The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols

This character driven story will give you hope that there is a place for everyone, even the most misfit of misfits. Mrs. B, or Golda Bakofsky, owns six cottages who she rents to some interesting people. They all have their quirks and pretty much keep to themselves.

A dead body is found outside one of the cottages, which starts a whole progression of questions and even more suspicions of one neighbor to another. Mrs B keeps it all under control as virtual strangers step out of their comfort zones and begin friendships. One man is particularly suspect, but Mrs B is out to protect him at any cost.

The transformation of these disparate personalities is the story here with the added bonus of a terrific ending. A solid four stars from me and the hope of reading more from this author.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

The Marigold Cottage Murder Collective is a cozy mystery gem brimming with charm, wit, and just the right amount of mischief. Jo Nichols creates a lovable cast of amateur sleuths, a quaint setting you’ll wish you could visit, and a twisty mystery that keeps you turning pages. It’s a warm, feel-good whodunit that’s both clever and comforting—a must-read for cozy mystery fans!

A delightful cozy mystery with an eclectic band of characters! Definitely worth the read and I felt so attached to them by the end of it!

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective follows an unconventional group of neighbors turned friends as they try and solve a murder in their neighborhood of tiny cottages tucked away in Santa Barbara. Will they be able to solve the mystery before someone innocent is arrested for the crime?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters were quirky enough to keep my attention but not so odd that it was off putting. The found family aspect was heartwarming as well. I was also a bit surprised at the twist.

Thank you to Minotaur Books, Jo Nichols and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. Opinions are my own. This book is expected to publish August 19, 2025

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective is literary comfort food. Better than a typical cozy mystery, full of flawed and eccentric characters with a twisty and satisfying ending. I usually find numerous characters confusing when they appear at the beginning of a story . . . not so here. Each unique character's physical description and personality is defined as they appear in the book. By the time the scene is set with all participants I had very clear images in mind as well as the individual cottages in the Santa Barbara court. Occasional moments of LOL and some witty dialogue along with short chapters made this easy to pick up frequently during my busy week. A fun, quick read. Look forward to reading more of Jo Nichols.

This heartwarming mystery was such a delight! I had so much fun spending time with all the quirky residents of the Marigold Cottages. The characters and their relationships were center stage, but I appreciated the wrap-up of the mystery as well.

Recommended reading for when you're in the mood to curl up with a feel-good cozy-ish mystery.

Didn't finish. Got about 10% in and all the viewpoint changes from chapter to short chapter were too confusing, given that I didn't get invested in any of the characters - felt like the author was trying too hard to make them each wacky. Put it down and never cared to pick it back up.

There’s a secret in Santa Barbara. Not everybody has to pay millions to live near the beach in what’s called America’s Riviera. All you have to do is endear yourself to Golda Bakofsky, a/k/a Mrs. B., the quirky old lady who owns the Marigold Cottages, a group of charming Craftsman bungalows just minutes away from the water.

Mrs. B., a widow who moved west from New York when she was young, has lived there for decades and she collects people to live in the Marigold Cottages, often for below-market rent. There is Ocean, a lesbian artist with two kids; Sophie, a young theater employee with a traumatic past; Hamilton, an agoraphobic with an addiction to factoids; Lily-Ann, a zaftig and fearsomely intelligent woman with a bit of OCD, who came to the cottages after separating from her financial wheeler-dealer husband, Piotr; and Nicholas, who works at the city planning department and keeps away from everybody else in the cottages.

It surprises and dismays everyone when Mrs. B. invites the tattooed and bullet-headed Anthony to move into the tiny studio apartment that had been untenanted and used for storage. Not only is Anthony scary looking (Serbian Thug #2, as Sophie characterizes him), but nobody can figure out why Mrs. B. chose him to be a tenant. After only a few weeks, a corpse is found at the cottages and Anthony is quickly arrested, pegged immediately by a local police detective as the likely murderer because of his previous conviction for a violent crime. But Mrs. B. is insistent that Anthony would never do such a thing and rallies the tenants to his defense. They establish a group chat, calling themselves the Marigold Cottages Murder Collective, and dig into the case. The collective uncover much about each other in the process, which alters relationships and raises questions about the future of the Marigold Cottages.

