‘Such a beacon of pleasure’ KATE ATKINSON’So smart and funny. Deplorably good’ IAN RANKIN’A gripping read’ SUNDAY TIMESTHE FIRST BOOK IN THE #1 BESTSELLING THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES BY TV PRESENTER RICHARD OSMANIn 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?__________________________________WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB’Thrilling, moving, laugh-out-loud funny’ MARK BILLINGHAM’A great read, I really enjoyed it’ GRAHAM NORTON’As the bodies pile up, and more is revealed of the lives and loves of Joyce, Ibrahim, Ron and Elizabeth, you can’t help cheering them on – and hoping to meet them again soon’ THE TIMES, CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH’Mystery fans are going to be enthralled’ HARLAN COBEN’Pure escapism’ THE GUARDIAN, BEST CRIME AND THRILLERS OF 2020’One of the most enjoyable books of the year’ DAILY EXPRESS’Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny’ MARIAN KEYES’As gripping as it is funny’ EVENING STANDARD’Funny, clever and achingly British’ ADAM KAY’An exciting new talent in crime fiction’ DAILY MAIL’A warm, wise and witty warning never to underestimate the elderly’ VAL MCDERMID’Delight after delight from first page to last’ RED MAGAZINE’I completely fell in love with it’ SHARI LAPENA’This is properly brilliant. The pages fly and I can’t stop smiling’ STEVE CAVANAGH’Charming, clever debut’ STYLIST’I laughed my arse off’ BELINDA BAUER’A witty and poignant tale’ DAILY TELEGRAPH’Clever, clever plot’ FIONA BARTON’An absolutely delightful read’ PRIMA MAGAZINE’Utterly charming’ SARAH PINBOROUGH’Funny and original’ THE SUN’Properly funny and totally charming… steeped in Agatha Christie joy’ ARAMINTA HALL’This is one of the most delightful novels of the year’ DAILY MIRROR’A bundle of joy’ JANE FALLON
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A new entertaining cosy crime debut novel by Richard Osman. A group of friends in a retirement village meet every Thursday, using their wits and experience to review old murder cases. Then there is a local murder and the team are caught up in it, as events bring it close to home and they may even be suspects too. A great pleasure to read, funny, clever and a traditional gentle British crime genre that leaves you wanting more. No doubt a five-star jaunty frolic.
For me this book lived up to the hype. Quirky characters, engaging plot and an intriguing premise. I loved it.
This book introduces a team of absolutely delightful elderly crime busting characters. I laughed out loud at their antics and my jaw dropped at the twists. Several mysteries and murders kept me guessing. These are the friends I want to make and hang out with on Thursdays (or any day) when I go into a retirement community. Excellent read!
Anyone who follows my reviews will know I like trying something different and new authors, though in this case I’m well aware of Richard Osman from his TV work. The moment I started to read, the direct, conversational style drew me straight into the characters and setup and promised an entertaining crime story with plenty of humour and witty observations.
The action takes place at a luxury retirement complex/village, where four of the residents meet up to investigate unsolved murders. They’re led by Elizabeth, whose past occupation seems to allow her an endless supply of contacts that get almost any information she needs. While she’s the main driving force, her compatriots all have plenty to contribute.
When a dodgy developer linked to the complex is killed, the team have a real murder to investigate. With some dubious and skilful manipulation, Elizabeth manages to enlist the help of the local detective inspector in charge of the police investigation. When the owner of the complex is also murdered, the team discover a complicated web of businesses and deals that throw up a good number of suspects.
It’s cleverly plotted and written, always with a gentle, humorous touch, some genuinely touching moments, and a plot that twists and turns, taking the reader through a multitude of emotions. It’s an assured debut that should appeal to anyone who likes a gentle mystery with a sharp plot.
If you’re happy to suspend disbelief, it’s pure escapism with wry social comments, likeable characters, spun through with wit, humour and compassion. I’d be very surprised if there aren’t more cases ahead for the murder club.
Quick and fun with the right blend of quirky characters and a plot that keeps spiraling from first chapter to last. Very enjoyable.
Brilliant murder mystery set in a luxury retirement village with a great cast of original and complex characters.
I kept hearing this was a great book and indeed it is. I read the whole thing in one afternoon and I want more. I really hope to see another outing with the wonderful characters in The Thursday Murder Club.
Wonderful combination of dry humor and serious amateur sleuth investigating. The characters are quite engaging, as is the mystery. These sleuths are intelligent, witty, capable, but also aware of their own limits. I hope the Thursday Murder Club will have more cases in the future.
I love how this was written and all the characters are wonderful with a lot of twists and turns that are surprising. I liked listening the the author being interviewed at the end of the audiobook and glad with will be another book in this series.
Fabulous right from the first page, effortlessly trouncing received views on old people, the police, crime, life and M&S lemon drizzle cake
4.5/5 rounded up
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is truly delightful and I had such a great time reading it. I hadn’t heard of Osman before reading this so that in no way influenced how I may or may not have felt about it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out he is a pretty major British personality. It may be a debut, but this was such a cleaver book, and I was really impressed with how layered it was. There are also a lot of characters to love, and the idea of setting this in a retirement home with septuagenarians trying to solve murders was just so unique and expertly executed.
