The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

In this second installment of Richard Osman’s delightfully clever Thursday Murder Club series, the intrepid quartet of elderly amateur sleuths find themselves embroiled in a high-stakes hunt for stolen diamonds and a ruthless killer. When Elizabeth’s old colleague comes to her with a shocking tale of violent mobsters and glittering gems, she enlists her sharp-minded friends to untangle a web of secrets and lies that soon leaves a trail of bodies in its wake. Witty, warm, and brimming with Osman’s signature charm, The Man Who Died Twice cements its place as one of the most engaging cozy mysteries in recent memory.

The Backdrop:

Following on the heels of Osman’s smash-hit debut The Thursday Murder Club, this sequel returns us to the bucolic Coopers Chase Retirement Village and its preternaturally perceptive septuagenarian denizens. Having cracked their inaugural case with aplomb, the foursome now set their sights on an even more daunting challenge involving missing diamonds and murderous crooks that threaten to shatter their pastoral peace.

The Engrossing Plot:

The game is afoot when Elizabeth, the Club’s de facto leader, receives an unexpected letter from a man from her mysterious past, her former fellow spy. In his missive, he confesses to a terrible mistake – the theft of a cache of priceless diamonds from a ruthless mobster. With his life on the line, he begs for Elizabeth’s assistance in righting his wrong and returning the purloined gems before it’s too late.

Never one to shy away from an intriguing puzzle, Elizabeth quickly marshals the troops: Joyce, the former nurse whose lively diary entries infuse the novel with wry wit; Ibrahim, the retired psychiatrist with a penchant for poetic musings; and Ron, the rabble-rousing trade unionist who relishes any opportunity to stick it to the Man. United by their insatiable curiosity and unshakeable loyalty, this unlikely band of geriatric gumshoes sets off on a pulse-quickening quest to recover the diamonds and unmask the killer now hot on their heels.

As bodies begin piling up around the picturesque village greens and garden allotments, the Club kicks into high investigative gear. Osman choreographs a whirling dervish of twists and revelations with all the dexterity of a magician pulling rabbits from a seemingly bottomless hat. Red herrings abound as our aged sleuths parse cryptic clues, probe potential witnesses, and tug at the tangled skein of motives behind both the thefts and the mounting murders. The plot unfolds with deceptive ease, each development dropping like a perfectly placed domino in an elaborately constructed chain of misdirection and sleight of hand.

Throughout their travails, the Club must also reckon with the uncomfortable notion that they may have finally met their match in the form of a villain who wouldn’t think twice about snuffing out a few meddling oldsters. The stakes have never felt higher, nor the dangers more immediate—a tingling sense of mortal peril that lends the proceedings a frisson of genuine suspense to ballast the buoyant charm and bone-dry humor.

Wit and Warmth:

Yet as much as the mystery itself compels, the true magic of The Man Who Died Twice lies in the irresistible camaraderie and quick wit of its core characters. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron sparkle with a rare authentic chemistry, their barbed banter masking an unshakable mutual affection forged in the fires of their first adventure. Osman does a masterful job fleshing out their inner lives and backstories while never neglecting the propulsive storytelling at hand.

The soul of the novel, though, belongs to Joyce and her acerbic yet enormously endearing diary entries that serve as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on and complicating the main action. Whether she’s parsing her late husband’s cryptic crossword clues for hidden significance or drily observing the foibles of her fellow Club members, Joyce’s wry musings lend the book its tart tongue and tender heart. Hers is the voice of a woman determinedly reentering the fray of life in her twilight years, finding camaraderie, purpose and her own unsung heroism in this makeshift family of sleuths.

Coziness Perfected:

Perhaps more than any of its contemporaries, The Man Who Died Twice exemplifies the platinum standard of cozy mystery—a form characterized by quaint village settings, quirky characters, and a refreshing absence of gore or gratuitous violence. Osman, like Dame Agatha Christie before him, has an uncanny knack for using soothing pastoral surroundings as a foil for roiling passions and pitch-dark deeds.

The sleepy lanes and prim bungalows of Coopers Chase serve as the ideal backdrop for clandestine plots and geriatric derring-do, the seemingly placid surface of village life belying the churning machinations beneath. There is something enormously satisfying about watching a cast of clever seniors, too often dismissed by society, handily outwitting the venal schemers and cold-blooded killers in their midst. In Osman’s capable hands, the cozy mystery becomes more than just a charming diversion – it’s a slyly subversive celebration of the indomitable human spirit in the face of life’s inevitable curveballs.

Masterful and Heartwarming:

In the final tally, The Man Who Died Twice triumphs both as a twisty, tautly-plotted mystery and an irresistible lark suffused with wit, warmth and hard-won wisdom. Osman deftly expands the tantalizing world of The Thursday Murder Club, enriching the backstories of his central quartet while gleefully thwarting our expectations with each virtuoso plot pirouette. Few authors have so expertly married the cozy charms of the village mystery with the propulsive momentum of a crackerjack thriller—all while anchoring the proceedings with a core of genuine heart and humanism.

Through all the stolen diamonds, vicious murders and narrow escapes, Osman never loses sight of the bittersweet realities of aging, the abiding ache of loss mingled with the sustaining force of friendship. If The Thursday Murder Club served as a stellar introduction to this winning world, The Man Who Died Twice renders it utterly irresistible—a place to which readers will long to return, like a long-overdue visit with a band of witty, wisecracking grandparents we never knew we needed.

The Lasting Verdict:

Ingeniously crafted and impossible to put down, The Man Who Died Twice secures Richard Osman’s place in the very first rank of cozy mystery maestros. With its endearingly acerbic septuagenarian sleuths, serpentine plotting, and twinkling charm, this novel is the rare sequel that equals and perhaps even surpasses its predecessor. You’ll laugh, you’ll gasp, you’ll find yourself misting up at the most unexpectedly poignant moments – and above all, you’ll relish every last minute in the company of these delightful characters.

In a world too often riven by discord and distrust, Osman’s novels serve as a welcome tonic – an effervescent reminder of the unsung heroism and resilience of the human spirit, even at the far end of life. The Man Who Died Twice is that rarest of literary gems: a novel that serves up all the page-turning, puzzle-box pleasures of a masterfully constructed mystery while never scrimping on humor, heart and hard-earned humanity. It is a book to be savored like a perfectly steeped cup of tea, a gentle balm for the soul that nevertheless keeps us guessing until the last immensely gratifying page.