Give me more books with women who are older and wiser and are unapologetically themselves, please!

This murder mystery has a fantastic protagonist, Judith Potts, and two equally fascinating partners, Suzie and Becks. Together, they solve the crime of who killed her neighbor.

What makes the book most fascinating to me is that there are other stories within the overarching murder mystery. The character development is truly top-tier as we get to know Judith, Suzie, and Becks. They are women from different walks of life but end up forming this task force and each of them brings multiple things to the table that help solve the murder while also helping each other open up about their past and reckon with it.

The mystery part of this novel wasn't particularly exciting to me, but it did pull you in different directions as you try to solve it. Can't wait to read the next one!

Unique, cozy, and with a good amount of humor dispersed throughout, The Marlow Murder Club was a pleasant surprise.

I don't know exactly what I had expected originally from this story. Maybe more of a traditional cozy mystery or a trio of women who have been friends for a while becoming arm chair detectives? Either way, I was instead met with a story with bright women, all at different stages of their lives and with very different expectations put on them because of their lifestyles, coming together and using their talents, stubbornness, and determination to solve a mystery.

I loved having this group of women who have already established their place in the world nudging their way out of the status quo and creating an empowering female friendship and an Only Murderers in the Building-esq vibe.

If you're looking for a slow burn mystery with an unlikely English trio to cuddle up with this winter, The Marlow Murder Club may be for you.

The Marlow Murder Club started off interestingly, then started to waved, before quickly collapsing in the most random of ways. That it doesn't play fair by the murder mystery norms is something I'm quite comfortable with, but it doesn't do much by way of living up to the genre either. The characters are barely written, Thorogood fails to evoke any element of the setting, and it's just sloppily-written as a whole. There's really nothing to appreciate in The Marlow Murder Club by the end of it because it is so consistent in letting the reader down that you want it to get over so you can move on at the earliest.

The story was okay, but I felt like it had a bunch of holes in it and didn't really seem like it would be realistic. The characters were decent, but I felt like they were trying to hard. I might have liked this story better if I had not read the Thursday Murder Club books which are done so well and have wonderful characters.

Unfortunately, I have been locked out of my netgalley account for a few months and was not able to see which books I had on my list, in order to properly read and review. I do apologize and am doing a 3 for neutral. Will update once I’m able to obtain a copy and read!

Overall, I really enjoyed this cozy murder mystery. I am a huge fan of puzzles so I really liked the cross word puzzle aspect. I would recommend this book if you like fun characters, spunky older ladies, amateur sleuths. This book reminded me of the show Only Murders in the Building. I also love a good tidy ending. This was an easy, humorous and enjoyable read. It was a little predicable at times but there were still a few twists and turns I didn't see coming. I loved feeling like I was trying to figure out the murders right alongside them. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was how over the top it was at times.

The book started out really well and I enjoyed the main character. The humor came through well and the setting was enjoyable.

The Marlowe Murder Club is a cozy mystery that takes place in an adorable English village that serendipitously has houses lining the Thames river. The action never strays far from the river. It is almost a character in the book. This is a book that I would recommend to readers that enjoyed A Man Called Ove or the Thursday Murder Club. The main characters are 3 women who become sleuths and adventurers to solve a local murder that ultimately turns into 3 murders.

Enjoyment: 4.5
Total rating: 4.43

I'm a huge fan of Death in Paradise, so I went into the Marlow Murder Club with VERY high expectations - and a bit of apprehension. Would I love Thorogood's written stories as much as I love them when it's performed?

The answer is... Yes! What a relief to find that his characters are just as vibrant, quirky, and full of life and personality. Judith Potts is the meddling, lively, energetic septuagenarian I wish I had in my life. She honestly is everything. I hope to see her in many books to come. Judith is worth reading the book for. Period.

However, if you don't think that is enough, here is more: Thorogood delivers a light-hearted, witty, comedic whodunnit that plays fair, invites the reader to solve its puzzles, is well-plotted, and perfectly paced.


Disclaimer: In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a copy of The Marlow Murder Club

*Did not finish*

I couldn’t get into this book. I picked it up several times, hoping to make my way through, but I could never get past the first few chapters. I can’t really pinpoint what I didn’t like - the writing was good, the characters were interesting. It just wasn’t my vibe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader copy in exchange for the honest review.

Judith Potts, 77, lives by herself in a house on the river she inherited in Marlow, We works as a crossword puzzle writer and is very reclusive. One evening while swimming in the river, she hears a gun shot across the river from her home. She knows that she cannot get to that side, swims back to her house and calls the police. Not satisfied when she is told the next morning that the police found nothing, Judith drives over to her neighbors home, and after a short search finds his body.

