In addition to mystery novels, I am also an avid fan of word games. I particularly love crossword puzzles: I regularly race my friends to complete the New York Times crossword, and got into cryptic crosswords over the pandemic. I’m still terrible at them – I can’t solve anagrams to save my life – but I love a good solve.

So when I first heard about The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood, starring a septuagenarian crossword setter, I was delighted. A novel to fulfill not just my general puzzle needs, but the specific wordplay I’d come to love! And as an avid puzzle-lover, the book did not disappoint. I have a soft spot for senior sleuths and Judith is a particularly fun one, able to get into adventure while still managing to stay the right side of sympathetic. Also, unlike the Puzzle Lady, she’s actually good at crosswords, meaning we get to actually solve.

And so I’ve been really excited to take a early peek at the second entry in the series, Death Comes to Marlow. (Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!) I was totally ready for more of Judith & Susie & Becks & Tanika. The real question was – would the sequel hold up?

Straight to the puzzles

There’s always a challenge with sequel mystery stories – how do you kick them off in a believable, non-contrived way? After all, it’s tricky to believe that your protagonist will just stumble into another convenient murder. Some authors will go to great lengths to avoid this contrivance, but Thorogood chooses to rip the band-aid off fast.

Instead of building up a long introduction to explain away the contrivance, he leans into it. Judith is simply invited to a party – last-minute, out of nowhere – by the murder victim. Thorogood knows what we’re here for – some mystery-solving, dammit! – and he delivers, quickly. Judith, accompanied by Susie and Becks, almost immediately figure out that the murder was more than a mere accident. It’s a pretty tight list of suspects – all of whom happen to have alibis. Not only that, the victim died in a locked room, which makes it tricky to actually establish as more than an accident.

On top of the locked-room mystery, there’s plenty of community intrigue to go around. In my book, cozy mysteries are distinctive because of their emphasis on the community. Thorogood’s stirred up plenty of fun side-plots – Judith’s chasing down local cryptic crossword intrigue, and Suzie and Becks have secrets of their own… Plus, there’s drama with the Marlow police department, as leadership challenges force DS Tanika to rely more on the gang than before (à la both Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club).

The plot and pacing work well, and Thorogood balances the main mystery and side plots well. The side plots act as “breathing room” and serve as nice inspiration for the characters. However, while the story itself is well-constructed, the characters could perhaps use a little more distinctiveness. Judith, Suzie, Becks, and Tanika each have specific areas of expertise and action – but their dialogue and voices are somewhat similar. In future entries in the series, it might be nice to see a bit more character distinction beyond the physical distinctions and areas of expertise.

Fair play with word games

This is pure cozy puzzle-solving, plain and simple. Thorogood has managed to create both a cozy mystery and one that meets almost all of Knox’s fair play rules. You can almost solve the puzzle yourself with all the information given. (The missing pieces, for me, related to my reduced understanding of the English cultural context.) Rest assured there are no “accidental traps” where the protagonists fall into the solution after several hundred pages of wild-goose chase.

Thorogood also includes a puzzle “mini-game” of sorts as Judith pursues a parallel mystery relating to the local cryptic crossword. As part of this, she solves a number of cryptic crossword clues, walking us through the typical thought process. Your enjoyment of this will rely heavily on your appreciation for cryptic crosswords. (In this regard, it resembles the technical change-ringing descriptions in The Nine Tailors.) Cryptics can involve a lot of inside knowledge, and the clue-solving requires quite a bit of technical exposition to make clear. If, like me, you already like cryptic clues, you will likely enjoy this element.

Reader’s notes and rating (⭐⭐⭐✨)

Death Comes to Marlow was the perfect start to my year – but I’m also very aware I’m in its target audience. I already love elderly sleuths, fair-play mysteries, and cryptic crosswords, so I was basically guaranteed to enjoy this. If that sounds like an accurate description of you, I can whole-heartedly recommend this read. It’s a great example of the genre and a satisfying puzzle-solving experience. The only thing preventing it from a full 4 stars is the somewhat niche technical content on crosswords, and the slightly samey character voices. But I’ll happily recommend this to my many puzzle- and mystery-loving friends this year in June!

Death Comes to Marlow will be published in the US on June 6, 2023. This review serves as the first entry across almost all my challenge commitments this year – you can see my updated Cozopoly board here.