Another great book in the series! This series follows 3 amateur sleuths, who are friends living in the same village. This time they’re given more leeway to investigate by the police in charge of the murder, so there’s less butting heads with the police, and more investigation. I must admit I didn’t get who the culprit was until it was revealed, however I feel that was due to the clues given, as pertinent points weren’t told to the reader. The story was very engaging and gripping, and so I’d definitely recommend as it was quite enjoyable

Oh my goodness, yet again smash hit from Robert Thorogood. Once i started reading I couldn't stop, then immediately felt sad I'd finished it. How lovely to be back with Judith, Suzie and Becks in Marlow. When the mayor drops dead in front of Suzie, she knows who to call immediately! The trio start investigating, this time as police advisors, but who would want to kill Geoffrey Lushington? The council is full of characters with something to hide, and who is trying to guide the trio. I absolutely love the characters in these books and this time Becks is also having to deal with her mother in law who has moved in and will Judith deal with her archives? It will come as no surprise that i didn't guess the murderer, but what an absolutely jolly time I had trying to work it out. Do yourself a favour and buy this book and the others. I can't wait for the next one.
Thank you netgalley and HQ for granting me a preview.

4.5* rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ (Harper Collins UK) for a digital review copy of "The Queen of Poisons" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

In this latest instalment of the Marlow Murder Club series our intrepid trio are brought in to help solve the tricky murder of the town's head of the planning committee. What follows, as with the other two books in the series, is the reader is swept along as Judith, Suzie and Becks (a group that is a whirlwind force of nature) seek to solve the case using cunning, humour, smarts and a little bit of whiskey, supported by the ever patient DI Malik.

All of our lead characters are likeable and loveable, with quirks, foibles and weaknesses that enhance each other as a group and also the story. The case is, as always, suitably bonkers with plenty of red herrings and dead ends that never leave you feeling frustrated and do keep you interested in the final solution (which I had an inkling of but didn't fully guess).

Overall, it has to be said that this series (along with Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club) has become an instaread for me. The characters and stories are fun, likeable and engaging, there's great humour as well as pathos and I eagerly await Book 4.

The Queen of Poisons is due for release on January 18th 2024

Robert Thorogood has quickly become one of a short list of authors for whom, the very second their next book comes out, I'll drop whatever else I'm reading. And boy, was I right to do so with Queen of Poisons.

I love the writing, love the characters - could they be any more neurotic but also relatable? - and the plots have so many red herrings, twists and turns that I'm genuinely kept guessing right to the very end. Once again, I was neatly hooked on a subtle red herring that made me think I'd guessed the killer in plenty of time, only to have the rug pulled - and yes, he is playing fair with the clues! - right when I least expected it. I'd be annoyed if I wasn't enjoying myself so much and also making copious mental notes about how to write crime fiction. Because this one is a masterpiece in misdirection.

Read it, read it, read it. That's all I can say. Apart from, can we have the next one please?

I adore this series of books and really want to be a member of the Marlow Murder Club. I'm not so sure that I would be any help though. I see all of the clues but never see the twist coming. A fab series.

Lovely to be back with the gang in Marlowe. A really well crafted murder mystery, I love that all the clues were there but I still didn’t get ‘whodunnit’ until just before the reveal. Really clever and the characters all bounce off each other so well. Can’t wait for the next!

What another frat story about the gang. Goss to see Tanika has seen sense and made the ladies consultants however unbelievable this is. They certainly know their stuff and are sprightly and never t to be messed with. Great for detective wannabes who are a certain age.
Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the latest in Robert Thorogood's (apparently a writer on TV's Death in Paradise) Marlow Murder Club series. There are a number of developments from the last book, DS Tanika Malik has been promoted to DI, and she has taken the step of co-opting the murder club women as civilian advisors, given their previous successes, not that she could have stopped them poking their noses into whatever murder might occur anyway. The strange murder here takes place at a Marlow town council meeting, where the mayor, Geoffrey Lushington is sipping his coffee, only to suddenly drop down dead. Who could possibly want the likeable mayor dead? It turns out he was poisoned by aconite (also known as wolfsbane).

The murder club begin to investigate, delving into Lushington's life and have a disparate group of suspects to look into. Suzie Harris had attended the council meeting, with hopes of acquiring planning permission for a pod hotel and Becks Starling has her own personal problems. As ever, leading the club and the interrogations is the larger than life crossword obsessive Judith Potts, a relentlessly overly pushy character who grates and irritates me with her style of investigating. This is a twisted case that proves to be fraught with complications as it ends up going all over the place before the truth emerges. There is humour in the narrative, but I would have to say that most of the time it missed the mark for me.

