Author: Robert Thorogood
Published: June 6, 2023 by Poison Pen Press
Format: Kindle, Hardcover, 286 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: The Marlow Murder Club #2
First Sentence: After the excitement of the previous summer, Mrs. Judith Potts spent the winter returning to the more solitary rhythms of life.
Blurb: Robert Thorogood delights in giving the Christie-mystery a busy-body twist. Judith (our favorite skinny-dipping, whiskey-sipping, crossword puzzle author), along with Becks the vicar's wife, and Susie the dogwalker find themselves in a head-scratching, utterly clever country house, locked-room murder mystery.
Holiday festivities are now January doldrums when Judith gets a call—Sir Peter Bailey, a prominent Marlovian is inviting notable citizens to his house the day before his wedding to celebrate.
Judith decides to go—after all, it's a few houses up the Thames and free champagne, for sure. During the party, a loud crash inside stops the festivities. The groom-to-be has been crushed to death in his study. The door was locked from the inside so the police say suicide, obviously. (the Poisoned Pen Press)
My Opinion: I cannot tell what year this book takes place. One aspect seems to be an old-fashioned 1950s mystery, but at the same time, they have cell phones and talk cryptocurrency. Then they talk extortion, but the number mentioned seems correct for the 50s but is missing a few zeros for the current day.
Once you get past that confusion, next up is a mansion without staff that conveniently, because that is what the plot needed, allowed people to wander unnoticed. That brings me to another quirk. How does a man on a boat hear a display case fall in a house quite a distance away?
Granted, I read an ARC, and I hope the editors caught onto the glaring issues in this 2nd book in the Marlow Murder Club series.
The book was slow-paced, repetitive, had problems with consistency, and lacked the same energy that the women brought to the first installment.
Blurb: Robert Thorogood delights in giving the Christie-mystery a busy-body twist. Judith (our favorite skinny-dipping, whiskey-sipping, crossword puzzle author), along with Becks the vicar's wife, and Susie the dogwalker find themselves in a head-scratching, utterly clever country house, locked-room murder mystery.
Holiday festivities are now January doldrums when Judith gets a call—Sir Peter Bailey, a prominent Marlovian is inviting notable citizens to his house the day before his wedding to celebrate.
Judith decides to go—after all, it's a few houses up the Thames and free champagne, for sure. During the party, a loud crash inside stops the festivities. The groom-to-be has been crushed to death in his study. The door was locked from the inside so the police say suicide, obviously. (the Poisoned Pen Press)
My Opinion: I cannot tell what year this book takes place. One aspect seems to be an old-fashioned 1950s mystery, but at the same time, they have cell phones and talk cryptocurrency. Then they talk extortion, but the number mentioned seems correct for the 50s but is missing a few zeros for the current day.
Once you get past that confusion, next up is a mansion without staff that conveniently, because that is what the plot needed, allowed people to wander unnoticed. That brings me to another quirk. How does a man on a boat hear a display case fall in a house quite a distance away?
Granted, I read an ARC, and I hope the editors caught onto the glaring issues in this 2nd book in the Marlow Murder Club series.
The book was slow-paced, repetitive, had problems with consistency, and lacked the same energy that the women brought to the first installment.
No comments:
Post a Comment