The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood Series: Marlow Murder Club #1
Published by Recorded Books on May 3, 2022
Source: Library
Genres: Mystery
Length: 9 hrs 47 mins
Pages: 340
Format: Audiobook
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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To solve an impossible murder, you need an impossible hero…
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 realise 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…
I honestly expected to thoroughly enjoy The Marlow Murder Club. It features three very different women who form a friendship and solve murders. We have Judith, in her 70s, who lives on her own in a mansion on the edge of town, drinks too much, and sets crossword puzzles. Becks is the vicar’s wife, who usually spends her time taking care of her family and house. Suzy is a dog-walker who is estranged from her adult daughter. I like the friendship the women form and how they push each other outside of their comfort zones.
The plot is where the story really let me down. Judith very early on has a couple of suspicions and then they spend the rest of the book trying to prove her theories. A few of the clues were unbelievable. The twist wasn’t surprising, although it did make the mystery overly convoluted. Even the suspenseful ending was over the top and borderline silly.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator actually did a great job. She captured the characters’ personalities well and everyone had a distinct voice. While the characters didn’t save this one for me, I might give the next a shot. There were some funny moments and the interactions between the three women are well done.
About Robert Thorogood
Robert Thorogood (born 1972 in Colchester, Essex) is an English screenwriter and Sunday Times Bestselling novelist. He created the BBC One murder mystery series Death in Paradise as well as co-created two spin-off shows from it, Beyond Paradise and Return to Paradise. Since then, he’s written The Marlow Murder Club series of murder mystery novels, which he turned into a TV series for PBS and UKTV.
He won France Film’s “En Route to France” award in 2012.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
Did you watch the PBS miniseries that aired earlier this year? I enjoyed the actresses who played the three women but had a hard time following the plot (maybe I was multi-tasking) and decided it would be a good thing to read the book too.
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it. I really enjoyed it when I read it last month. I found it fun and funny.