If you're looking for an easy read with an undemanding mystery plot, this book is for you. For myself though, I would have hoped for more.

This series can't help but be compared to Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series and it doesn't fare well by comparison. Both were published around the same time, drawing inspiration from their names from the same Agatha Christie story. Whereas Osman a complex and gripping plot full of well-rounded characters, the central trio of Death Comes to Marlowe fail to make much of an impact as they investigate a relatively unengaging mystery. I struggled to remember which character was which for a large chunk of the novel and found that I wasn't all that interested in the solution to the crime. Everything seemed to happen in a very straightforward manner.

As cosy crime goes, it's acceptable, but stuck in the shadows of other series.

A really enjoyable sequel to a new series which sees us reunited with Thames swimming Judith and the rest of the Marlow Murder Club.

There is an abundance of suspects as they try to solve the murder of local bigwig Sir Peter Bailey.

I have to admit, this one completely stumped me and I was stunned with the final reveal.

Very enjoyable!

Death Comes to Marlow - Robert Thorogood

A great sequel, another easy read that provides the perfect escapism. Judith, Suzie and Becks are back again to give the reader a cosy "who done it" - in a picture perfect setting. All very cleverly worked out, and keeps the reader guessing. I do enjoy how the writer sets the scenes so well, it is very easy to picture the entire story as it plays out. I look forward to more!

Thank you very much Netgalley and HQ for the advance copy in return for my honest views.

Death comes to Marlow - again! It was great to join these three amateur sleuths in another story of murder and intrigue. Whilst I did enjoy the book, I listened to the first and I think it is the preferable way to enjoy a cosy mystery such as this.

Following the success of the Marlow Murder Club, Judith, Susie and Becks and unlikely trio are back and this time they are right in the thick of the action.

Judith receives a phone call to attend a party to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of Sir Peter Bailey to his nurse Jenny Page. A marriage that has upset many. Judith cannot understand why she has been invited, but can only assume it is her notoriety. Perhaps something is going to happen, Judith with Susie and Becks all attend, if anything to just be nosy.

A loud crash is heard from inside the house and the three women all rushing to find the prospective groom, crushed to death under a large cabinet.

There cannot be anything suspicious about this death, as the room was locked and the key was in the pocket of the deceased. The only key.

But for Judith she knows something is not quite right, there is too many mysteries. All the potential killers have strong alibis, in fact the three women were alibis for the most obvious of the killer – Peter’s son, Tristan who had been arguing with his father and step mother to be on more than one occasion.

Add to this; daughters hidden in wardrobes, gardeners with a long family feud, a bitter ex wife, a glass jar not smashed and the plot thickens.

Of course amongst all of this intrigue, Judith is busy trying to work out the mystery clues she has picked up in the cryptic crossword. She discovers something that she wasn’t really meant to but at the same time, the author uses this as a vehicle to explain the structure and logic of all things cryptic. It is one of my greatest wishes that I could solve cryptic crosswords. I have yet to reach one clue correct.

Susie, the local dog walker is now hiring dog walkers to look after her own clients as she has found fame on the local radio station. In fact it proves a useful tool in solving some questions for the murder club. However fame comes at a price for Susie and it seems she will need to go back to what she is good at if she wants any chance of solving her financial woes.

Becks, the devoted wife of Colin the local priest seems to be up to something which is intriguing both Susie and Judith. Surely they can’t think someone like Becks would commit that sin. Sometimes all the detecting in the world and you can jump to the wrong conclusions.

But when it comes to the death of Sir Peter and catching the killer the Marlow Murder Club will not be fooled.

The book builds on the characters and setting of the first book and is fast paced and plotted, with plenty of clues and red herrings. Smugly I want to say I had worked out the perpetrator but actually it was a guess and I certainly could not work out how they did it. A great example of crime fiction in a bucolic setting with some characters who you can adore. Perfect for all fans of that cosy crime fiction that has boomed in recent years.

