Kudos to author Robert Thorogood for a sequel as riveting as his debut, The Marlow Murder Club! Like the debut, the sequel contains a chilling denouement I never saw coming. Forgive the cliché, but I couldn’t put it down and I read it in a day. No greater recommendation that that! And for those whom missed the first book (please remedy that as soon as you can), Death Comes to Marlow stands up quite well on its own. With Judith Potts, the principal sleuth among the Marlow Murder Club, author Robert Thorogood adds to the fine tradition of crossword solving lying at the heart of a murder mystery. The writer is well-known for his work on the TV series Death in Paradise. Like the show, Death Comes to Marlow is set in the present day and begins with Judith – or ‘Pepper’, as she’s known in the crossword world – puzzling over the purpose of a secret assignation that seems to have been arranged through the corner clues of the latest Marlow Free Press crossword. A woman is spying on Malik from the bushes. She says her name is Suzie Harris and she is Iqbal’s dog walker. She agrees to look after the dog for the time being. A delightful story that involves an unlikely trio of amateur detectives. Loved the English setting the quirky characters." Detective Malik shows up again and asks questions. She tells Judith that Elliot Howard reported a burglary a few weeks ago, although nothing was stolen.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. They head to the solicitor’s office and make up a story to get info out of him. They don’t get much out of him but he seems cagey. They think he has shredded some documents. Judith looks Stefan up online and finds he was in a “bust up” at the Henley Regatta. He got into a fight with Elliot Howard, the owner of an auction house. But, like nearly everyone raised in the UK, she knew that a swan ‘can break your arm’, and she also guessed there’d be something unedifying about a completely naked 78-year-old woman wrestling with a swan.”

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Fred is Suzie’s postman so they catch him for a chat. Fred agrees that Elliot’s dad, Dudley, was a crook. Apparently Elliot was interested in rowing when he was younger but he wasn’t allowed to be on the school team. Elliot also enjoyed painting but instead of going to art school he had to stay at the auction house. Given this close association it’s no surprise that just as detectives and detective fiction have provided the answers to many crossword clues, crosswords have featured prominently in many notable murder mysteries. Arguably, the most famous crossword in crime fiction appears in Agatha Christie’s Curtain, where Captain Hastings’ attempt to solve a cryptic clue inadvertently causes him to intervene in a murder attempt, although other examples are available. If you found our recaps useful, please consider leaving a tip! Donations will help pay for our domain and hosting. Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. The night before the wedding of Sir Peter and Jenny, Judith gets a call inviting her to their wedding. Judith isn’t super familiar with Sir Peter so she finds it odd when he invites her and even more odd when he reacts strangely to her joke of hoping no one gets murdered at his wedding.

Never a dull moment, lots of red herrings, plenty of humour and a plot worthy of Agatha !!!’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Judith and Co have to bring all their bonkers interview techniques and leaps of logic to play to uncover the truth.” — Crime Fiction Lover Detective Malik learns that the gun used to kill Stefan was an old WW2 gun. It hasn’t been found yet. Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining, and beautifully written” —B. A. Paris, for Marlow Murder Club Danny arrives and Malik asks him a few questions. Danny lets slip that he and Liz have spent all their savings. Judith figures that Danny has wanted Liz dead for ages because she didn’t want to sell her family’s land, which is worth millions. Danny killed Stefan. As anodyne as a village fair and as fiendishly clever as one of the many crossword clues embedded in the story. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown