The Armchair Detectives is a cozy mystery series opener by Matt Dunn. Released 1st Oct 2025 by Bookouture, it's 340 pages and is available in 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.
There are a wealth of cozies featuring retired and older protagonists in the role of amateur sleuth (for good reason, they're engaging and often humorous in a good way). In this very well written tongue-in-cheek opener, octogenarian former spy Martin is recuperating at a care facility after a hip replacement. After a spate of deaths close together which are at least somewhat unexpected (it is a long term care facility, and the residents are elderly), he turns his investigative abilities to figuring out who what and why.
He soon recruits another resident, Albie, to the cause and off they go. It's a bit predictable, but light and engaging on the whole. It's not at all derivative, but there's a definite whiff of Only Murders in the Building and Thursday Murder Club, with a little Agatha Raisin thrown in, and fans of those series will likely enjoy this one as well.
Three and a half stars. Enjoyable. There are currently 2 books extant, and the author seems to be on a semiannual publishing schedule (2/year).
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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