I listened to the audio of the previous book, and found it to be a frustrating listen, especially due to the character and nature of Judith Potts whose arrogance and brashness simply do not work for me, I would prefer a more thoughtful and subtle woman. I had hoped this would work out better for me, but alas it was not to be. There are pacing issues and once again the level of repetition was too much for me. Reading the book turned out to be hard work, a chore that I am loath to repeat by continuing with the series. This is just not for me, I am acutely aware there are so many who absolutely love it, so I would like to suggest readers look at other reviews prior to making the decision to read this. I understand there is a TV series being planned, I might possibly enjoy that more! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Following a rather slow start this turned into another fun 'whodunit' for the Marlow Murder Club. The trio are well established by now which means that rather less time is spent on their own stories which I felt was a bit of a shame as I've always enjoyed characterization within a novel, however there was still some outside detail in the form of a past love interest for Judith and an horrific mother-in-law for Becks. The trio hurtle from clue to clue with every character having a motive but not necessarily the means, or the means without an obvious motive. A clever ending wraps everything up nicely.

I have loved the previous books in the Marlow Murder Club Mystery series and this one is just as exciting.

Suzie attends a council planning meeting when suddenly the mayor of Marlow drops dead. She immediately suspects foul play and the crime fighting trio return to help the police and solve the mystery.

I have been waiting ages for the next instalment to come out, and I'm so happy that I got an advanced copy to review!

The mystery of the book was nice and simplistic, with a small pool of suspects, which makes it easier to keep track of each person. The plot weaves through the suspects wonderfully, with many clues and red herrings misdirecting you along the way. When the characters are being interrogated, you immediately point the finger and think, "they did it!". As with all great mysteries, the pieces are scattered in front of you, waiting for you to put it together and work it out, but small bits of information have been carefully misconstrued to stop you from guessing it correctly. I much prefer this in a mystery book. It may be satisfying to be clever enough to get it right, but I find there's more satisfaction in getting it wrong and being surprised by the real answer.

The characters are as wonderful as ever. I only wish that we got more about them, as their personal lives took a bit of a backseat to the story compared to the previous books. Each person got a single overarching personal plot which was neatly concluded at the end, but I wish it was explored more in depth.

Overall, a welcome return to Marlow with an engaging and clever mystery. Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for providing an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Only downside to this is I now have longer to wait for the next one!

This is the third installment of the Marlow Murder Club. Judith, Suzie and Becks are up to their old tricks, getting involved in murder cases whilst pretending to be your average middle aged women.
This wasn't my favourite of the series, I felt like not as much happened in this one and there seemed to be some plot holes in the uncovering of the murderer. It was still a cozy murder mystery.
This was 3.5 stars but I've rounded up to 4 stars.

What an unusual little book - its so rare to find a series where our MC are ladies of a certain age! There are millions of reads featuring teenagers and women in their twenties, increasingly some of women in their thirties but after that it seems it’s a case of few and far between so this was a really refreshing read and I love that I didn’t know the MC’s ages going into reading this as it was a wonderful surprise! (I’m going to buy a copy for my mum when this is released on 18th Jan 2024 as I think she will love this!)

This was a well written mystery, lots of clues, lots of twists, some brilliant red herrings, and a thoroughly enjoyable read (I had guessed the culprit before the reveal but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing as it just means all the clues and breadcrumbs had paid off). I also really enjoyed how the three’s personal lives were interwoven throughout and I really felt like these additions added so much to the story.

Queen of Poisons is the third book in this series but I hadn’t read any of the earlier books and I was able to fully enjoy this book. So don’t be put off by it being part of a series - it is definitely capable of standing on it’s own. Having finished this one I will definitely be looking at reading the first two books as I really enjoyed Judith, Becks and Suzie as well as Thorogood’s writing style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC

When they say the book was unputdownable, this is what they mean. Judith, Becks and Suzie are back in action, solving the murder of the mayor of Marlow. The story keeps you on your toes, twist after twist, clue after clue, until the shocking reveal ties up all the loose ends in a no less shocking fashion. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, from the story to humour to the mystery to writing to the characters, especially, the core three. I like how their personal lives and development are always integrated with the case they’re solving. Everyone and everything makes sense in the end with more room left to explore in the future novels.
The Queen of Poisons has to be best in the series yet and I am even more excited about the Marlow murder club as the tv adaptation of the first novel is coming next year.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The Marlow Murder Club are back for the 3rd instalment, and it is pure brilliance.

