving it.

Possibly because the author is from the world of the TV, there were a lot of scenes that I could easily picture, especially the climax. I can imagine this being turned into a movie/TV series and I'd be more than happy to watch it.

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press and NEtGalley for the eARC!

While swimming in the Thames, Judith, 77, hears gunshots at her neighbour’s house across the river. When she can’t convince the police a murder has been committed, she decides to investigate on her own. She is aided by Susie, local dog walker and Becks, the vicars wife. As their investigation continues and as the murder count rises to three, the clues seem to point in several directions, all of which lead to dead ends. Still they refuse to give up which leads them into ever more perilous positions. Can they solve the crime before one of them becomes the fourth victim?

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood was just a whole lot of fun. The story kept me entertained throughout and, if at times it put a strain on my willing suspension of disbelief, it made up for it with three of the most likeable amateur sleuths I’ve ever come across in the genre. I don’t know if this is the beginning of a new series but I hope so because I am so looking forward to see what shenanigans Judith, Susie, and Becks get up to in the future.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

The Marlow Murder Club follows Judith Potts, crossword puzzle creator, who is swimming in the River Thames one evening and hears her neighbor arguing with someone and being shot. When she decides to investigate herself, she meets Suzie, a local dog walker, and Becks, the vicars wife. This eclectic trio learns there are more murders to be solved and takes it upon themselves to investigate, much to the horror of Tanika Malik, the local detective in charge. Eventually Tanika sees that the women are much more valuable than they first seemed, solving lots of clues before her police can. The women in this story are diverse and extremely likable. This was a great story with great characters. I think I saw there was another Marlow Murder Club coming and I will for sure be reading it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of the book.

Thank you to the author, Netgalley and my partners at Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of this title. After discovering the cozy mystery genre through the popular Finlay Donovan series, I’ve been on the hunt for more, and this one provided a similar type of story with a different set of quirky characters and plot.

Judith Potts is the eccentric protagonist who hears suspicious noises in her neighborhood one late night, leading her to believe that a murder may have occurred. A septuagenarian whose hobbies include regularly swimming naked in the River Thames and setting crosswords for newspapers, Judith is a delightful character whose sense of justice (and likely a desire for adventure) drives her to pursue the truth behind the death of a neighbor.

Thorogood excels at writing characters with engaging personalities. I was pulled into this story not only by the central mystery of the plot, but largely by a desire to discover more about the lives of its intriguing heroes. I enjoyed the group of ‘neighborhood detectives’ that Judith ends up forming with other female characters, and the journey that their friendship takes throughout the investigation. The alternating focus of the story between the mystery of the murders and the lives of these women and their budding friendship was a solid balance in storytelling and character development.

There’s a good amount of moving parts and I didn’t always follow the progression of the mystery-solving aspect, but I got enough to understand the ending and get a satisfying resolution to the story. The subtle sense of humor injected into the writing style subdued the serious moments and ensured that this cozy mystery focused more on the cozy aspect and stayed a fun and relatively lighthearted read.

After septuagenarian Judith Potts witnesses the murder of a neighbor while taking her nightly swim in the Thames, the local police don't believe her. story---and she begins investigating the crime herself. Together with her new friends Suzie, a local dog walker, and Becks, the vicar's wife, they set out to uncover the truth about the killer, who doesn't stop with the initial victim.

I appreciate any story where the main characters are older and are pretty much normal people who get sucked into a mystery. All of the books' characters are engaging, there's plenty of humor, and the plot has plenty of twists to keep readers guessing. Recommended for fans of British mysteries, cozy mysteries, and anyone who enjoys books featuring characters of a certain age.

Marlow Murder Club
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Cozy Murder Mystery
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/3/22
Author: Robert Thorogood
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Pages: 304
Goodreads Rating: 3.89

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Judith Potts is 77 years old and blissfully happy, living in a faded mansion outside of Marlow, a whiz at crossword puzzles, and no man to tell her what to do. One evening, while out swimming nude in the Thames River, 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, dog-walker, and Becks, wife of the local Vicar. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. As the bodies drop, is there a serial killer out there? Or is this a big trap?

My Thoughts: This is the first book in this quirky cozy murder series. Generally Cozy Murder Mysteries are not my cup of tea, but the cover and title name intrigued me. The characters are well developed with depth, quirkiness, spunky, and intelligent, since the concept is what we have seen before, the characters really made the book what it is. The lady trio does a better job at investigating the murders than the cops do! The author’s writing style is creative, impressive, complex, and brilliant, I felt like I was right next to Judith trying to solve the mystery. The best part of this book was the story was not realistic and it just works for this book and works well. The conclusion was complex but Judy does such an amazing job at explaining that it just works very well for this book. I will definitely be interested in the second book in this series.

