Queen of Poisons
Finished: July 2024
Book Source: NetGalley
Book Publication Date: June 2024
The Marlow Murder Club is on the hunt for a killer… 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 realize he was murdered. But who did it? And why?
The police bring Judith, Suzie, and Becks in to investigate the murder 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 of Marlow? How did they even get the poison into his coffee? And is anyone else in danger? The Marlow Murder Club is about to face their most difficult case yet…
Trigger Warnings:
Murder, fat shaming
My Review
“The Queen of Poisons” by Robert Thorogood is the third book in the series, and while it can work as a standalone, I highly recommend reading the entire series first—it gets better with each installment! The narrator truly knocked it out of the park, providing the perfect voice for this book.
In this story, after the mayor is murdered, the three unlikely friends are at it again and take it upon themselves to investigate. The plot is clever and engaging (though it did remind me of a “Monk” episode at one point). A standout subplot involves Becks and her mother-in-law, culminating in a superb and satisfying ending.
Overall, “The Queen of Poisons” is a delightful and clever mystery that is thoroughly enjoyable. While you have to withhold your sense of reality a bit, it was still a satisfying read.
Spoilers/Summary:
SPOILERS BELOW. Stop here if you do not want to read spoilers.
Dave, the severely overweight IT person, is the killer. He had lost a bunch of weight throughout the year but was wearing a fat suit to disguise himself when he was serving tea. He had a camera hidden in the place where the town meetings were held so he knew about all of the people on the board.
He had installed equipment at Sophia’s house, so he let the air out of her tire so she wouldn’t be at the meeting, worried that she might recognize him.
He wanted to get back at Geoffrey and Sophia because when his mom died, Sophia accidentally mixed up where her grave was. Geoffrey helped get Sophia out of trouble. Dave wants to punish them so murders Geoffrey and tries to frame Sophia.
Judith gets him out of hiding by having Sophia pretend she has the plans to where the actual graves are located. Dave tries to steal them when Judith sets all of her old papers on fire and people think her house is burning down.
The other’s secrets: Sophie was in love with Geoffrey after he helped her when she mixed up the graves – she broke into his house and tried to seduce him, Debby had been stealing money from the council to pay for her menopause treatments but then also porcelain figurines. Marcus writes the twitter account for Marlow that is very vulgar and racist, etc.. Jeremy was blackmailing Marcus about the account.
Judith sets up Becks mother in law, who was spending all of Becks money, with an old flame from high school that is now widowed and wealthy.
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