And speaking of delightful, the audio was a delight to listen to as well! Lesley Manville was the narrator, and they could not have found a better person to voice this book. She was very compelling as Joyce, and she was brilliant as the other characters as well. There are quite a few viewpoints and a lot of moving parts, so at times I did get a little confused, but I’d always catch up and understand. I actually had to read the last few pages after I listened to them to fully understand what had just happened, but boy was it a doozy.
The Thursday Murder Club is laugh-out-loud funny, but it also has a decent share of serious moments as well. It was more serious than I expected it to be and has lots of emotion that caught me by surprise. At the same time, it also has some elements of a cozy mystery and I really enjoyed that as well. I got my copy of the audio off Audible and I loved the interview with Osman at the end, if anything it has me even more excited for book two!
Excellent, just excellent. I stayed up into the wee hours reading this dazzling book. First off, it has everything I love in a book. It is about a group of amateur sleuths, in this case residents in a retirement community. As a writer of books about amateur sleuths, I am in. It has clubs–the Thursday Murder Club to be exact. I love clubs and books and movies about clubs! When I was young my favorite tween book was ‘The Against Taffy Sinclair Club’. Then of course I loved ‘The Breakfast Club.’ Later I loved ‘The Jane Austen Book Club.’ And now this group has entered my favorite realm. It is set in the English countryside. I love books set there! From Agatha Raisin to Magpie Murders. There is something so ghoulish and cinematic about mysteries set in England. And lastly, it had humor and compassion. It kept my attention from the beginning and I did not guess the murderer once. It is a remarkable book. I highly recommend it. I can’t wait for a sequel.
Thursday Murder Club, I so want to belong to that club.
The seniors meet every Thursday and try and solve murders that are unsolved
Suddenly they have not one but 2 real murders to solve.
I laughed with them, I admired them and I will follow them in the books to come.
Love this series, I cant wait for book 2
Elizabeth and her gang put me to shame.
Just delightful, a droll comedy of murder in an English village-type setting that will delight fans of Midsommer Murders. As Inspector Barnaby would say, “Scratch the surface of any of these little villages, and you’ll find all kinds of secrets.” There are secrets aplenty in this upscale retirement community and its surroundings, and plans to raze an old convent’s cemetery trigger all kinds of consequences, including murder. This delights the Thursday Murder Club, a group of four residents who’ve been meeting to discuss and try to solve cold cases left by another resident, a former DI. Now the 70+ year-olds have fresh murders to unravel.
What follows is a lively, wildly entertaining journey of friendship and solidarity among folks who might otherwise not become such a tight-knit group. Some might view them as doddering old folk, but they quickly prove they can do almost anything once they pool their collective skills and connections, even roping in the cooperation of adult children and two local coppers.
Prepare to smile, laugh out loud, and share with your significant other the various shenanigans they employ as the very convoluted mystery unfolds. You won’t be disappointed.
This book was heavily hyped on publication as the author is a very popular British celebrity, but it is all his own work and has already been optioned by Stephen Spielberg as a movie. And there is a second book in the works.
As with all heavily hyped releases, it doesn’t entirely live up to the big promotion, but this is the first book in a series and I am certain that it will become very popular. I did love the fact that all the characters – apart from the cops – were pensioners living in a retirement community. They are a mixed bag with very different backgrounds, but work well together. There are twists and turns, an ending you won’t see coming and the book has bags of charm.
This was a fantastic read! It combined an extremely twisty clever plot, with a superb cast of characters. The author is amazing at fully fleshing out his characters. There are no flat, unimportant role players in this novel. I listened to this in Audible and the reader was also wonderful and brought the story to life. Excellent, all around!
Believe all the hype this book is getting. It really is THAT good.
Although I’m British I’ve been in the US for a while and I had not heard of Richard Osman before picking up this book. But my mum says he is pretty funny and based on this novel, I can confirm that he is! I really enjoyed these seniors/OAPs and their retirement community murder investigations. There are so many witty observations and funny one-liners and the story rattles along, keeping you guessing. I’d certainly read more from Richard Osman.
Life at the Coopers Chase Retirement Village is anything but dull. Set on the picturesque grounds of a former convent, there is plenty of room to roam and clubs to join covering numerous topics of interests. For The Thursday Murder Club members, the lazy days of cold case retirement take a back burner in their hunt to find a killer when the bodies start dropping on their cozy grounds.
Elizabeth, the leader of the club with a covert background; Joanne, the former nurse and kind observer who is rarely observed; Ibrahim, the psychiatrist with an impeccable nose for analysis and research; and Ron, the former trade union boss who loves a crowd are on the search for clues, sometimes helping and sometimes frustrating the local police. As secrets and cover-ups from the past emerge, the list of suspects grows, but who did what to whom?
I thoroughly enjoyed this classic whodunit by Author Osman–the characters and settings were a delight to get to know and the unraveling of clues well paced. There were bittersweet moments as the truths are revealed, but for me it made the storyline more endearing. This crew of senior sleuths still have a few tricks up their sleeves–I can’t wait to see what they’re up to next! The Thursday Murder Club, highly recommended!
Cute and inventive cozy mystery. Very much enjoyed it.