Welcome to the Marlow Book Club! And welcome myself, to a potential new series I could follow. Time will tell, but fingers crossed.

A superb sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. We get to know the 3 lady sleuths even better amongst a cast of very colourful characters which kept me turning the pages from start to finish.
This is a brilliant series.

I’d not read the first book in this series and struggled to get into the this one when I discovered the first in my TBR pile. I read the first and loved it and this one fell into place. A great locked room mystery with a cast of engaging characters. I throughly enjoyed it.

Death comes to Marlow / Robert Thorogood

Review
This is the second book in the series, I thought the storyline was stronger than the first book and the ending was brilliant.
However, I was so disapointed to find the word ‘poppycock’ not used once, this word is a firm favourite of mine (and my mother’s) and it appeared in the first book but sadly was replaced with ‘balderdash’ , which wasnt the same. (I have had to take a point off).

Rated 4/5

I enjoyed the first Marlow Murders mystery and the second was even better.

Judith, Becks and Suzie are at it again helping Acting DI Tanika to solve the murder of Sir Peter Bailey. This is a locked room mystery and the returning DI side lines Tanika insisting the murder was an accident and there was to be no further investigating. This does not stop the intrepid three. Everyone seems to have a water tight alibi but then we get a second murder.

There is a cast of colourful characters many with the motive for murder. We get to know Judith, Suzie and Becks more and there are a couple of sub plots around cryptic crosswords (which I can never work out) and Becks mysterious behaviour that add to the main narrative.

I did work out early on who did it although by the time I had got to the end I had changed my mind several times and I never worked out how it was done it was really cleverly worked out.

Very clever, easy to read with a lot of humour I can't wait for the next one.

I am really enjoying this series, and this book lived up to expectations. Judith, Suzie and Becks our investigating trio join forces with DS Malik to find the answer to Sir Peter’s death inside a locked room The twists and turns throughout this story keeps the reader involved. Very well written.

We meet Judith, Suzie, and Becks six months or so after the events of the first book in this marvellous series. Following an invite to the pre-wedding party of the wealthy Sir Peter Bailey, the three friends find themselves witness to his death on the eve of his second marriage.

Despite the fact that he died in a locked room, and that those who stand to benefit most from his death all appear to have watertight alibis, the friends immediately suspect foul play in Sir Peter’s death. With the help of their friend DS Tanika Malik, who has her own struggles now that her boss has returned to work – effectively leading to her demotion – the friends conduct their investigation into the murder, in their own unique style.

The main characters are as fun and heart-warming as in the previous book in the series, and the supporting characters – including Sir Peter’s children, ex-wife, fiancée, and employees – are all intriguing as potential suspects. Marlow itself is also a great character in its own right, and I could really picture the scenes described by the author. All in all, another enjoyable read from this series.

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

I had not come across this series of books before, but this sounded interesting. However I was not blown away by the 3 ladies intent on solving the murder. It all felt just too slow and parochial. I am not a fan, sorry.

Review published with Waterstones

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

I thoroughly enjoyed the first Marlow Murder Club mystery but I must admit to finding its follow up a little too much of the same and very slow, almost with a consciousness of following a tried and tested recipe. Nevertheless, an entertaining cosy crime mystery with a likeable bunch of amateur and professional detectives.

I liked this book as it was a fun light read that put me in mind of Agatha Raisin.

I think it would have been better as an audio book - and maybe this is what the author had in mind - as I felt there was a LOT of repetition of clues and summarising the finds so far which I feel isn't necessary in a book. The book could have been 1/3 shorter.

I haven't read the first one but don't feel this was a problem, as the characters were all developed within the book and there were a few reminders of what happened last time.

The plot in itself wasn't believable - police handing the case over to three potential suspects, tramping over a crime scene, and why hadn't Jenny cleaned up the study after the police left? But take the book for what it is, a fun piece of escapism.

