I thought The Marlow Murder Club, by Robert Thorogood, was the show with Pierce Brosnan being adapted for Netflix next month. I was wrong; that show is The Thursday Murder Club. This was a great read, anyway, a mystery I really enjoyed.
(The Marlow Murder Club has already been adapted for TV, with a four-episode season available in the US on PBS or DVD, and the second season starting next month. It stars Jo Martin, the Fugitive Doctor, and Samantha Bond, who coincidentally was Brosnan’s Bond’s Moneypenny.)
Anyway, in this book, there’s a trio of overlooked women who wind up solving a twisty mystery. The elderly Judith lives alone and likes it. She creates cryptic crosswords and lives in an aging mansion near the village of Marlow. Becks is the vicar’s wife, and to deal with her dissatisfaction and feelings of being taken for granted, she’s become the perfect housewife. Suzie, a single mother of now-adult children, walks dogs.
They reluctantly work together after Judith spots a man being murdered on her nightly swim. There’s an art dealer, a neighbor who might not be what he seemed, a taxi driver who wants to buy a boat, a rowing club, and a detective sergeant who’s in over her head trying to balance work, home life, and this case, once they figure out it is one.
I appreciated the various characters, particularly the women, who make the most of what life has dealt them. The book is rather British, with the rumors and grudges of village life, and the short chapters make it as enjoyable as eating popcorn — just one more!
English (US) · 