Books: We Solve Murders By Richard Osman (2024)

“Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job. Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy?” 

I admit, I didn’t know what to make of this new series from The Thursday Murder Club writer Richard Osman. I suspect, at first, this was going to be in the same vein as his Coopers Chase books, just with a slight variation of the main characters. But instead, I got something a bit different (yet the same), but I don’t think it’s what some might think is a British “cozy mystery.” 

It is, however, addictive as his main series, which makes this a fun read. It’s paced vastly different, somewhat like a James Patterson tale, with short chapters. But this book is infinitely better than anything Patterson can write (or farm out to other writers). It carries some of the DNA of the TMC, but these characters are younger (well accept Rosie, and of course, Steve), but they all live a wilder life. Amy, I guess, could be younger version of Elizabeth, but she seems to be not as clever. But she’s tough, and able bodied. 

As with the TMC, there is a bendy plot to figure out just what’s going on, but it’s laced with some great humor and a few laugh out loud moments (Rosie is a hoot) and a bit of sadness as Steve negotiates being a widower. I do hope Adam, Steve’s son and Amy’s husband, gets more to do in later tales, but he could become a character like Columbo’s wife – someone we never see in flesh and blood, and only on a phone or email. 

It’s a good start to a new series. And while I’m looking forward to the fall release of Thursday Murder Club 5, I can say I’ll also be looking forward to seeing where Osman takes this dynamic trio on their next adventure.

Also, in his Afterword, he notes that this new series and TMC are set in the same universe (only about two hours from each other), so I could see an eventual crossover. That would be fun!!

Books: The Last Devil to Die (The Thursday Murder Club #4) by Richard Osman (2023)

“It's Boxing Day lunch at Cooper's Chase, where our resident septuagenarians Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce learn about the murder of antiques dealer, Kuldesh Sharma (who had a cameo in the previous book), who also happens to be a friend of Stephen, Elizabeth's husband. Of course, DCI Chris Hudson and Donna were determined to keep the members of the Thursday Murder Club out of their current murder investigation, but this proving hard to do. They’re quickly, however, get drawn into the dangerous world of drug dealers, art forgery and antiques. As the team investigates, Chris and Donna find themselves off the case, replaced by someone up the chain of command, which implies to them that there is more going on than anyone thought. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and her dementia suffering husband Stephen have come to a crossroad and nothing will be the same again.”

As The Thursday Murder Club further expands its caseloads beyond the confines of Copper’s Chase, including adding (and saying goodbye) to recurring characters, it comes to a natural breakpoint with The Last Devil To Die. A more emotional entry in the series, author Richard Osman still gives up a complex mystery, a dark look into some antique dealers business where forgery, deception, and murder seem to be the routine. We also get a B plot involving a lonely fellow resident, Mervyn, who has become the target of an online romance scam, and who refuses to believe his Tatiana is fictitious.

 

Despite some dark things (and a lot of death), Osman continues to give these wonderful characters a sense of humor. There are some laugh-out-loud moments, ones that are needed, mostly as the medical issues of Stephen and the couple’s solution to his dementia is a gut punch (and I wonder if there will be residual effects in later volumes). So goofy-fun Joyce steps up during a good portion of the operation, with Bogdan also playing a bigger, yet sympathetic role and Ibrahim also proves a vital part to play in the Murder Club's investigations.

 

While everything sort gets tied up neatly, there are a few dangling plot threads, but a fifth volume will be on the way –probably in late 2025- as Osman began a new series this year, We Solve Murders, with new characters and settings. Which means I’ll not read it until 2026. 

Books: The Bullet That Missed (The Thursday Murder Club #3) By Richard Osman (2022)

 

“The crime-fighting quartet of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village take on an ex-KGB colonel, several TV icons, a murderous money launderer, and more as they rush to catch the latest killer. Joyce suggests that the gang investigate the death of Bethany Waites, a local TV presenter whose car was pushed off a cliff several years prior. Bethany had been investigating a tax fraud operation worth over £10 million and had told colleagues she was close to revealing the mastermind behind it all. Now the Thursday Murder Club wants to know: Who killed Bethany? What happened to the £10 million? And why, since they started their investigation, have their two prime suspects in Bethany’s disappearance turned up dead?”

