The Thursday Murder Club 

by Richard Osman 

4 out of 5 

Synopsis 

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves

A female cop with her first big case

A brutal murder

Welcome to…

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?

"A little beacon of pleasure in the midst of the gloom...SUCH FUN!" (Kate Atkinson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Big Sky) 'So smart and funny. Deplorably good' IAN RANKIN

Review 

Four pensioners plan on assisting the police (whether they want the help or not), when the local dodgy developer is murdered.

I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the retirement village of Coopers Chase, there are plenty of clubs and activities for the older residents. From knitting, to pilates, etc.

The Murder Club look at old cases, trying to solve the mysteries of past murders, and they meet every Thursday in the Jigsaw room.

They've just recruited their newest member - ex-nurse Joyce - when one of the guys who built Coopers Chase, is murdered, shortly after arguing with his business partner.

With a fresh murder dropped in their laps, the Murder Club plan to get to the bottom of it. They adopt DCI Chris Hudson and ex-London-cop Donna, who become honorary members, whether they like it or not.

Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce are not above using their age to advantage of the younger people and their stereotypes, to get what they want. But for all the over-exaggerated acts of bumbling, chatty, well-meaning natures; they are actually really sharp and intelligent.

From their very different histories, they each have something to bring to the Club and help solve the murder. Ron's tenacity; Joyce's medical expertise; Ibrahim's understanding of the human psyche. And Elizabeth? I thought it was very funny how Joyce marvelled at Elizabeth's ability to talk several languages, and have travelled to so many countries.

I found this book quite slow and hard to get into. The narrative felt very true to life for a bunch of retired residents. It goes of on a lot of tangents, some help the plot, others build the scene; but many are random ramblings.

The writing style was stilted to start with. It was mostly written in third person, but would sometimes switch to omnipresent when it suited the narrative; plus the author's choice to present tense; which made it hard for me to focus.

Despite their supposed differences, the characters all blur into one voice. Even Joyce's diary was very samey with the rest of the narration, and I did think that it didn't really add anything to the story. It felt like a half-baked idea, that didn't really make an impact.

By half-way through, the story starts to come together nicely. The mystery was absolutely fab. It kept you guessing throughout, with several very convincing red herrings. In turn, only more questions are raised.

The solving of the several mysteries ended up being rather bittersweet.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely read more fiction by this author.

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