The Queen of Poisons cover art

The Queen of Poisons

The Marlow Murder Club, Book 3

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The Queen of Poisons

By: Robert Thorogood
Narrated by: Nicolette McKenzie
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About this listen

The top 10 Sunday Times bestseller NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES starring Samantha Bond, Jo Martin, and Cara Horgan.

* * *

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 …

©2024 Robert Thorogood (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Amateur Sleuths Cosy Crime Fiction Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural Crime Detective Heartfelt Murder
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This was a great tight book. The murder happens in the first scene and Judith and the gang take it from there. I thought I’d solved it and was wrong. The real solution was also good and with careful reading you could work it out. Can’t wait for then next book! Also I recommend watching the tv series to get the characters in your head. Tho to me Judith is always going to be Margret Rutherford not Samantha Bond. You could start with this book if you haven’t read the other ones.

What a total delight!

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Really enjoyed the characters and the twists in this book, kept me thinking, yet still unable to guess the identity

Twists

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A really delightful tale. A quick and easy read. Lots of fun and adventure for our new trio of friends. Wholesome murder mystery.

Delightful

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I love the characters in this series but Nicollette McKenzie is an outstanding narrator and really brings them to life. Her narraration really makes it.

A great listening experience

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The Queen of Poisons by Robert Thorogood

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Death in Paradise is one of my guilty pleasures to watch. The author of Death in Paradise, Robert Thorogood, has also written a series called the Marlow Murder Club, which I think is going to get the TV series treatment, too.

The Queen of Poisons is book three in the Marlow Murder Club Series. I had to clear this one off my TBR pile because book four has just been released, and I can't have two books from the same series on my TBR pile. That means Robert Thorogood is writing books faster than I can read them!

Much like the earlier books in this series, this is another classic locked room mystery with fun leading characters and a relaxed, twisty storyline. If you like English not-quite-cosy mysteries, like those written by Richard Osman, Anthony Horowitz or true English cosy mysteries like those by Amanda Ashby or Nicola Whyte.

Thumbs up 👍

Body Count = 1

Classic locked room mystery!

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This was an okay third instalment, very similar to the previous books with no real surprises which is to be expected.

What I found really difficult was the huge amount of fat shaming. The comments and opinions of larger bodies seem to come out of nowhere and then just got worse and worse. This ended up being a big part of the plot, which just seemed weird, lazy, and really badly handled (it could have easily been fixed with current research and knowledge of mental health issues).

Unfortunately, i won't be listening to any more from the writer. There's so many other great writers of the same genre that don't use discrimination and prejudice to be creative.

huge trigger warning: full of fat shaming!

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