The Man Who Died Twice


The Man Who Died Twice

by Richard Osman

4.5 out of 5

Synopsis
It's the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

Review
The Thursday Murder Club is back to solve another murder, with diamonds and not-dead spies.

This is the second book in the series, and I would recommend reading them in order, to get the full experience.

This story focusses on two main plots for the geriatric sleuths.
It starts with poor Ibrahim being the victim of a violent mugging. Even though they know who attacked him, unfortunately the police can't press charges without out better evidence.
You almost feel sorry for the little thug, when the Club turn their attention on him.

The bulk of the story is about Elizabeth's ex-husband. After upsetting a local mobster (because he may or may not have stolen £20 million in diamonds) he's back on the scene, hoping Elizabeth can help keep him alive.

After all the teasing hints in the first book, we finally get to know about Elizabeth's history.
Now that she's retired, she's very open about her work with MI6, and isn't shy of sharing her opinions.
Even though it involves quite a serious organisation, and serious bad guys; the Thursday Murder Club doesn't let it cow their spirit. They are still fun, and irreverent, and get the job done.

I thought the book was a little slow to get going, but it quickly picked up the pace. It really kept me guessing throughout, who the villain was, and who was actually dead!

I thought this book treated Elizabeth as a main character. She's awesome, and my favourite character in the series so far; but I sometimes missed the spotlight being on the rest of the gang. I hope they get to be centre-stage in later books.

Overall, this was 4.5 out of 5 for me. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.



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