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 . . .

The Marlow Murder Club makes a triumphant return and so do our beloved Police Civilian Advisors – Judith, Suzie, and Becks. In The Queen of Poisons the third instalment in the series, Suzie attends a Town Council meeting, but it isn’t long before the Mayor of Marlow, Geoffrey Lushington, keels over and dies at the table.

Was it a heart attack, etc? No, it is a meticulously executed act of murder. His coffee has been laced with poison but who would want to do such a thing to an apparent well-respected man, and who has seen the sugar bowl? These are answers the Marlow Murder Club friends need to find out if they want to locate the murderer and bring them to justice.

I love this series. The dynamic trio, Judith, Suzie, and Becks have such contrasting personalities and yet work well together. Their energy and vibrancy bounce off the pages, along with their sarcasm, sneakiness, and boldness. It was also lovely to see Becks having a backbone and her family supporting her (well most of them!).

The thrills and twists of a fine murder mystery novel were weaved throughout and the pages were turned with ease having me flying through the book in no time. I also always love playing along trying to see if I can work out who the killer is before the big reveal.

The Queen of Poisons is a stellar addition to an already outstanding series. It is entertaining and I love how the author manages to captivate his audience the whole way through with a blend of mystery and intrigue alongside fabulous characters. I now look forward to more books in the future and the TV series which is due out soon.

Robert Thorogood is an English screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of the BBC 1 Murder Mystery Series, Death in Paradise.

Robert wrote for many years – selling scripts to the BBC, ITV and independent film companies – but before 2011 the only script of his that was actually broadcast was a Radio 4 afternoon play called From Abstraction about the life of Paul Wolfskehl.

In 2008, Robert entered the inaugural Red Planet Prize and was a chosen finalist, where he was able to pitch his ‘Copper in the Caribbean’ idea to Tony Jordan. By 2011, when the show was finally broadcast – making it Robert’s first TV broadcast credit at the age of 39 – Robert had become something of a poster boy for ‘never giving up on the dream’.