Who would kill a man who was basically liked by all? But Judith knows that clues can be deceptive (crossword clues prove that) so she starts her own search for the truth. The unlikely characters, that she enlists to help her, entertain while moving the story forward. Look forward to more adventures by this trio.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery featuring Judith, an elderly woman with secrets, spunk, and an abundance of energy! We need more septuagenarian sleuths!

Judith was a great character, and I liked how her secrets were revealed a bit in layers, still with a bit of a question mark at the end. I was fascinated by her job as a crossword creator and I would have enjoyed having more of that in the story. The mystery itself was interesting, but the monologue where Judith laid it all out at the end was a bit tedious.

Promising start to a series and I will look forward to checking out the next one. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy of this title.

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood was a fun British Mystery. This one had a protagonist that reminded me of Angela Landsberry from Murder She Wrote and a plot that reminded me of Agatha Christie. It was fun to see citizen sleuths be embraced by the police.

I loved This book!
Judy is such a loner and I can Relate to that. One night while swimming she hears a scream and fears her neighbor has been murdered.
The police won’t do anything so Judy must take it upon herself to solve this murder
I love Self made detective books and this one hit all the marks

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood

Av pleasant cosy mystery that three adult women feel they can solve better than the police.

Funny, secrets, thrills are all in this book. I enjoyed reading it. Fantastic characters.

Thanks to Net Galley for sending me an advanced reader’s copy for my review.

When asked to review The Marlow Murder Club I was told if you love Only Murders In the Building, you will love this book—well I definitely LOVE that show so I decided to give it a try. What I didn’t realize is that the author was actually someone whose work I was already very familiar with. Robert Thorogood is the creator and writer of the BBC/Britbox TV mystery show Death in Paradise, which is a favorite of mine. When I made that connection, I was even more excited to read the book, and I was not disappointed.

The first character we meet in the book is Judith Potts. She is 77 years old, lives alone, and is perfectly happy doing so—or at least that is what she tells herself. She keeps busy by setting crossword puzzles for newspapers—it also helps keep her mind sharp. One night she goes out for a swim in the Thames and witnesses the murder of her neighbor, Stefan Dunwoody. The police don’t believe her so she ends up going over there to check for herself and finds that he has been shot.

The police still won’t take her seriously, so she sets out to investigate on her own and is soon joined by Suzie, who is a dog walker, and Becks, the wife of a local vicar. An unlikely trio, they are determined to find out who killed Judith’s neighbor and two other people whose murders they are certain are connected. Along the way, they learn that their little town has a lot of secrets! Acting SIO DS Tanika Malik finds herself out of her depth investigating these murders and ends up reluctantly accepting their help.

The Marlow Murder Club is a delightful and well-plotted traditional British mystery with many surprising twists along the way. It is filled with interesting and unique characters and set in a quaint British town. While there are moments that have you on the edge of your seat, the three unlikely sleuths also provide some light and funny moments, and the friendship that grows between them is sweet. I could definitely see this series as a TV show in the future, and Robert obviously has the experience to pull it off. I understand that another book in the series is coming out later this year and I can’t wait!

Judith is elderly and very happy with her life and the way it is going. When her neighbour Stefan is murdered and when the local police seem to dismiss her as a cranky old lady, she decides to join up with two other ladies Suzie and the very prim Becks, the vicar's wife to embark on a bit of detection and try to sort out who murdered whom.

When a second murder occurs, they step up their action - in a head on, amateur attempt but which is strangely successful and keeps them out of harms way though they come perilously close on several occasions of endangering themselves. They do not follow protocol or procedure and ignore the local police force but come up trumps with clues and suspects - much more than the local police.

The setting itself was picturesque - how these murders take place in serene, quiet and such pretty locales is something to ponder!

A well rounded mystery detective story.

I was very excited about this book but I found it very hard to actually get into it and finish the book. Judith Potts was definitely the highlight of the book - such an interesting character that one without doubt falls on love with. The overall plot though was not as particular as expected and I was overall quite disappointed. I would still recommend giving the book a go but one shouldn’t expect a fast-paced mystery.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

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.

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...

3.25 stars. This novel is a cozy mystery that will have you turning the pages to figure out who is behind several murders in a quaint English town called Marlow. After the murders happen one by one and connections are made, it becomes clearer that a serial killer is at play. The author does a great job at establishing a strong sense of place and introducing the main characters who become clear favourites. Three women begin to form a unlikely alliance when the ringleader, seventy-seven year old caped crusader Judith Potts, cannot let go of the murder of her neighbour. It was enjoyable to try and piece together the mystery as the story unfolds and clues and secrets are revealed. There is humour in these quirky characters, and their antics, which adds a fun element. Where the story begins to chafe is near the end. There are no spoilers here, but let’s just say the author wraps things up with a neat and tidy bow, and the conclusion was teetering on the edge of being a little farfetched for this reader. However, the book was a quick read, enjoyable, and worth my time. A novel for the summer escapist!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.