THE MARIGOLD COTTAGES MURDER COLLECTIVE

A group of neighbors band together to solve two murders.

Golda Bakofsky owns the Marigold Cottages, six charming Craftsman-style buildings set on a flower-filled lot in Santa Barbara. Her tenants are an eclectic bunch: secretive Nicholas Perez; Lawrence Hamilton, who’s afraid to leave his house; Ocean Mistral, a lesbian with two children; frightened Sophie Gilman; compulsive Lily-Ann Novak; and most recently Anthony Lambert, whose criminal past will lead to a murder hunt. Mrs. B herself is an eccentric, warm-hearted person whose needy tenants love her in different ways and worry when she takes in Anthony, a silent, thuggish-looking type. During one of the cottagers’ group chats, Sophie, who’s had PTSD ever since she was stalked, warns the tenants about Anthony. When Sophie finds a dead body under a bush, DS Vernon and almost everyone else fasten on Anthony as the guilty party. Mrs. B, who’s absolutely certain of Anthony’s innocence, organizes the other tenants, even Ocean’s children, to help prove his innocence, forcing them all into deeper relationships. The dead man is James Dedrick, who, along with Gregory Ybarra, wanted to buy Marigold Cottages, which is now worth millions, but Mrs. B refused their offers, just like all the others. The tenants are all hiding deep, dark secrets that could put them in jeopardy and provide rich material for a play Sophie’s writing.

Superb characterizations and a denouement that leaves you still unsure who’s guilty make for a brilliantly quirky mystery.