Death Come to Marlow by Robert Thorogood – a 2023 sensational locked room mystery
"As fiendishly clever as one of the many crossword clues embedded in the story." —Kirkus Reviews
“Judith and Co have to bring all their bonkers interview techniques and leaps of logic to play to uncover the truth.” —Crime Fiction Lover
“An absolute joy to read. Funny, entertaining, and beautifully written”—B. A. Paris, for Marlow Murder Club
Author
Robert Thorogood
Publisher
Poisoned Pen Press
Genre
Cosy Mystery
Number of Pages
288
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Summary
Judith (guzzles whisky and solves crossword puzzles), Beth(Vicar’s wife), and Suzie( professional dog sitter and walker) are a trio of murder-solving netizens of Marlow. And this time they’ve been invited to a wedding by the groom who fears for his life.
Sir Peter Bailey invites notable citizens of Marlow for champagne before the day of his wedding and ends up dead in his own study, which is locked from the outside. He has been crushed by a huge wooden cabinet that magically falls on him.
The police believe it’s suicide because obviously the room was locked. But Judith’s instincts are razor sharp and she believes it is a locked room murder mystery. Will Judith and the team be able to find the murderer before it’s too late?
My Review
The plot was well thought out but the details of how the murder happened felt a little too much. A number of things could’ve gone wrong, but nothing did that’s a little unbelievable. The pacing also could’ve been a few levels faster and the characters were just boring. I enjoy Agatha Christie novels and she writes them fabulously so a different setup or different age characters with a faster-paced story would’ve made a unique 5-star read for me. But I loved the way the murder was executed. So three stars. Also somehow I got the impression that the British police are good for nothing. And so there are so many septuagenarians around solving murders.
And the crossword puzzle – OMG – even with the words given to me I never would’ve been able to guess even one clue.
Who Should Read This
The English setting, the amateur detectives, the whole cozy country vibe, and the lust for money and titles make it a perfect, twisty read for fans of Agatha Christie or The Thursday Murder Club.
Robert Thorogood
Robert Thorogood is an English screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of the BBC 1 Murder Mystery Series, Death in Paradise.
Robert was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland and read History at Downing College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, he toured with the university's student comedy troupe Footlights in 1993 and was elected President in 1994. Soon after leaving Cambridge, Robert set up a theatre company that toured small theatres and schools, the highlight of which was a production of Molière's The Miser that he directed and acted in alongside Robert Webb, David Mitchell and Olivia Colman.
Robert wrote for many years - selling scripts to the BBC, ITV and independent film companies - but before 2011 the only script of his that was actually broadcast was a Radio 4 afternoon play called From Abstraction about the life of Paul Wolfskehl.
In 2008, Robert entered the inaugural Red Planet Prize and was a chosen finalist, where he was able to pitch his 'Copper in the Caribbean' idea to Tony Jordan. By 2011, when the show was finally broadcast - making it Robert's first TV broadcast credit at the age of 39 - Robert had become something of a poster boy for 'never giving up on the dream'.
In January 2014, it was announced that Robert had signed a deal with MIRA Harlequin to write three Richard Poole Murder Mystery novels, with the first being published in hardback in January 2015. (source Goodreads)
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