The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols (2025)
So much fun, this one. For everyone who loves a 'neighbors-gather-to-solve-a-murder' mystery, this book has everything you could possibly ask for.....and everything I love about this genre.
Distinctive, quirky characters - some lovable, some hilarious, some 'forces-of-nature, some "who-know-what-they're-hiding, some mysterious, a few you want hug, a few you scratch your head about, and more than a few equipped with almost illegally laugh-out-loud lethal deadpan wit.
And before it's all over, you're wishing they had an extra cottage to rent out so you could join them.
We're amid a cluster of cozy little cottages in Santa Barbara, attended to by owner-landlady Mrs. B. Mrs. B. constantly hovers like a helicopter-grandmother over her tenants whether they like it or not. . There's aspiring young playwright (and survivor of a deeply upsetting trauma) Sophie. Also take-charge proposal writer Lily Ann, on-and-off separated from her overbearing husband. Then there's queer artist Ocean, also busy raising a sullen teen girl and her active little brother. And no one can forget chronic homebody Hamilton, a walking Wikipedia on everything. Finally, there's young city planner NIcholas, who generally wants nothing whatsoever to do with his neighbors......especially, for some hidden reason Mrs. B.
Into their midst comes Anthony, a hulking, tattooed scary looking (but politely quiet) ex-convict.. No sooner does Mrs. B. rent him the remaining studio apartment, when a dead body's found on the property. Homicide detective Enible takes one look at Anthony and slaps him in cuffs, but Mrs. B., holds on to a fierce unshakable belief he's innocent. She enlists, as we knew she would, the Marigold Cottages community to put their heads together to crack the case
The Marigold collective of unlikely sleuths is then off and running and guaranteed to keep you smiling and LOLing over and over again. Clues and twists start to pile up while the group engages in both chaotic on-line chats and equally riotous meetings at Hamilton's apartment, interrupted frequently by his vast knowledge of random trivia.
Any time I stumble upon a book so enjoyable I'm sorry to see it end, I can't recommend highly enough. (especially with that final chapter reveal) And I wouldn't mind at all if Mrs. B. and the gang get to take another bite out of crime in the near future. Or more than a few, come to think of it.
Distinctive, quirky characters - some lovable, some hilarious, some 'forces-of-nature, some "who-know-what-they're-hiding, some mysterious, a few you want hug, a few you scratch your head about, and more than a few equipped with almost illegally laugh-out-loud lethal deadpan wit.
And before it's all over, you're wishing they had an extra cottage to rent out so you could join them.
We're amid a cluster of cozy little cottages in Santa Barbara, attended to by owner-landlady Mrs. B. Mrs. B. constantly hovers like a helicopter-grandmother over her tenants whether they like it or not. . There's aspiring young playwright (and survivor of a deeply upsetting trauma) Sophie. Also take-charge proposal writer Lily Ann, on-and-off separated from her overbearing husband. Then there's queer artist Ocean, also busy raising a sullen teen girl and her active little brother. And no one can forget chronic homebody Hamilton, a walking Wikipedia on everything. Finally, there's young city planner NIcholas, who generally wants nothing whatsoever to do with his neighbors......especially, for some hidden reason Mrs. B.
Into their midst comes Anthony, a hulking, tattooed scary looking (but politely quiet) ex-convict.. No sooner does Mrs. B. rent him the remaining studio apartment, when a dead body's found on the property. Homicide detective Enible takes one look at Anthony and slaps him in cuffs, but Mrs. B., holds on to a fierce unshakable belief he's innocent. She enlists, as we knew she would, the Marigold Cottages community to put their heads together to crack the case
The Marigold collective of unlikely sleuths is then off and running and guaranteed to keep you smiling and LOLing over and over again. Clues and twists start to pile up while the group engages in both chaotic on-line chats and equally riotous meetings at Hamilton's apartment, interrupted frequently by his vast knowledge of random trivia.
Any time I stumble upon a book so enjoyable I'm sorry to see it end, I can't recommend highly enough. (especially with that final chapter reveal) And I wouldn't mind at all if Mrs. B. and the gang get to take another bite out of crime in the near future. Or more than a few, come to think of it.
5 stars (*****). A BQ "Don't Miss".
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