the in-between life

It was fall of 2023 and my boredom hit a new low. I had watched all of the shows that I wanted to watch and played Dreamlight Valley for longer than I cared to admit. As a digital marketer, my days are filled with screens, calls, and thinking about how to show up in people’s social media feeds. I needed a brain break, and my pile of books in the corner of the room were calling my name. I picked up the one on top and jumped feet-first into the coziest of mysteries. Not only could I not put it down, but I also didn’t want to stop reading. It was the reigniting of a hobby I had put on the shelf a long time ago.

Since then, I’ve fallen head over heels for the cozy mystery genre and decided to compile a list of my Top 5, all-time favorites.

5. The Marlow Murder Club – Robert Thorogood

🔍 Genre: Mystery
📆 Release Date: 2021

Synopsis:
Crossword setter, Judith Potts, isn’t one to keep to herself. The seventy-seven-year-old finds herself in the middle of a neighbor’s murder while she is out skinny-dipping in the river outside his house. Scandalous! With the crime happening right on her doorstep, Judith can’t help herself from trying to get to the bottom of it. During her investigation, she makes some friends that make the journey even more interesting. Can Judith, Becks, and Suzie solve it?

👍 What I Liked:
This book was right up my alley! A cozy mystery set in England? I’m there every time. You may be thinking it’s a bit similar to The Thursday Murder Club, but the story stands on its own!

👎 What I Didn’t Like:
I listened to this on audiobook so would definitely reread a physical copy!.

🤔 Thoughts on Characters:
All of the characters were lovable in their own ways. I loved learning more and more about them as the book went on.

🖋️ Writing Style:
Easy and comforting. It was the perfect balance of descriptive and casual.

🌈 Themes & Messages:
People over a certain age are often overlooked in our society. Judith proves you should never underestimate her.

👥 Recommendation:
I would recommend this to friends who want something easy and comforting to read. Also to fans of The Thursday Murder Club.

🔖 Memorable Quotes:
“She couldn’t help noticing everything about her existence seemed to be defined by someone who wasn’t her.”
― Robert Thorogood, The Marlow Murder Club

📚 In a Nutshell:
A lovely read that feels like a warm cup of tea.

4. Death Comes to Marlow (#2) – Robert Thorogood

🔍 Genre: Mystery
📆 Release Date: 2023

Synopsis:
All is quiet in Marlow following the previous (very eventful) year. The Marlow Murder Club members, Judith, Suzie, and Becks, are settling into the summer when they are invited to the upcoming wedding of Marlow grandee, Sir Peter Bailey. Just as the gang begin to enjoy the festivities (and a little bubbly) there’s a crash from inside the house and they can’t help but to investigate. When the groom-to-be is found deceased in his locked study, the police declare the death an accident, but Judith disagrees. It’s up to the Marlow Murder Club to get to the bottom of what happened in Sir Peter Bailey’s study.

👍 What I Liked:
The perfect sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. I think it was actually better than the first book and I didn’t see the ending coming.

👎 What I Didn’t Like:
I listened to this on audiobook so would definitely reread a physical copy!

🤔 Thoughts on Characters:
You fall more in love with the characters and are rooting for the Marlow Murder Club the whole way. I could read 100 books about their antics.

🖋️ Writing Style:
Easy and comforting. It was the perfect balance easy and engaging read.

🌈 Themes & Messages:
People over a certain age are often overlooked in our society. Judith continues to prove you should never underestimate her and her friends.

👥 Recommendation:
I would recommend this to friends who want something easy and comforting to read. Also to fans of The Thursday Murder Club.

🔖 Memorable Quotes:
“Interfere?’ Judith said in mock outrage. ‘Interferering is for amateurs.’
Suzie laughed.
‘We investigate.’”
― Robert Thorogood, Death Comes to Marlow

📚 In a Nutshell:
Another lovely read with perfect pacing and intrigue.

3. Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone (Ernest Cunningham #1) – Benjamin Stevenson

🔍 Genre: Mystery
📆 Release Date: 2022

Synopsis:
Ernest Cunningham, or Ern, or Ernie, is a crime fiction expert and writer. As a crime writer writing about a crime, Ernie promises to retell the events of his family’s reunion by following Ronald Knox’s 10 Commandments of Detective Fiction. He begrudgingly accepts his Aunt Katherine’s invitation to a snowy mountain resort to reconnect with everyone. The only problem? Well, his family still blames Ernie for snitching on his brother, Michael, after he witnessed him killing someone three years ago. As they all await Michael’s release from prison, a mystery guest turns up dead in the most curious fashion. When an amateur cop from a rural town shows up to investigate, the Cunningham crime family, and Michael, all come under suspicion.

As the family tries to navigate reconciliation and forgiveness, Ern unpacks his past and explains how everyone in his family has killed someone, yes, everyone.

👍 What I Liked:
Everything. It was a full-speed chase from the beginning, and the narration was *chef’s kiss*. I loved the way the anecdotes about his family tied into the whole story.

👎 What I Didn’t Like:
This was a five-star read for me, so I loved it. If I had one complaint it would be that there were a lot of characters to keep up with and I sometimes needed to reread sections if I wasn’t fully locked in.

🤔 Thoughts on Characters:
Every character was problematic in their own way and that’s what was so genius about it. Everyone was a suspect!

🖋️ Writing Style:
Easy to read and clever. It felt like I was reading someone’s diary and finding out all of the family’s gossip.

🌈 Themes & Messages:
Everyone is going through things in life. At the end of the day, your family will be there for you, drama and all.

👥 Recommendation:
People who love Agatha Christie, the golden age of whodunnits, and The Thursday Murder Club.

🔖 Memorable Quotes:
“Family is not whose blood runs in your veins, it’s who you’d spill it for.”
― Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

📚 In a Nutshell:
This book was unlike anything I have read before and I loved the running commentary from Ernest. It was funny, sad, gut-wrenching and tense in all of the best ways possible.

2. Killers of a Certain Age – Deanna Raybourn

🔍 Genre: Mystery
📆 Release Date: 2021

Synopsis:
What happens when a group of former assassins detects an unknown threat to their lives while on an all-expenses-paid cruise? Mary Alice, Billie, Natalie, and Helen have worked for ‘The Museum’ for the past forty years and now their lives are on the line. It’s kill or be killed.

👍 What I Liked:
ALL OF IT! I was so invested in everyone and their stories.

👎 What I Didn’t Like:
That it came to an end. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time!

🤔 Thoughts on Characters:
The perfect group of characters. Assassins, villains, traitors. I have been trying to think of ways that this could turn into a series because I need more!

🖋️ Writing Style:
Easy to read, perfect pacing, engaging at every turn.

🌈 Themes & Messages:
Similar to The Marlow Murder Club and the Thursday Murder Club, people over a certain age are often overlooked in society. Including former assassins! Never underestimate this group of women!!

👥 Recommendation:
If you love cozy mysteries (which I’m assuming you do because you’re reading this) and Kill Bill this is the book for you.

🔖 Memorable Quotes:
“I’m a woman. Guilt is our birthright. Guilt if we want to be mothers, guilt if we take the Pill instead or choose to abort. Guilt if we stay home with our kids or guilt if we work. Guilt if we sleep with a man, guilt if we say no. Guilt if we’re lucky enough to survive for no good reason.”
― Deanna. Raybourn, Killers of a Certain Age

📚 In a Nutshell:
Read it. In fact, I’m going to reread it.

1. Thursday Murder Club (Series) – Richard Osman

I’m breaking the above format to wax poetic about these books. Not to be dramatic, but they changed my life and made me fall in love with reading. The characters, the stories, the setting all mean so much to me and I can’t stop recommending them to my loved ones.

These books are witty, funny, emotional, edgy, and all around perfect. The characters have such a depth that you could never tire of reading about them. The books seem to get better and better as the series goes on and whenever I’m in a slump I reach for them.

The first in the series, Thursday Murder Club, was a book that I picked up randomly from a bookstore while on vacation and sat on my shelf for months. It was almost as if it was waiting for the perfect time to call me over to it. It deserves all the praise it receives and anything Richard Osman writes will be an automatic purchase from me. I can’t wait for the next one to be released.

My favorite quote is from book one and it was so beautifully written that I had to put it down and have a little cry.

“In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you. So I’m putting today in my pocket and I’m off to bed.”
— Richard Osman (The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)