The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

Published 3rd September 2020 by Viking/Penguin Books.

From the cover of the book:

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

***********************************

I cannot tell you what a joy it is when a much anticipated book by a celebrity author not only proves to be an excellent read, but actually one of the best murder mysteries you have read all year!

The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in a new series following the adventures of a group of septuagenarian sleuths who live at a select retirement village in rural Kent (with it's own 'contemporary upscale restaurant', don't you know). They call themselves the Thursday Murder Club, booking out the Jigsaw Room once a week, under the guise of a group of fans of Japanese opera, to go over cold cases and try to solve them. Our group of retirees comprises the dapper psychiatrist Ibrahim; ex-trade union firebrand Ron; the rather brilliant, ex-secret service doyenne Elizabeth; and new recruit, Joyce the nurse - and they are a formidable team.

When a local builder connected to the shifty, smooth operating owner of the retirement village is murdered, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves setting out to solve the mystery - sweeping DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna De Freitas along with them in the process . They are really rather good at it too, and as the bodies start to pile up the Murder Club are nothing if not resourceful and tenacious in the most charming of ways, and their unorthodox (and not always legal) methods certainly bring results.

The characters are all beautifully drawn, especially the quirky, sharp-minded Thursday Murder Club oldsters. I fell in love with the members of the Club, and becoming acquainted with them and their lives - and loves - was an absolute pleasure. There are lots of laughs here, but my goodness, there are some poignant moments too that will bring a lump to your throat and a tear to your eye.

This book is the ideal mix of humour and heartache, intrigue and investigation, and it all rolls along at a gentle, but perfectly pitched, pace until all the threads are nicely tied up in a bow at the very satisfying end. There are echoes of Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime herself, in the slick plotting with multiple threads and oodles of suspects, but Richard Osman's style also has a real nostalgic feel that is reminiscent of G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown tales about it too, which was very enjoyable. I loved every criminally cozy page and cannot wait for the next case for the Thursday Murder Club!

The Thursday Murder Club is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats HERE.

Thank you to Penguin/Viking for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Richard Osman is an author, producer and television presenter. The Thursday Murder Club is his first novel. He is well known for TV shows including Pointless and Richard Osman’s House of Games. As the creative director of Endemol UK, Richard has worked as an executive producer on numerous shows including Deal Or No Deal and 8 Out of 10 Cats. He is also a regular on panel and game shows such as Have I Got News For You, Would I Lie To You and Taskmaster.