The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Title: The Thursday Murder Club

Author: Richard Osman

Series: Thursday Murder Club Book #1

Publisher: Viking

Genre: Detective Fiction, Mystery Thriller

First Publication: 2020

Language: English

Book Summary: The Thursday Murder Club

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?

Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club

Have you ever fantasized about solving a deliciously twisty mystery from the comfort of your living room recliner? I know I have. There’s just something so enticing about brilliant amateur sleuths outwitting the professionals by utilizing their unorthodox skillsets and life experiences. It’s the stuff that cozy crime fiction is made of – and Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club delivers it in spades.

The novel opens with a delightfully cheeky scene set in the Coopers Chase Retirement Village in the fictional English countryside town of Fairhaven. Four unlikely friends – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron – have become minor celebs amongst their fellow residents for their shared love of trading juicy real crime stories from their younger days over light beverages each Thursday. When they get wind of a bludgeoned builder found dead on the village’s new luxury housing development site, the self-appointed “Thursday Murder Club” wastes no time swinging into action, even as the official police investigation led by outmatched cops Donna De Freitas and Chris Hudson hits a dead end.

And so the stage is set for what can only be described as pure reading bliss for fans of cozy mysteries that playfully poke fun at the crime genre’s conventions while still delivering a deliciously serpentine plot with stakes that prove deceptively high. From the opening hook, you can’t help but be charmed by Osman’s deft characterizations and wry British wit, a combo that had me chuckling frequently at the old pals’ cheeky irreverence and razor-sharp observational banter.

At its heart, The Thursday Murder Club is a celebration of the value of life experience and the mental dexterity that comes from constantly exercising one’s “little grey cells”, to borrow a phrase from Agatha Christie’s famous sleuth Hercule Poirot. Osman clearly relishes upending traditional ageism stereotypes, depicting his septuagenarian and octogenarian protagonists as infinitely more vibrant, engaged, and cunning than the often hapless younger cops chasing the same threadbare clues. After all, when you’ve been around the block a time or twenty, you learn how to read between the lines and connect subtle dots that those with more limited lived experience might easily miss.

Fittingly, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron all draw from their varied professional backgrounds to aid the investigation, be it Elizabeth’s keen instincts honed from her career in British intelligence, Joyce’s quick wit fostered working as a nurse, Ibrahim’s profound spiritual wisdom cultivated during his stint as a TV personality psychologist, or Ron’s general cantankerousness cultivated during his years working a union trade job. Despite their differences in upbringing, culture, and ideology, the undeniable chemistry between this Scooby gang of retirees is what makes their crimefighting collaborations so endlessly delightful.

Of course, The Thursday Murder Club has more than just endearing lead characters and sparkling prose going for it. Osman also spins an intricate mystery plot around that first untimely death at the construction site that soon spirals outward to encompass illicit drug operations, crooked businessmen and politicians, and even an Eastern European circus that hosted much more than family-friendly animal acts decades earlier. Just when you think you’ve figured out where the dominoes will fall, Osman deftly slides in a new shocking development to upend your predictions and propel the story in an unexpected new direction. I frequently found myself excitedly texting my bookish friends to swap theories, only to then be gloriously proven wrong just a few chapters later.

Throughout it all, Osman lets his affection for old school golden age mystery traditions shine through at deliciously satisfying turns. From sly nods to Agatha Christie to an extended guest appearance by a legendary spy novelist, it’s clear Osman knows his cozy crime stuff – and he has immense fun playing with the genre’s trappings while still delivering a whip-smart and impeccably-constructed narrative that builds to a climax I didn’t see coming. It’s the gift that keeps on giving for dyed-in-the-wool mystery fans who can’t get enough of unearthing new modern crime fiction gems to cherish.

Perhaps my favorite element of The Thursday Murder Club, however, is the profound warmth and humanity at its core. Sure, there’s murder and mayhem afoot, but Osman’s true message seems to be a hearty celebration of the profound value of cross-generational connection and community. The way the book illustrates the residents of Coopers Chase Retirement Village bonding across age and background lines is enough to melt even the iciest of hearts. From the cops turned unlikely allies to Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron’s blossoming relationships with the delightfully precocious local teens, found family abounds – and it’s a legitimately lovely thing to behold. After all, as Ibrahim so sagely observes, being deprived of good company and mental stimulation is the real crime that can slowly erode one’s soul in the twilight years.

With The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman has delivered that most elusive of treasures – a breezy yet completely absorbing beach read that also manages to be profoundly life-affirming at its core. It’s a murder mystery bon bon that’s as sugary and decadent as you’d hope, but which also nourishes the soul in ways you might not initially expect. Toss a copy in your tote bag for your next long flight or trip to the shores – I’d wager a pretty penny you’ll burn through it rapidly and emerge both thoroughly entertained and perhaps just a bit more keenly attuned to celebrating the unsung joys of growing older amidst good company. Who could ask for anything more from a bit of summer literary escapism?