Pip: There's a small town in England where the murder rate would alarm any serious urban planner — and somehow three amateur sleuths keep showing up to fix that.
Mara: That's the world joycesmysteryandfictionbookreviews is reviewing today, with a new entry in a cozy crime series that layers a very personal mystery underneath the main investigation.
Pip: Let's start with what's happening in Marlow.
The Marlow Murder Club Returns
Mara: The question this book poses is double-edged — there's the public crime and then there's the private one, and both are pressing on Judith at the same time.
Pip: The publisher's description puts it plainly: "Two dead celebrities. One village full of secrets. Someone is killing celebrities in Marlow. First, it's a famous soccer player. Then, a bestselling thriller writer."
Mara: So the main plot is a blackmail-and-scandal web connecting two very public deaths, and the trio has to untangle it without their usual police contact — DI Malik is suspended, which removes a key resource exactly when the case gets complicated.
Pip: For a quiet riverside town, Marlow does have what you might call an overactive homicide calendar.
Mara: The review actually names that directly, comparing Marlow's crime density to Christie's St. Mary Mead — the observation being that small, pretty places in this genre carry an outsize number of murders, and that's part of the cozy contract the reader accepts.
Pip: And layered under the celebrity killings is something more personal — Judith's past is resurfacing through a daughter her late ex-husband had with someone else, who is now making accusations about what Judith may or may not have done.
Mara: That subplot carries over from book four, so readers who've followed the series will arrive with context, but the review suggests new readers will find the question compelling enough on its own: did Judith do something unforgivable, and what really happened?
Pip: It's the kind of thread that makes you pick up the earlier books after finishing this one, which is either a feature or a trap depending on your reading queue.
Mara: The review closes warmly — a genuine hope that Thorogood continues the series, which is about as clear a recommendation as a book review can offer.
Pip: Cozy crime keeps finding new ways to make small places feel dangerous.
Mara: And personal history keeps finding ways to complicate even the most public investigations. More to come next time.
Joyce's mystery and fiction book reviews with some non-fiction too! 