Amateur Sleuth

With its seven eccentric residents, charming historic bungalows, and a beautiful Santa Barbara setting just minutes from the beach, this novel will remind readers of Armistead Maupin’s Tales of a City series, although the latter lacks a mystery element. But they do both share an aging, somewhat hippy matriarch who owns and governs her own complex, and Mrs. B., the landlady of the Santa Barbara Marigold Cottages, only rents to those who need a leg up. Mrs. B.’s latest acquisition is Anthony, a reserved hulk with a prison background and the tats to prove it. Anthony makes the other tenants anxious, and when a dead body is found on the grounds of the cottages, the tenants, with the exception of Mrs. B, all point to Anthony. But Mrs. B. remains certain of his innocence, and heads down to the police station to turn herself in. Wonderfully eccentric with deep dives into many of the characters’ lives, this quickly paced read provides the perfect summer mystery.

Yes, the comparison to Only Murders in the Building is inevitable (as it is to The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective, above, not to mention The Thursday Murder Club). All are narratives of place, in which the residents of a building, or buildings, are deeply involved in the story as amateur detectives, suspects, or both. Marchfield Square inhabits the smallest block of squares in London, with many of the units—Rear Window-like—facing internally, providing residents with a great deal of information about one another, but with little opportunity for actual conversation, at least without hollering across the courtyard. Remarkably, the elderly heiress who owns the complex, Celeste van Duren, is not just still alive, but actively engaged in running it. So when one of the residents is murdered (he totally deserved it), Celeste appoints two of the tenants—Audrey, a young woman who works as Celeste’s cleaner, and Lewis, a somewhat failed novelist—to a team responsible for investigating the murder. Because as we all know, the real police can’t be trusted to do anything right. Audrey and Lewis have to work out their own difficulties, but eventually the two are seen together snooping about the Square tracking the activities of their neighbors and friends. And guess what? Everyone has something to hide. This is loaded with humor and packed with punch, and cozy readers will be sure to keep a look out for more from this Audrey/Lewis duo.