Less a full review, more of a note to self to keep track of this series because it really is extremely good fun. Robert Thorogood is the author behind Death in Paradise, and now the Marlow Murder Club series has made it's way to TV as well. Haven't watched any of them yet but they promise to deliver exactly what the books do, a clever series with strong female lead characters, a touch of dotty English village going's on, and a startling amount of murder and mayhem in such an unlikely setting. And Judith Potts swimming naked in The Thames - and if you don't quite get that reference, then you'll need to head back to book one of this lovely, entertaining little set of books and start there.
Book 4, MURDER ON THE MARLOW BELLE again centres around the river, boats, a local theatre group, and a local actor who has made it big in Hollywood. The death of the local founder of MADS (Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society) after the hiring of a private pleasure cruiser for an exclusive party, makes for a sort of locked room (middle of a river) scenario with champagne, intrigue and tensions. As well as some of those lovely interpersonal connections between everyone that happen so easily in small communities.
Saved from straight-out cosiness by a strong, and eccentric cast of central characters, Judith and her friends Suzie and Becks are a great group of "amateur sleuths". Local cop Tanika hangs onto her job just as always, and the truth behind the death of Oliver Beresford is nicely twisty and convoluted.
I have listened to the audio version of all these books, and the narrator Nicolette McKenzie does them with what sounds like the perfect sort of English village, slightly clipped, sometimes strident sort of voice that just fits in perfectly with all the characters - Judith the crossword setting, Suzie the dog walker, and Becks the vicar's wife. The fifth book in the series, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts (also seen around the place as The Marlow Murder Club - so goodness knows), is due out in early 2026.
Murder on the Marlow Belle
Verity Beresford is worried about her husband. Oliver didn’t come home last night so of course Verity goes straight to Judith Potts, Marlow’s resident amateur sleuth, for help. Oliver, founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for an exclusive party with the MADS committee but no one remembers seeing him disembark. And then Oliver’s body washes up on the Thames with two bullet holes in him – it’s time for the Marlow Murder Club to leap into action.
Oliver was, by all accounts, a rather complicated chap with a reputation for bullying children during nativity play rehearsals, and he wasn’t short of enemies. Judith, Suzie, and Becks are convinced they’ll find his killer in no time. But things are not as they seem in the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, and this case is not so clear-cut after all. The gang will need to keep their wits about them to solve this case, otherwise a killer will walk free …
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