The Marlow Murder Club: The first novel in a gripping new cosy crime and mystery series from the creator of the hit TV series Death in Paradise (The Marlow Murder Club Mysteries, Book 1)

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She didn’t have to listen to one moan about the money she spent, or how much whiskey she was drinking in the evening as she assembled her jigsaw puzzles. At the end, Judith plans this (incredibly flawed) trap for one of the murderers because she knows he's going to come to her house to kill her. They concocted many stories to weasel their way into offices and businesses and confront their suspects even when the police told them to back off.

One night while swimming she hears a gunshot coming from a neighbor’s house, and the next morning a body is found. The police consisted of one, out of her depths, detective, who LITERALLY hands the files for the murders over to this threesome of women. Unfortunately, despite the many positives it doesn't entirely hold my attention and my mind wanders!

None of these people were aware that there was a seventy-seven year old woman swimming nearby entirely in the nude. While the mystery itself may have borrowed from a CLASSIC, the strength of a COZY is its characters, and the women of the Marlow Murder Club, are a delightful bunch and very easy to root for! Oh, and the dog also somehow understands her and goes to save Juith when she gets to the other side.

I recently came across The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood (the creator of the BBC drama Death in Paradise), that features a trio of very unlikely amateur sleuths trying to solve a series of murders in the sleepy town of Marlow and it was a very enjoyable whodunnit. Supposedly she wrote her husband's rowing reunion dinner in her calendar because she was a good wife - once again men suck and women are so thoughtful, just in case you missed it - and that way she wouldn't book anything else for him for that night. Living alone in her mansion, she sets crossword puzzles, drinks whisky, and plays the role of neighborhood busybody. A refreshing read that whilst murders may occur it isn’t packed with gruesome details and foul language. The murder mystery itself was a bit overcomplicated at times but at the end every piece fit together as in one of Judith's puzzles.

When she hears his murder, whilst she is out swimming in the Thames, the police don’t straightaway believe her, so she decides to investigate the alleged crime herself and finds his body. Even if the denouement is a bit contrived and OTT, the book is a hoot, and I can’t wait to read the sequel…which will be out towards the end of the year.

I would have enjoyed it immensely if the author had the creativity to plan a huge plot twist that I couldn't see coming! Beck's husband ignores her as a person and he and her children just expect her to do everything for them. The police are baffled but the ladies are able to find some initial clues (this is so typical of cozy mysteries), and after the police hit a wall in their investigation the ladies are officially brought into the case.Eventually, as the case garners national attention she relents and takes in the trio as “civilian advisers” to help in the case. It was so repetitive (and jarring) that I wondered if this were a regional village quirk or this was the largest collection of people suffering from George Bailey's addled ear (the movie It's A Wonderful Life, if you don't know who that is) ever read in fiction. In book-likes it reminded me a bit of The Thursday Murder Club and if you've read my reviews of that, you know that is a very good thing. Unfortunately, in this story the events took a downhill turn when it became slapstick, silly and OTT.

A cozy isn’t my usual genre but I do love Agatha Christie, who is my benchmark for a well-done cozy mystery, and so decided to pick this one up. I could possibly be one of the mature women in the story, (I mean seriously, I could have been Suzie! These three ladies paths cross as Judith hears a gunshot while swimming naked and arrives (fully dressed) at the home of a local antique dealer who is shot dead.With a cop named Tanika who reluctantly asks the women to assist in the case, can these ladies solve it before one of them dies? With a splendid array of cosy characters, and cosy suspects, the plot travels along a good pace until it slowly reveals the truth. It started out well enough but then it became so obvious as to what was happening that I couldn't be bothered less by the revelations in the end since I already new! When traces of aconite – also known as the queen of poisons – are found in his coffee cup, the police realise he was murdered.