The murder mystery genre is one of my favourites, and I am a big fan of Roberts writing both in TV and literature. So I was was eager to read this, an I loved it. A great set of characters and a storyline to match, I couldn’t put this down!.

The Marlow Murder Club returns and the puzzle is harder than before.

All get invited to the wedding that everyone wants to attend in Marlow, Sir Peter Bailey is due to get married the next day but never gets to see a drop of champange as he dies in accident during the party. In true who-dun-it fashion he dies in a locked room under a cabinet. Police misdiss as an accident but the ladies feel otherwise.

I really enjoyed this on a lazy weekend, interesting charactors, a few plot twists but I did feel it was predictable in the end. It did not take from the joy of getting there and seeing how the Marlow Club get to their own conclusions.

Roll on to the next adventure!

I enjoyed the previous book in this series and I was excited to see what this band of amateur detectives would dig up on another case. These books are cosy mysteries set in the beautiful Buckinghamshire town of Marlow, which I have been to and would love to revisit at some point. Walking around it in these books has proved to be great fun!

Judith, Suzie and Becky have had a relaxing time in the sleepy town of Marlow, since all the excitement of a string of murders the previous year. Wealthy local man Sir Peter Bailey is about to get married to his nurse Jenny and he’s throwing a party to celebrate. During the party, a loud crash rings out and Peter is discovered to have been tragically killed by an apparent fallen cabinet. Judith and her friends suspect that something is amiss and that this couldn’t have been an accident. But did anyone want Peter dead?

I really like the humour in these books. Like Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series, it is very British, so I’m not sure how well it would translate in other countries. However, it has a certain quirky charm that I think a lot of readers would enjoy. I think I would have liked a little more comedy though!

Judith and Becky both tend to give lengthy explanations of their thought patterns. This can get a little irritating and I definitely found myself asking them to get to the point faster than they did. I’m not sure why but I did find Judith more annoying in this book than in the first one. She seemed to be a bit of an interfering busy-body rather than a genuinely curious old lady, as she came across before. I still enjoyed her character but her flaws definitely showed up more clearly.

Becks is a typically kind, caring housewife with an incessant need to look after people and ensure that they’re OK. She immediately jumps into mum mode as Jenny grieves her fiance and I thought that this was very true to her character. Judith and Suzie start to get suspicious of Becks’ behaviour at a certain point in the book and it had me worried that she might be involved in some unsavoury business. Thorogood is a great at presenting multiple leads and I was certainly left with a fair bit to figure out throughout the narrative.

There are several points in the book where our male author makes reference to the fact that women are overlooked or discriminated against by men. It is unusual to see this mentioned multiple times in a book written by a man because it’s not assumed that it’s an issue that many men think about. Although these comments were all present at appropriate times, I don’t know whether it’s possible for the author to really understand the full weight of what he’s saying in lines like this. The story would have been the same without these lines, so I’m not sure he needed to comment on women’s experiences for the sake of the book.

Death Comes To Marlow is a fun, twisty sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. However, I think the conclusion was pretty farfetched in this one. I have also had my fill of Judith now, so I’m not confident I’ll pick up any future books in the series. However, fans of Richard Osman will almost certainly enjoy this lesser known, small town Britain series of cosy mysteries!

So, I enjoyed the first book in this series, and have been looking forward to reading the second. In the first one, I liked the characters and setting, but found the murder a little easy to solve. In this one, I liked the characters slightly less and again found the solution to the murder fairly obvious, which was a bit of a shame. I can't quite put my finger on what wasn't right this time, but I still enjoyed it enough that I would read more. This is very definitely in the group of books looking to capitalise on the success of Richard Osman's series - and as such it's one of the better series that I've read so far.

I'm a big fan of the cosy mystery genre and particularly enjoy books from Robert Thorogood. I find his writing more accessible and gentle than some others. I love the dynamic between the main characters and would definitely recommend this book to others.