About the book:
From the publisher
The new cozy crime novel from the bestselling author of The Marlow Murder Club, soon to be a major TV series on PBS Masterpiece
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 rented The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, to host an exclusive party for the society, but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And when 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, by all accounts, a rather complicated fellow, with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case… otherwise a killer will walk free.
My thoughts:
I was absolutely delighted to spend time with the gang in this newest entry in the Marlow series. This, like the others, is a traditional mystery with good characters and an interesting plot. Readers will want to see if they can solve the case before the three amateurs and the police.
Anyone who has read others in the series, or who has seen the television adaptations, will I think be happy to pick this one up. It was enjoyable.
Those who are new to the residents of Marlow may want to read this too. They will then pick up all of the others, I think.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this title. All thoughts are my own.
Pub date: 16 September 2025
Others in the series:
He wrote them:
Robert Thorogood
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.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 