I have two things to say before I dive into my review. 1. I was nervous when I saw this book. I love "The Thursday Murder Club" books by Richard Osman and I was initially afraid this was just going to be a rip-off of these excellent book [<i>I am here to say that they are SO not. More on that to come</i>], and 2. I knew I knew the name of the author from somewhere. It just kept rumbling around in my mind until I was watching an episode of "Death in Paradise" and there was his name. He created the show. I had been seeing his name every night as I binged watched that show [<i>which I totally love and once I realized it was he that had written this book, I had no worries about whether I was going to like it or not</i>]. What an interesting way to start a book right?

This was my fourth 5 star read in a row, which seems like some sort of record to me [<i>my rating system is much different than most, but that still doesn't mean I have a plethora of 5 star reads, quite the opposite actually</i>] and due to my initial concerns about this book [<i>The Thursday Murder Club is an excellent series, but those characters are POSH. Totally. These characters are much more down to earth, more like the every day person. SUCH a huge difference in how they look at things etc</i>], it makes it even more surprising. This was an EXCELLENT read. Judith, Suzie, and Becks [<i>Oh Becks. What a fastidious person. I love her, but WOW, she can be exhausting. I can only hope that Judith and Suzie help her loosen up a bit</i>] and such a fun trio and I love how the DS [Tanika] works with them instead of just ignoring the abilities and evidence they bring to the table. It is thoroughly enjoyable to read a book with older women in it that are still vibrant, productive human beings that bring much to their community. They are amazing and I loved every second with them.

I will say I had part of the mystery figured out [being a mystery reader helps, plus I had read the book that some of this mystery is based on so that helps], but not all of it and that reveal shocked the heck out of me. I just never saw that person coming. Which makes this the best win ever. When you can write a book where I am totally surprised at the end, well, that makes it 5 stars alone.

Well done. I cannot wait for the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Robert Thorogood, and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun mystery. In a small village in England, 77 year old Judith’s neighbor is murdered and she starts investigating herself, eventually ending up with some other locals helping her and even helping the police.

Honestly, the biggest issue with this book is the title - there is no club, which makes it feel like this book is trying to capitalize on the popularity of the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. It actually shares with that series a senior citizen investigating, a British setting, and a fun vibe just this side of being a cozy mystery - it’s just a bit short of being as good as those books but the similar title invites comparisons. And yet, it worked to get me to read it, and I really enjoyed it and would even read a sequel. So maybe it’s just smart marketing! 🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Love Robert Thorogood! Thorogood brings characters together that normally would not be in each other’s lives. Three women come together to solve a recent murder in the village of Marlow. Judith, an elderly avid crossword and puzzler along with Suzie, a dog walker and Becks, the vicars wife all come together to solve who killed Judith’s neighbor. However, it’s just not one murder they have to solve.

Robert Thorogood’s The Marlow Murder Club is a fast-paced, well-written, and wonderfully humorous cozy mystery.

Septuagenarian Judith Potts lives alone in a mansion just outside Marlow. She is completely content being single and spends her time swimming naked in the Thames and setting crosswords for The Times newspaper. However, while she is out for a swim, she overhears the murder of her neighbor. Unfortunately, the local police do not believe that Judith’s neighbor was murdered. Judith launches her own investigation and is soon joined by the local Vicar’s wife, prim and proper housewife Becks as well as blunt and lively dogwalker Suzie. And, when another person is killed, the trio soon realize that there is a serial killer loose in Marlow…

This is such a fun book! The mystery plot is well-paced with some great twists. The viable suspects are appropriately smug, slimy, and suspicious! I really thought I had figured out the mystery early on but I like that Thorogood throws in some nice surprises. Admittedly, parts of the plot are a little predictable but I didn’t mind because the characters and story are so much fun!

The Marlow Murder Club ladies engage in some absolutely ridiculous and laugh-out-loud hijinks in their quest to uncover the serial killer. However, there is surprising depth in this novel and I love the more subtly humourous and heartwarming moments. I particularly like that Thorogood carefully builds these women’s relationships with each other. The book heavily features supportive and positive female friendships as well as women having adventures. Too many books often relegate older women to the backseat and they rarely have lives of their own outside of their children and husbands.

But, there is too much exposition in the big reveal. I wish there had been more action. However, ultimately, the book wraps up quite nicely. The big climax is flashy, over-the-top, but so much fun and it really fits! Is it ridiculous? Sure. Did I have to constantly suspend my disbelief? Absolutely. Did I mind? Not at all!

