If you enjoyed Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club, you’ll want to try Robert Thorogood’s The Marlow Murder Club. They’re nothing at all alike. The connection comes with the amateur sleuths who are often overlooked by other people. Then there’s the subtle humor. I’ll admit when you’ve read numerous mysteries, you might see the solution of the story long before the sleuths do, but the finale is so good.

Mrs. Judith Potts is totally satisfied with her life. At seventy-seven, she lives in a mansion in Marlow, England, right on the Thames. She has a job she loves, but works at it from home. She has no man in her life to try to control it. And, when she wants to go swimming, she skinny dips in the Thames. In fact, she’s swimming one night when she hears her neighbor, Stefan Dunwoody, cry out in protest, and then a gunshot.

Detective Sergeant Tanika Malik responded to Judith’s phone call. Normally, Tanika wouldn’t be the investigating officer, but three weeks earlier, her boss signed out with a stress-related issue.She’s not really prepared for a murder investigation, and she won’t admit Stefan was murdered. But, that only makes Judith determined to investigate. If the police won’t believe her when she says he was murdered, she’ll look into it herself.

Judith heads off to the local church to check on a suspect’s alibi. She doesn’t expect to find the vicar’s wife, Becks Stirling, hiding. But, she’s quick to recognize a woman who is unhappy with her life as a vicar’s wife. And, Judith ropes her in as a reluctant assistant. It doesn’t take as much to rope in the third member of their little group. Suzie Harris is a dog walker who takes in Emma, the Doberman who belonged to Marlow’s second murder victim. Suzie is willing to look for the person who killed Emma’s master.

While the police think there’s never a murder in Marlow, it’s hard to deny when the third victim turns up, killed in the same way, with the same weapon. But D.S. Malik realizes her police officers aren’t turning up the clues while the Marlow Murder Club seem to find suspects.

If you read for character, you’ll discover an unusual trio of amateur sleuths in The Marlow Murder Club. And, yes, I saw the solution. But, the finale is grand, and that trio comes through in unexpected ways. And, Judith Potts learns her philosophy isn’t always accurate. “Neve let people get too close. Things always work out better if you did everything on your own.” Not quite right, even if you’re a brilliant amateur sleuth.

The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood. Sourcebooks/Poisoned Pen Press, 288p.

FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley to review for a journal.