Robert Thorogood has a specific talent for making murder feel, well, comfortable. If you’ve ever spent a rainy Sunday afternoon watching Death in Paradise, you already know his vibe. But with The Marlow Murder Club a novel, he stepped away from the Caribbean sun and moved the stakes to the muddy, quintessentially English banks of the Thames. It works. Honestly, it works better than it has any right to.
Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old. She lives alone in a decaying mansion. She drinks whiskey. She swims naked in the river. She is, quite frankly, a legend.
Most mystery novels try too hard to be gritty or "noir" these days. Everything is dark, everyone has a traumatic backstory involving a rain-slicked alleyway, and the protagonist is usually a functional alcoholic with a badge. Thorogood ignores all of that. He gives us a cross-stitcher, a vicar’s wife, and a fiercely independent heptagenarian. It sounds like a recipe for something sugary and forgettable, but the plotting is sharp enough to draw blood.
What Actually Happens in Marlow?
The story kicks off when Judith is out for her evening swim and hears a gunshot. She’s certain she witnessed a murder at the neighboring estate. The police? They aren't so sure. In fact, they basically pat her on the head and tell her to go home.
Big mistake.
Judith doesn't do "going home." Instead, she recruits an unlikely pit crew. There’s Suzie, a local dog walker who is perpetually frazzled but surprisingly observant. Then there’s Becks, the vicar’s wife who is drowning in the suffocating expectations of "perfect" village life. Together, they form a trio that feels less like a detective agency and more like a chaotic book club that decided to start solving crimes because the local authorities were being useless.
They aren't professionals. They don't have forensics kits. They have local gossip, an intimate knowledge of who owns which hedge trimmer, and Judith’s unwavering belief that she is the smartest person in any given room.
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Why The Marlow Murder Club a Novel Hits Differently
There is a specific term for this: the "Cozy Mystery." But let’s be real—a lot of cozies are boring. They rely on puns and cats. The Marlow Murder Club a novel succeeds because it respects the mechanics of a classic whodunnit while injecting a very modern sense of wit.
Thorogood uses a "locked room" sensibility but applies it to an entire town. Marlow becomes a character. The river isn't just a setting; it's a recurring witness. The geography of the town—the towpaths, the bridges, the specific layout of the houses—actually matters to the plot. You can’t just skim the descriptions. If you don't understand where Judith is swimming, you won't understand how she heard the shot.
The Judith Potts Factor
We need to talk about Judith. She is the engine of the book. Usually, older women in fiction are relegated to being the "wise grandmother" or the "eccentric aunt." Judith is the protagonist. She’s prickly. She’s occasionally rude. She has a very specific set of rules for her life that she refuses to break for anyone.
Her hobby is creating crossword puzzles for national newspapers. This is a brilliant character trait because it explains why she’s good at solving murders. She thinks in clues. She looks for patterns. She understands that words can have double meanings and that people usually hide the truth in plain sight.
When you read The Marlow Murder Club a novel, you aren't just watching a mystery unfold; you're watching a brilliant mind finally find a problem big enough to keep it occupied.
Breaking Down the "Cozy" Stereotype
People think cozy means "soft." It doesn't.
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In this book, the stakes are genuinely high. People die. The killer isn't some cartoon villain; they are someone within the community. That’s the real horror of a village mystery. It’s the realization that the person you buy your morning paper from might be capable of clinical, calculated violence.
Thorogood balances this beautifully. You’ll be laughing at Suzie’s dog-walking mishaps on one page, and on the next, you’re hit with the cold realization that the killer is likely watching the trio from a nearby window.
The Trio’s Dynamic
- Judith: The brain. The leader. The one who doesn't care about social niceties.
- Becks: The "proper" one who provides access to the upper echelons of Marlow society.
- Suzie: The heart. She provides the boots-on-the-ground intel that only a dog walker could know.
This isn't a "girl power" cliché. It’s a functional team where everyone brings a specific, mundane skill that turns out to be vital for criminal investigation. It’s relatable. Most of us aren't Sherlock Holmes, but most of us do know a guy who knows a guy, or we know exactly which neighbor leaves their back door unlocked.
The Transition to the Screen
If you’ve seen the 2024 TV adaptation starring Samantha Bond, you know the visual aesthetic is bright and crisp. But the book offers something the show can't: Judith's internal monologue.
In The Marlow Murder Club a novel, we get to see the sheer frustration Judith feels when the world tries to sideline her because of her age. The book is an anthem for visibility. It’s about taking up space. It’s about the fact that being seventy-seven doesn't mean you’ve stopped being a person with agency, intelligence, and a healthy dose of spite.
Real Talk: Is It Worth Your Time?
If you like The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, you will like this. It’s a natural comparison. However, Thorogood’s writing feels a bit more structured in its puzzle-solving. While Osman focuses heavily on the emotional weight of aging (which is great), Thorogood focuses on the clues.
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It’s a "fair play" mystery. That means the author gives you all the information you need to solve the crime at the same time the characters get it. There are no "deus ex machina" moments where a secret twin appears in the final chapter. If you're paying attention to the crossword-puzzle logic Judith uses, you can actually beat her to the punch.
How to Get the Most Out of the Read
Don't rush it. This isn't a "fast-paced thriller" in the sense that things are exploding. It’s a slow-burn logic puzzle.
- Map it out. If you aren't familiar with Marlow, look at a map of the Thames in that area. The physical locations are crucial.
- Watch the crosswords. Pay attention to the way Judith describes her puzzle-making process. It’s a metaphor for how the entire plot is constructed.
- Look past the "niceness." Every character in a Thorogood novel has a secret. Even the ones that seem like background noise.
The book is the first in a series (followed by Death Comes to Marlow and The Queen of Poisons), so if you fall in love with these women, there’s plenty more to dig into.
Actionable Next Steps for Mystery Fans
If you’re ready to dive into the world of Judith Potts, here is how to handle it.
First, get the physical copy or the e-book rather than just the audiobook for your first pass. There are details in the text—specifically regarding the crossword clues—that are easier to "see" than to hear.
Second, once you finish, look up the real-life Marlow. Thorogood lives there. Almost every location mentioned, from the Compleat Angler hotel to the specific bridges, exists. It adds a layer of reality to the fiction that makes the "club" feel like they might actually be out there right now, drinking gin and looking for clues.
Finally, pay attention to the subtext of the secondary characters. Thorogood is planting seeds for future books from the very first chapter. The "club" isn't just about solving one murder; it's about these three women realizing that their lives weren't actually over—they were just waiting for a reason to start paying attention again.