Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

I knew I would probably love the mystery series The Thursday Murder Club, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it. There’s many books like this of course, but I always tell myself ‘when I retire!’ is when I’ll get to them. But when a publicist from Penguin Random House offered to send me the first book in the series, The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, I ran out of excuses – it was right there on my shelf, beckoning. Then a librarian whose reading tastes align with mine perfectly told me that Osman books were her comfort reads, so I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. Last week I finally read it, and loved it. Sigh. No surprise, but yet another stack of books are added to my already dangerously high TBR pile, now threating to topple over and bury me. #bookwormproblems

Plot Summary

Coopers Chase is a picturesque, luxury retirement village, filled with all sorts of impressive seniors. We are quickly introduced to a group of highly intelligent and courageous friends known as the Thursday Murder Club, who dedicate themselves to researching murder cases gone cold, just for fun. The group is led by a mysterious genius named Elizabeth who held a very secretive and high ranking international security position when she was working, and still retains many of those contacts today – this comes in handy when she’s trying to get to the bottom of things. Then there’s Ibrahim, a retired psychologist with a love of eating healthy, exercise, and quiet research. Ron is a loudmouth fighter who says what he’s thinking and doesn’t take bull from anyone, while Joyce is a quiet, happy-go-lucky woman with a penchant for baking and making friends. When a local contractor who worked on Coopers Chase is found murdered in his home, the four are on their case, delighted to be investigating a murder in real time, and making decent headway despite the exasperation of the local police force. But Elizabeth’s history in intelligence gathering can’t be ignored, and finally local detectives Donna and Chris reluctantly pool their clues with the unlikely crime-fighting group at Coopers Chase. When a second murder is discovered, it becomes clear that there’s danger lurking where they least expected it, and the list of suspects with motivations for the killing are growing. The four seniors take matters into their own hands despite their limited mobility and tech saavy, surprising not only local law enforcement, but the criminals who think they are masterminds, only to learn they won’t get away with much while the Thursday Murder Club is on the case.

My Thoughts

I’m tempted to call this novel a cozy mystery, as the murder victims are awful people and an unlikely crime-fighting group of seniors (much like my beloved Jessica Fletcher) solve the case much to everyone’s surprise. Still, there is some underlying darkness to this book, that hints at future tragedy in the village of Coopers Chase in the remainder of the series. It is an old folks home, so of course there is death, but I was suitably shocked at some of the secrets and deaths that were slowly revealed as the pages continued to turn. What prevents this book from becoming too dark (and likely is the reason behind its success) is the jolly good fun that the Murder Club have when investigate. They are so pleased to be working on a murder case in their own backyard, and their banter, efforts and dialogue are ripe with humour. There are many laugh out loud moments which made reading this book a true joy. It pokes fun at alot of things, often the indignities of aging:

“She wasn’t really supposed to have the files, but who was to know? After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children” (p. 20 of Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman).

Perspectives may alternate differently in future installments in the series, but in this first, we get first person accounts from Joyce, Elizabeth, the two police detectives Donna and Chris, as well as a few suspicious characters who come in and out of the plotline. We also get a few chapters written from the perspective of one of the murder victims, which is great fun because we get to see how awful he is. When he’s killed, no one really mourns his death, we all just set about excitedly in trying to figure out who did it. Interspersed throughout we also get to read Joyce’s diary entries, which touch upon a few things, including possible romantic storylines, the juxtaposing grief and freedom that comes with getting older, and the complicated dance of a shifting relationship with one’s children, transitioning from the caregiver to the care-receiver.

I’m excited about this series. I know I’m going to seek out and read the next few books, but I’ll pace myself so I have something to look forward to. In the meantime, I’ll watch the movie that was just released on Netflix, which will likely only heighten my eagerness to get to the next one – the anticipation is just as sweet!