London | Book Girl & Little Bear

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson

Maggie has a boring job selling tickets with three awful coworkers at an amazing place – The Tower of London. Occasionally she has to take the day’s ticket sales to a safe in a basement that’s almost certainly haunted. Running out of the basement one evening, Maggie runs straight into what feels like a lamp post, but is really Freddie, one of the King’s Guards, holding a wooden box. It is not a meet cute moment, though it is memorable. One day when Maggie’s ex-boyfriend Bran shows up at the Tower to try to persuade her to take him back, Freddie frightens Bran away.

Maggie actually lives in the Tower of London, as her father is a Yeoman Warder. She meets Freddie’s mates, fellow Grenadier Guards. The guys overserve Maggie and persuade her to go on five dates through a popular dating app (though not with them). Most of the dates are pretty awful. Occasionally Maggie has a hangover after these dates and runs through the Tower grounds on her way to work, with her unruly red hair, clumsiness, and tendency to blush captured on security cameras, to her chagrin. I intensely disliked Maggie’s ex and her coworkers but really like her dad and the other Yeoman Warders and the Grenadier Guards. Fun fact: the author has red hair and lives in the Tower of London. Readalikes include Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler and Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.

Brenda

Death Comes to Marlow by Robert Thorogood

I quite enjoyed this clever sequel to The Marlow Murder Club. Londoner Judith, 78, likes to go swimming in the Thames, in the buff. It helps clear her mind. She has just been invited to a pre-wedding celebration by Sir Peter Bailey at his home, White Lodge. They’ve never met, but Sir Peter is afraid someone will poison him, and he’s heard of Judith’s skill as an amateur sleuth. Sir Peter is marrying his live-in nurse, and his two grown children are of different opinions about his upcoming marriage.

Judith decides to attend the party, and brings her friends Suzie, a dog walker and local radio host, and Becks, the local vicar’s wife. Together, along with DS Tanika Malik, they make a good crime-solving team. This time, they are dealing with a locked room mystery. Tanika’s superiors aren’t even calling the resulting death anything but an accident. There are, of course, several suspects with various motives. What they all have in common are excellent alibis, including one that Judith, Suzie, and Becks can all confirm. The room was locked with a large, ornate key, which was found inside the room, and no copies seem to have been made. Suzie and Judith are also worried about Becks, who has been acting very secretive of late.

This cozy British mystery has lots of lovely plot twists, and the four women have pleasingly different personalities and skills. Crossword puzzles are also featured here, as Judith both creates and solves puzzles. If you like to read mysteries for a good plot but also want interesting characters, this might be your cup of tea, or, as Judith prefers, your glass of whisky.

More, please! Readalikes include The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman and The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz.

Brenda