So far, the strongest of three, The Bullet that Missed moves at a swift pace, with exciting revelations as the tale builds. Then there is the mysterious man everyone is calling The Viking who wants Elizabeth to kill an old KGB agent, or he’ll kill Joyce. Then there is Ibraham trying to puzzle out what happened in the prison (a murder of another inmate) where Drug Queen Connie Johnson is awaiting trial for the actions in the last book.

The humor is still there, and Joyce remains funniest, somewhat daffy, eccentric character who is, of course, sometimes the cleverest of the lot. And she usually gets the best jokes, like this, “I have been Googling but there's not much there. I got so desperate I even used Bing but the results were the same if a bit slower”, and it made me laugh aloud. Still, Elizabeth remains the heart and soul of this series (and remains a hoot herself), a cunning woman who possess some brilliant talents and friends. Nothing seems to ruffle her feathers, with the exception of knowing that her husband Stephen’s time is growing shorter, as he begins to sense that there is finally something wrong with him.

Yes, it’s a cozy mystery the British have excelled with for more than a century, but it’s fun and very charming. And as I grow older, it’s also fun to read tales that feature positive age representations –this series celebrates the intelligence, ingenuity, resourcefulness and savvy that only comes with a life fully lived. Also, I learned a lot about cryptocurrency.

Books: The Man Who Died Twice By Richard Osman (2021)

“Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor—an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?)—arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth 20 million pounds from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them?  And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?”

It’s very clear in the second Thursday Murder Club book how much author Richard Osman likes writing for Elizabeth and Joyce. And The Man Who Died Twice offers us some familiar territory, but adds so much more to the genre. And like really good mysteries, the murders and whodunit questions become secondary to the characters, all which remain charming and dangerous at the same time. Elizabeth’s dark background as a spy during the war gets expanded more here, and Osman makes it clear that her and her friends are more than capable of taking care of themselves.

So in many ways, this book is even better than the opener (which sometimes happens in series titles, because the world building needs to set; book two really gets the story going because there is no need to retread the basic set up). What makes this tale (and so far, the series) stand out is this is no cozy mystery the British have done so well for well over a century. The danger is serious, the criminals are horrible people. What makes it work additionally is that everyone is still rather British proper, especially the villainous Lomax who while threatening you with torture and death is also concerned that his well-kept gardens are enjoyed by many people – he’s very gentleman-like.

It’s a hoot of series and not to be missed. Book three and four will come along eventually…  

Books: The Thursday Murder Club (2020)

"Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves; A female cop with her first big case; A brutal murder; Welcome to…The Thursday Murder Club.

'In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

'When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?”

The British are very good at creating wonderful whodunits. And The Thursday Murder Club is your traditional murder mystery, taking place in a small, obscure village where everyone has secrets and everyone has a motive for murder. But Coopers Chase in Kent is also filled with more quirky senior citizens than you shake a stick at. There is Joyce, a former nurse, Ron, a former trade unionist, Ibrahim, a former psychiatrist, and Elizabeth, who leads The Thursday Murder Club, and who is former intelligence agent, with has many connections and many favors to be called in when needed. She is also a hoot (Joyce is as well, especially in her diary entries, where you see she’s the quite one of the group, but she still sees everything). Added to the mix is PC Donna de Freitas, a recent transplant from the London Met, and her boss DCI Chris Hudson.

This debut novel from Richard Osman, a British humorist, producer, television presenter, writer, and creator of the BBC One quiz show Pointless, is a wonderfully enjoyable tale that features a group of four senior citizens who seemly have a penchant for solving cold case crimes and, now, a real murder. The prose is deft, and there are plenty of laugh out moments in the book. There is some twists and turns, per the genre, but also too many characters and storylines that seemed unnecessary. Also, while the core four (and somewhat, Donna & Chris) were fun, the actual crime of the murder (and murders) got confusing and caused me to sort of wonder why Osman diverged so much from the format. It got so much that in the end, I was bored with who the killer was –which is unfortunate, considering whodunits are about who did the deed and why. I also felt that Ibrahim, the former psychiatrist, who is also Egyptian, comes across more for diversity (one failure of the classic British mystery drama is that it’s pretty much white) sake and comes across as a cipher here. Maybe in the next two books, Osman will give him more to do and be more central to those books plots.