Judith is a wonderful and unique protagonist! She is a breath of fresh air with her mysterious past, her love of whiskey and travel sweets, and her insane crossword solving skills. I loved watching her form genuine friendships with Suzie and Becks as well as DS Tanika. These women are all likable, well-written, and distinct characters. They could so easily have been caricatures. Instead, these women are relatable and written with warmth, authenticity, and vibrancy. I particularly love my name twin meticulous Becks who is trying to find fulfillment away from her boring life as a doting housewife and mother. However, I wish Suzie and Tanika had as much development as Judith and Becks. I really like that all the women contribute their unique skills to solving the mystery and I love their genuine support for each other.

The Marlow Murder Club is an engaging and fantastic read. I cannot wait to see what these ladies get up to next!



🔎🔎🔎🔎 ½ magnifying glasses out of 5!

The Marlow Murder Club was a fantastic read. If you are a fan of Murder, She Wrote you will love this!!

Seventy-seven-year-old Judith Potts might just be my new idol. A strong, independent woman, who, along with her friends attempts to solve the murder of her neighbor. This book is full of wit. It's so clever and charming that you will not be able to put it down.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A thoroughly brilliant book.

Fun to read, great characters and a plot that kept me hooked.

Lots of suspense and intrigue that kept me guessing till the end.

An enjoyable afternoon spent in the sun with a cuppa and this book, well worth every second.

Highly recommended, 5 stars from me

Judith Potts is living her best life in an old mansion she inherited from her beloved late aunt. Things are going great until she overhears the murder of her very sweet neighbor while she’s having her usual swim in the Thames. Unfortunately for her, the police don’t believe her neighbor’s demise was murder, and Judith is left to investigate the poor man’s death herself. As the killer strikes again, Judith must hurry up and find who the killer is before the number of victims continue to increase, which quickly becomes an investigation that makes her two unlikely new friends.

This new series sounded like it would be a wonderful read, and I’m happy to say that it was! We mainly follow Judith, a 77-year-old woman who is happy creating crosswords for the newspaper, drinking, and swimming. While she doesn’t have any friends or family connections anymore, she’s content until overhearing the murder of her kind neighbor hits her life like a storm. Along the way, she makes two unlikely new friends: Suzie, a straightforward and friendly but nosy dog-walker, and Becks, the friendly wife of a Vicar.

Together, the trio find themselves in a variety of hilarious to awkward situations as they investigate the murders. Some of the shenanigans they were involved in were absolutely hilarious. The shenanigans were a nice touch of humor as we watched these three characters blossom and discover a cure for the loneliness the three didn’t realize they were experience: each other. I loved watching their friendships with each other grow as each character developed, leaving me wondering what will happen next and how we’ll see the three of them blossom as the series continues.

One of the things that I liked about the book is that there wasn’t a romance plot. Romance plots are great, and it would be cool to see one for an elderly character like Judith, but she’s not interested so I can’t see that being in the cards. It’s one of the reasons I really liked that there wasn’t a romance plot, especially because we won’t get a long love triangle as Judith’s slowly forced to choose between two different love interests. It’s just refreshing to not deal with a romance plot, especially a love triangle, and see the core relationship drama be between three friends as they grow closer.

The ending of the book was a bit flashy, but do I care? No! It was truly wild and one piece of it confirmed a theory I had about Judith about her past. I can’t wait to see what Robert Thorogood has in store for all us readers when the follow-up novel eventually drops!

The Marlow Murder Club is a deliciously fun cosy mystery that will appeal to readers who enjoy M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin and Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series.

Septuagenarian Judith Potts lives alone in a grand but hopelessly cluttered Arts and Crafts mansion whose garden runs down to the banks of the River Thames near the town of Marlow, Bucks. She writes cryptic crosswords for a living, and enjoys nude swims in the river. During one such excursion, she hears raised voices, followed by a gunshot, from the garden of her neighbour, Stefan Dunwoody, on the opposite bank. The only problem is that when the police arrive, led by D.S. Tanika Malik from Maidenhead Police Station, they're unable to find any trace of Stefan - or anyone else - on the property. Dissatisfied, Judith decides to start some digging herself into what's happened to Stefan, and it's not long before the actual bodies begin to pile up.

Aiding Judith in her amateur pursuit of the truth are new friends she makes in the course of her covert inquiries, dog-walker Suzie Harris and Becks Starling, the local vicar's under-stimulated wife. They make quite a trio as together they uncover secrets and gather evidence, bolstered in their endeavours by the consumption of quite a lot of whisky. Defying D.S. Malik's polite but firm admonishments not to get involved, the women hone in on the solution to the crime, setting a trap for the killer that very nearly backfires.

The Marlow Murder Club is a heart-warming and entertaining cosy mystery, with many laugh-out-loud moments and an unlikely but charming posse of protagonists. Author Robert Thorogood is also the creator-screenwriter of the long-running and popular BBC television series Death in Paradise, which chimed with my experience of reading the novel, as his writing style makes it easy to imagine the narrative presented in audio-visual format. Thorogood balances the central mystery narrative with lighter interludes, a good dollop of humour and engaging character development over the course of the story. I particularly enjoyed the references to cryptic clues that were sprinkled throughout.