On the night when an attack and a second murder occur, the collective agree on their theory of the case, which they present to the police detective who had previously been hell-bent to nail Anthony. But is their theory the truth?

Though the publisher calls this in the vein of The Thursday Murder Club, just take that as to be expected from a PR team when you have a group approach to amateur detection, especially when one of its members is elderly. The only book this reminded me of, a little, is Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, which also features an eccentric mother-hen landlady.

This is a feel-good mystery, with interesting characters and a more complex plot than I was expecting. One slightly odd note is that the police detective gets chapters with his own point of view, and he’s a real jerk, only interested in his own image and not at all in actually solving crime. This is consistent with the author’s clear anti-police narrative, but did make me wonder if it should come with more of a backstory.

This cozy mystery is written from a multi-POV and this does allow you to get to know the characters pretty well. This is especially important because in the beginning it feels like a LOT of people to keep up with. However, as the story progresses, there is no confusion of characters because we get to know each of them with short, chapters dedicated to each POV being offered at that time in the story. It started a little slow but once again, most likely because of the number of characters being introduced. I enjoyed the neighborhood and especially the chapters with the neighborhood group chats. This had vibes of Thursday Murder Club, Finlay Donovan and Vera Wong all mixed together. This is allegedly a stand alone book but honestly, I think we'd all like another visit with the eclectic group at The Marigold cottages. Grab a copy on August 15th when it releases and enjoy a fun, cozy mystery to wrap up summer. Thanks so much to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Jo Nichols for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

A cozy murder mystery with a quirky cast of characters. This was an enjoyable, if slightly predictable cozy mystery book about a group of neighbors who band together to protect their own after a murder happens on their property. There are quite a few characters which makes the beginning of the book hard to get into until you learn who all of them are, but they are fun to read once you do. Overall a solid 3.5-star mystery.

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective kept me entertained from the very beginning. I loved the way Jo Nichols portrayed each character. Each tenant has a quirky personality & a past that has landed each at the Marigold Cottages. I enjoyed the short chapters & each character 's point of view told the story. This book has a little bit of everything in it - humor, suspense, murder, family dysfunction, & even a bit of romance. I look forward to more books from this author.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, & the author for voluntarily letting me read this book & give my honest opinion.

Rating: 3.75 *Rounding Up!*
Mode of Reading: NetGalley Digital ARC, courtesy of Jo Nichols and the publishing team at St. Martin's Press, in exchange for my honest review.
It's an ARC... When does it Release? This book hits shelves on August 15th and you should snag yourself a copy if you love a cozy mystery filled with quirky characters.
How did I pick this up: Sara, the assistant marketing manager, saw I enjoyed another book with similar vibes (Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies) and sent me this one to try too. I’m glad she did since this was right up my alley!

Short Yet Sweet Review: This book is the perfect little cozy mystery for summer. I absolutely loved this set of characters and the small neighborhood vibe. Written as a multi-POV story, I felt like I got to know each character so well—and when it ended, I just wanted to go back to the cottages!
Mrs. B owns and manages the cottages and has filled them with a unique collective of individuals who all complement each other so well, even if they each need her help in different ways. It's her little found family, and she takes care of them, despite how different they all are. The story moves quickly and centers around solving the mystery of the dead body that turns up in their quiet community, putting their newest resident in the hot seat when the cops believe he’s the only possible suspect. But there’s more going on behind the scenes: Mrs. B’s land is extremely valuable, and some not-so-lovely folks want to buy her out... Could this be why a second body appears?

Jo Nichols made me fall in love with this eclectic group of characters and left me wanting to revisit this town again (even though it’s a standalone, this could easily become a small, cozy mystery series!). With its mix of POVs, text messages, and even a self described play script, Nichols uses multiple storytelling formats to keep things moving, and I never felt like the pacing lagged. The characters are dynamic, and the complex relationships between them add even more charm. I’ve seen this book compared to Only Murders in the Buildingand honestly, that’s the perfect match. If you love that hodgepodge group of lovable characters, you’ll fall for this group too!

