I love these books as I love the relationship between the three women and how they solve murders and help the police. This one had a back story which made a slightly different story. Looking forward to more from Robert in the future. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Who doesn’t love a cosy crime! As always this series of books delivers a corker of a story. The introduction of a new character bring a fresh face and new twists! The regular characters bring the homely warmth and love only Marlow has! Overall a fab story, lovely characters and an exciting adventure! These stories never fail to please!! I’m lucky to have advance copy to read, thank you

This is book five of the Marlow Murder Club series, with the previous being:

1. The Marlow Murder Club
2. Death Comes to Marlow
3. The Queen of Poisons
4. Murder on the Marlow Belle

Let me tell you, new Judith Potts day is always a good day.

I always worry when I come back to a series that is several books in, and particularly if it's been a while since I read the last one, that I will forget where I am and it'll take me some time to get back into it, but within the first page I was back in Judith's world like I'd never left.

I also worry that with these kinds of series, where the books are, if we're honest, very similar, that they have a shelf life and might get boring and repetitive. But this is book five and it hasn't reached that point yet so I am here for many, many more.

I won't spoil it by saying who she is but we get introduced to a new character, Eleni. I wouldn't necessarily say she's a nice character but I felt she was well written, and whether we were meant to be on her side or not, I was interested to read her story. And it was lovely to see a new character introduced into this world of such familiar faces.

Whilst Judith is still our main character - obviously, I mean her name is in the title - we get a lot more of Suzie and Becks, which is good, I like them. And I wonder if Robert is potentially looking to pass the bacon to them if and when Judith perhaps feels too old to continue? That's no spoiler as there's no suggestion he's planning to retire Judith but it was just a thought I had.

Cosy crime novels tend to be a bit far fetched and this one is probably the most far fetched one of the series but I didn't care. I expected it, to be honest, and I loved it; it's exciting and fun and tense and brilliant. It did feel quite a bit darker than the previous books as well which was a nice avenue to explore.

There are quite a lot of characters in this one that some may have issues with keeping on top of but I found they were all used very well in their own stories and in Judith's story.

I enjoyed the subplot going on concerning Judith and Eleni, and whilst I won't spoil it by telling you what it is, it gives us an extra dimension to Judith and her past that was interesting to read about.

I've always loved the little clues and puzzles Judith leaves, I think they're wonderful, even if I have failed to work out a single one in five books.

And the main point I make across all five books is I love that we have a predominately female cast, with three very strong female protagonists, all of which aren't spring chickens anymore, which is refreshing to see.

I am notoriously terrible at working out whodunnits but even I was shocked by the travel here, I did not see it coming at all.

Once again, Robert has given us an entertaining, funny, exhilarating, complex, fabulous novel and I really do hope there are more Marlow books on the horizon as I'm not sure I'm quite ready to leave Judith, Suzie, and Becks.

I’ve loved the previous books in the series but this has some interesting twists from the start with Judith distracted by her past whilst Tanika is desperately encouraging her, Becks and Suzie to get involved in a murder case from the start. The story feels a bit more like Becks and Suzie working as a pair whilst Judith absent mindedly assists them whilst trying to resolve her own problem so there’s a slight discord from them working as a trio as usual. It does work though and the story flows well it’s just a different dynamic and refreshing change to the series. I did not see the ending coming and it shows that this series still has the ability to surprise and keep you on your toes and it will be interesting to see how it impacts the next book too.

When a woman turns up on the doorstep of Judith Potts, cruciverbalist and amateur detective, accusing Judith of murder, she knows her past is about to catch up with her leaving her very unsettled. Even the discovery of a body in local woodland doesn’t grab her attention. When the murder case is presented by their friend DI Tanika Malik to the other members of the Marlow Murder Club, Becks and Suzie, it takes all their wheedling for Judith to get on board.

Plenty of twists and red herrings, with a surprising though not entirely unexpected double denouement!

I really hate the term ‘cosy’ when describing murder mystery books and avoid anything described thus like the plague, but this series has me gripped! I love the characters (we all need a Suzie as a BFF), the setting and the writing. Yes, the plots are a bit off the wall, but go with the flow and the books soon become page turners.

I thoroughly recommend for pure escapism, you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you NetGalley and HQ.