Death Comes to Marlow

 

Death Comes to Marlow is the second book in Robert Thorogood's Marlow murder club amateur sleuth cozy series. Released in the USA 30th May 2023 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an interesting and engaging cozy featuring a 77 year old (but quite young at heart) protagonist and her two unlikely allies, a brash young(ish) professional dog walker radio personality, and the local vicar's wife. The death of a local squire in bizarre circumstances at his own pre-wedding garden party induce Judith and her allies to investigate where the official powers-that-be can't easily go.

The main mystery plot-line has a fair number of parallels with golden age books from yesteryear and I can think of half a dozen which are quite similar. That being said, it *is* a clever plot device and the author does a good turn. There's a central locked room murder with lots of convoluted wealthy family relationships and widening ancillary follow-on crimes to untangle.

I also liked that the main character is a cruciverbalist and there are lots of crossword clues and wordplay throughout. Additionally, she's the type of person who takes daily skinny-dips, is an excellent sculler, and isn't afraid to take chances (although some of them made me shake my head in disbelief). 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 28 minutes, and is expertly narrated by Nicolette McKenzie. She has a clear, well modulated, and nuanced voice and does an impressive job with a myriad of local (English) accents, both male and female. Despite having a full cast of varied characters, it's never a problem to keep them sorted during the read.

There's a distinct Agatha Raisin vibe, and fans of MC Beaton, Deanna Raybourn, and Richard Osman will probably like this one as well. The resolution and denouement were as expected, but satisfying nevertheless. This is the second book, there's a third book due out from the same publisher in first quarter 2024, making this one a good candidate for a quick binge/buddy read.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.