You can't go wrong with a cozy thriller. They're always fast and easy listen/read. The narrators were good, I don't have any complaints. I liked the little bit of humor strewn about. All in all a solid cozy thriller.

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols is a delightfully quirky and heartwarming mystery that blends humor, suspense, and found-family charm with a sunny Southern California backdrop. With echoes of The Thursday Murder Club and Only Murders in the Building, this story follows a cast of lovable oddballs, each with their own secrets, who unite to clear their eccentric landlady’s name after she confesses to a crime they’re sure she didn’t commit. Nichols masterfully balances the cozy with the compelling, weaving in themes of redemption, chosen family, and the power of community. Funny, warm, and surprisingly twisty, this is a perfect summer read that will leave readers rooting for every misfit in Marigold Cottages.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This was a fun mystery with an eccentric cast of characters. There has been a murder at the Marigold Cottages and the residents set out to prove the innocence of their own neighbors!

Pros:
•I truly didn’t know where the mystery was going most of the story and it kept me guessing.
•I enjoyed the variety of characters
•I definitely didn’t guess the ending

Cons:
•Sometimes it felt like to many changes in POV from chapter to chapter
•Although it did come together in the end, throughout reading I felt like the plot was going in too many directions. I could see this working really well in a film format but on paper it did slow my reading down a little.

First, disclosure: I listened to the audio while scanning the text because the story started slow for me, and it took a great female narrator to pull me into the story and carry on.

Which I'm glad I did, because it's such a charming little murder mystery story! I loved the main characters. Maybe quirky is a bit of an understatement. They were…enchanting. I can’t pinpoint the feeling except that they all grabbed me. Each of them had a unique voice. Funny, awkward, petty, apologetic, nerdy, furtive. Together, they were like a ball pit with multi-colored balls, and I dove headfirst into their stories and grew to be fond of them like they were my own weird little family. I loved the different formats between narrative and playwright, and the chemistry between the characters (romantic and platonic both!) was fantastic! Lastly, though I was able to detect the mystery, it didn't affect the way I kept wanting to listen to the book.

I do, however, dislike the shift between first-person and third-person POVs upon character switch. I'm not sure what the purpose of this change is, and it was a bit distracting to me. I also thought there were too many POVs. Some POVs were only present once or twice. I even think one of them could be eliminated without affecting the story. But it could be a me-problem, because over five characters' POVs are usually a big turn-off for me. The fact that I enjoyed the story with seven POVs (I think there were seven? I could be wrong) says something about the writer's talent.

Overall, it was an enjoyable book. It sort of reminds me of a more romantic, less cartoony version of Vera Wong's Guide to Murder, with a great found-family as the cast, and it also touches on deeper themes of humanity while telling a cozy mystery story.

A very engaging cozy mystery
Mrs. B is the landlady who is drawn to accepting very different tenants. It took me a bit to get each character straight, but once I did, I appreciated their differences. Of course, murder plays a large role in bringing this found family closer together. The newest tenant, Anthony, is accused of committing the crime. Mrs. B is certain he is not responsible, and everyone works together to figure out whodunnit.
Short chapters, my absolute favorite in the summer made me breeze through this book. A very good outdoor read.

This charming mystery is set in Santa Barbara’s costal community of six Craftsman Cottages owned by the elderly Mrs. B who uses an eclectic sliding scale for determining rent for her tenants. Three weeks after leasing to an ex- con, a body is found in the bushes near the cottages. This delightful read has all the vibes of ‘Only Murders in the Building’. Told from multiple points of view. This is a fast- paced mystery filled with endearing characters. Jo Nichols has a witty writing style and I look forward to reading more of her work.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Highly recommended!

Enjoyable, cozy, hilarious. This is different from most books I typically read and it was a refreshing little mystery.

I love the trope of found family and the group of misfits in this book work so well together! I loved that we got chapters from each person’s pov in order to understand them better. The mystery was good and the characters are so lovable.