Suzie, Judith, and Becks, are 3 good, but completely different characters, are all friends and when there’s a murder, they’re there to solve the crime.
Suzie attends a town council meeting, where a member of the Council Committee drops dead. And when it transpires, the Murder Club can’t wait to chase the clues.

This is one of the best cosy crime series I’ve ever read. The writing is fantastic, full of mad capers and red herrings. I love the characters, the author writes them perfectly. The books in this series are all light hearted fun, and this one is no different. A brilliant read, and I can’t wait to find out what they get up to next!!

A nicely-paced mystery for the Marlow-based amateur detectives. This time, the local mayor drops dead after drinking a poisoned coffee at a planning meeting. Everyone has a secret and hence the motive to be the killer, but it takes a few twists to get there.

Another outing for the trio of ladies but my first book in the series. Happy to say it was easy to pick up and follow on from previous books.
Really enjoyed the characters and their interactions.
Hadn't solved who did it which added to the reveal.
Enjoy I did

The Mayor of Marlow, Geoffrey Lushington, dies suddenly during a planning meeting.

And it's going to be impossible for the police to keep the Marlow Murder Club away from this one, because Suzie was right there when it happened.

And so the gang are appointed Civilian Advisors.

But this one has them a bit stumped...

Brilliant

FROM THE COVER📖

Who killed the Mayor? It’s up to the Marlow Murder Club to find out . . .
Geoffrey Lushington, Mayor of Marlow, dies suddenly during a Town Council meeting. When traces of aconite – also known as the queen of poisons – are found in his coffee cup, the police realise he was murdered. But who did it? And why?
The police bring Judith, Suzie and Becks in to investigate as Civilian Advisors right from the start, so they have free rein to interview suspects and follow the evidence to their heart’s content, which is perfect because Judith has no time for rules and standard procedure. But this case has the Marlow Murder Club stumped. Who would want to kill the affable Mayor? How did they even get the poison into his coffee? And is anyone else in danger? The Marlow Murder Club are about to face their most difficult case yet . . .

REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I always look forward to an outing to Marlow so was really happy to be improved for this ARC. Thank you. Here is fair and honest review.

First off I love how Robert Thorogood always write murder in such a unique way his writing is like classic Agatha Christie with a new modern twist this book was no different.

The style, plot and characterised are very twee in nature and match with the classic cosy crime Christie vibes. The characters and plots are remind of the Thursday Murder Club books however this series and in particular book doesn't quite match the great Osman's club it is unfair to compare but there is no denying there are similar.

For me the plot of the book is quirky and its strong you are kept guessing but what let's it down is the characters they have developed much from book one and as such come across with lack lustre, they are boring in the main and the character of Judith has became like a snotty school bully. You have to leave reality at the door with how the woman go about investigating and while this is normal in the genre within this book it's too much to really accept and as such the book looses something. The way the book ended was good but the lead up to that was too quick it went from they plodding about with no clue to all of sudden Judith remembering a passing remark then working it all out, I did like the Poirot/Marple type confrontation between her and the killer I just feel it could have been set better. Especially after reading Thorogoods other outstanding novels I feel he has rushed this book a little and as result it's not as good.

All that being said it's fun caper with twists and old classic cosy crime vibes just don't expect to be challenged in anyway. It lacks the undercurrent of political and social observations that make Christie's work so great and it lacks the witty well developed characters that make the Thursday Murder Club books so readable despite the sometime far fetched parts.

It stands up as good read in a much flooded genre but only just....

I am looking forward to the TV adaption of the books, I greatly enjoyed the death in paradise novels as well as they early tv episodes I hope Marlow Murder Club has the same success but please don't rush the next book.

I did not realise that this was the third in the seriesof the Marlow ladies gang. It is easily a stan alone book and once read it left me with the need to read the previous books. It is a very liight hearteed easy read about Marlow and the inhabitants. the characters are all so well described and I just loved the audacity of the Marlow gang, those ladies sure know how to live. As civilian police assistants they manage to put suspects at their ease and find out so much by just using their intuition. I did feel sory for Tanika, as the policerepresentative who enrolled the ladies and then had to deal with the backlash from all their unapproved actions.
It is a lovely warm mystery that mkes winter go away