I'd enthusiastically recommend The Marlow Murder Club to any reader who enjoys a lighter style of mystery, albeit with a deceptively tricky solution. This was an enjoyable romp through a beautiful area of England with engaging characters and a satisfying, if rather melodramatic, conclusion and a final surprising revelation.

My thanks to the author, Robert Thorogood, publisher Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this entertaining and feel-good title.

Judith Potts is not your typical old lady detective. Her keen mind is kept sharp by the cryptic crosswords she constructs, she keeps her body toned with swims in the Thames, and she drinks too much scotch. She would be lonely if she cared about having friends, but she is quite content with her life in the village of Marlow. But when a neighbor is killed practically in front of her, she can’t help but investigate, and forms an unexpected but ultimately rewarding alliance with two more of her neighbors.

I hope that the crime wave in Marlow continues, and we get to see more of Judith, Becks, Suzie and Tanika!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel seemed promising to me. I liked a lot of things about Judith Potts, who at 77 still earns money writing crossword puzzles and swims naked in the Thames in the dark of night. I liked that Judith meets and works with two other women from the community to help a female Detective Sergeant solve murders. I liked the town of Marlow and the various houses, the church and the local businesses. Thorogood's writing style was fine. But ultimately, I really thought this was poorly plotted. I can't exactly say why without spoilers, but it's hard to spoil things when you make it so obvious. It's just not sneaky enough because of choices the author made about what could have been a well plotted mystery. I also found the subplot about Judith's marriage in her twenties was unnecessary and stupid and did not move the book anywhere. It actually detracted from it. That frustrated me so much because this could easily have been a better book.

Robert Thorogood’s book The Marlow Murder Club is a delightful mystery. It is loosely classified as a cozy but has a lot more depth to it than many cozies I’ve read in the past. The characters are varied, with unique personalities and foibles, and Judith Potts is the glue that holds the group together. She’s a seventy-something woman who answers to no one, sets crossword puzzles, and enjoys her whisky as well as her swims in the Thames. Meanwhile, the humor is light, the plot is intricate enough to keep a reader involved, and the twists are unexpected.

Overall, this book is a joy to read and I am looking forward to the next adventure of the Marlow Murder Club.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

If you loved The Thursday Murder Club, you will also love The Marlow Murder Club!

Judith constructs crossword puzzles for several major papers and magazines. She is an older adult, and has a naturally inquisitive mind that sometimes gets her into trouble. She lives on the Thames, and one night, while swimming in the river, she hears voices and a gunshot at the house across from hers. She tries to get out and help, but by the time she does, the killer is long gone, and her neighbor is dead.

The police, of course, tell her to stay out of it, but that's not how Judith operates. She connects with Suzie, a local dog walker, and Becks, the vicar's wife, during the investigation and convinces them to help her investigate.

This story is a fun (and frustrating) mystery, but it is also a story of friendship. And, similar to The Thursday Murder Club, it shows how people underestimate older adults, especially women. I look forward to a sequel, which I am sure will be written!

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this thrilling mystery!

The Marlow Murder Club brings together what I hope will be a long-lasting trio of crime-solving women in Marlow, one of those quiet English villages along the Thames. Of course, some might say St. Mary Mead was a quiet village, too. The women are the intrepid Judith who hears a murder while she is swimming in the nude in the Thames. Joining her are Suzie, the dog-walker, and Becks, the vicar’s wife.

Judith is certain she witnessed a murder, but the police think she is a silly old woman. However, Suzie, who walks the victim’s dog, agrees with her and the vicar’s wife is suspicious, too. When there is a second shooting, the police start listening, when there is a third, the women are deputized, which seems highly unlikely. It all culminates in a fraught encounter between Judith and the murderer while Becks and Suzie move mountains, hoping to reach her in time.



I liked The Marlow Murder Club though there were a few creaky moments. The least credible was the final confrontation where it seems everything goes wrong. It feels like the end of a James Bond movie where the villain details his entire plan while Bond approaches death in a Goldberg-machine death trap, except in this case, it’s Judith explaining how she solved the crime and Goldberg created the obstacles blocking her rescuers.

I like the characters and hope they get another chance to impress. First novels in a series can be the best when they don’t feel like the beginning of a series. But when it’s clear a series is intended, they are often a bit creaky because they have so much to introduce. This had the growing pains of introduction. I hope in future books in the series, Becks and Suzie get more space and time to become full-fledged characters.

I received an e-galley of The Marlow Murder Club from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Marlow Murder Club at Poisoned Pen Press | Sourcebooks
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