Only Murders in the Courtyard ... (Review of The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective)

If you dug out your blender... threw in a whole bunch of Only Murders in the Building... added a soupçon of Friends... a jigger or so of Cheers... and a hearty dash of Mrs. Roper (from Three’s Company)... well, you might end up with something much like the delightful tipple that is Jo Nichols’ mystery novel, The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective.

 

And if you did? Oh my, how sweet it would taste, going down...

 

 

The elderly, caftan-wearing “Mrs. B” is the proud owner and landlady of a grouping of seven quaint cottages (one of which being her own domicile), in beautiful Santa Barbara, California.

 

The cottages are a blast from the past—tiny, grouped intimately around a miniature courtyard—and constantly fighting off “progress”, in the form of fancy new multi-occupant buildings (the likes of which encroach upon all sides). 

 

Being just a short walk from the Pacific Ocean, though, means these little homes are veritable gold-mines-in-the-making.

 

Mrs. B tries—and succeeds, by and large—to remain oblivious to such changes, however, as she holds fast to her ideals and fiercely protects the needs of her motley little band of tenants.

 

There’s Ocean, the artist living there since a child (whom Mrs. B half-raised), now a single lesbian mom of a pre-teen and a teenager. Lily-Ann, a middle-aged queen of a woman, separated from the cold husband who never truly appreciated her meticulous nature. Hamilton, the well-meaning, mid-life agoraphobe who knows something about everything, despite never leaving his tiny abode. Nicholas, a handsome finance wiz who mostly keeps to himself (by choice). And Sophie, the pretty young Asian playwright trying desperately to make it big whilst escaping troubles in her past.

 

Until one day, when Mrs. B informs the lot that a new renter will be taking the last remaining cottage... a half-cottage, really, created from what used to be a storage space.

 

Anthony... a painfully-quiet, disturbingly-intimidating, newly-out-of-prison ex-con... replete with a veritable buffet of tats (including facial ones).

 

It’s a lot to take in... and even more so, when, in the space of only a few weeks, those same residents find a dead body in their courtyard.

 

Anthony—ex-con that he is—is quickly taken into custody... but Mrs. B insists upon his innocence. 

 

No one believes the “batty” old woman... who responds by hieing herself off to the police station and confessing to the murder, herself.

 

What follows is, well, pretty much exactly what you’d probably hope for, were you a tenant of the Marigold Cottages... a coming-together of the troops, in support of their own.

 

(Yes, even of the ex-con—at least by some of them.)

 

As conflicting tales confound the police—and to some degree, perplex the cottage-holders, themselves—one thing nonetheless becomes clear. 

 

NO ONE should mess with The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective (such as it is/they are)... because when even one of their merry band of misfits is threatened, it’s a threat to them all.

 

And they most definitely aren’t having it.

 

 

Some stories feel very much of-a-place, and The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective is absolutely one of those. 

 

Sure, there are other locales where you might find a similarly-motley group of characters—see basically any Carl Hiaasen book (with their kooky Floridian settings and characters)—but still... this one definitely has a strong SoCal vibe (in an IYKYK kinda way).

 

Which—if you do know—happens to be spot-on perfect.

 

And that leads me to... all the FEELS I have about This. Book.

 

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective is like a great-big warm hug... for anyone who’s ever felt excluded, or different... whether for a moment, or a lifetime.

 

It’s... beautiful.

 

The characters—every single one of them—are so well-drawn I feel like I could call them up on the phone. I genuinely cared about each of them—their pasts, the hurts and the happies that made them who they are—and hoped against hope for good outcomes all around. 

 

Nichols shows great understanding and compassion for the messiness and ordinariness of life... and interweaves a deep level of tenderness throughout. 

 

No matter who you are, if you want to feel good about your fellow persons... you should read this book. 

 

It’s funny... heartwarming... quirky... and immensely entertaining, from start to finish. 

In short, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

~GlamKitty

 

 

 

[Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]