Book Synopsis:
Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn’t come home last night so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow’s resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver’s body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him – it’s time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.
Oliver was a rather complicated chap and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll crack the case in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and the gang will need to keep their wits about them, otherwise a killer may sail away scot-free
My Review:
What a gripping, fun read this was! I absolutely raced through this in a couple of days as I was so enjoying it I couldn’t stop reading.
This was actually the first book I’ve read in this series, so I enjoyed getting to know all the Marlow Murder Club members and finding out more about their lives. I really liked the main character Judith who immediately endeared herself with me from the opening pages with her love of doing gardening with a glass of whiskey! The three members make a great team, each bringing a different element to the investigation which made it very fun to follow them throughout the book. They are obviously very fond of each other and their attempts to keep Judith safe were incredibly funny at times.
I thought this book was incredibly absorbing and I quickly found that I was unable to put the book down as there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest. The investigation involves lots of suspects and as the story continues, we find out more about the secrets each of them are hiding. I really enjoyed unpicking the events alongside the characters and trying to work out which of them had done the murder. Some of the events do have to be taken with a pinch of salt as they wouldn’t happen in a real investigation but I think that added a bit of charm to the book and is what made the book so fun to read for me.
Overall, as you can probably tell I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to going back and reading the other books in the series. There were lots of hilarious moments which made me laugh out loud as well as some moments that were incredibly gripping and meant I read far too late at night as I wanted to see what happened. The ending was brilliant and I hadn’t actually been able to guess who the murder was which I always love. The book ends on a cliff hanger and I’m now very excited to read what happens next.
Huge thanks to Indie Thinking for my copy of this book. If you’re looking for a fun, gripping cosy crime book then I highly recommend this one.
About The Author:
I’m the author of THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB books, set in my hometown of Marlow in Buckinghamshire.The first book in the series has been made into a TV show and can be watched in the UK on the Freeview channel U&Drama and in the USA on PBS/Masterpiece. A second TV series is coming out in 2025 and is based on Death Comes to Marlow, but also includes some brand new murders as well.Before all of this, I created DEATH IN PARADISE for the BBC and have also written four standalone Richard Poole murder mystery novels. I’m really proud of them, and if you like Death in Paradise, I hope you’ll love the books as well.
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