The Thursday Murder Club

The Thursday Murder Club is a murder mystery book that centers a group of people from a posh retirement community who take it upon themselves to try to solve local mysteries. The characters are a delight and the mystery is solid: red herrings, bonus mysteries, and satisfying answers.

The best part about this book is the characters themselves and their retirement community. It felt like a real portrayal of folks who might live there and what they're dealing with--grief around death of loved ones and friends, the possibilities (and realities) of senility and disability, and also just the complications of younger family. All of the characters felt like unique and interesting people, and it was quite fun to see the murder club team in action playing off of each other.

(All that said, there are some minor unintended things in this book that rubbed me the wrong way that I'll put in its own comment here.)

1) "Killing someone is easy. Hiding the body, now, that's usually the hard part. That's how you get caught. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the right place, though. The perfect place, really. I come back from time to time, just to make sure everything is still safe and sound. It always is, and I suppose it always will be. Sometimes I'll have a cigarette, which I know I shouldn't, but it's my only vice."

2) "He takes an envelope out of his pocket. 'All right, Bogdan, fair's fair. Here's three grand. That do you?' Bogdan looks weary. 'Three grand, sure.' Ian hands it over. 'It's actually £2,800, but that's near enough between friends. Now, I wanted to ask you about something.' 'Sure,' says Bogdan, pocketing the money. 'You seem a bright lad, Bogdan.' Bogdan shrugs. 'Well, I speak fluent Polish.'"

3) "Elizabeth and Joyce settle into conversation. They are very careful not to talk about the Tony Curran case. One of the first things you learn at Coopers Chase is that some people can still actually hear."

4) "We arrived at Charing Cross fourteen minutes late due to 'the slow running of this service,' which Elizabeth had a good mutter about. I didn't need the loo on the train, which was a blessing. Last time I had been in London was Jersey Boys with the gang, which was a while ago now. We used to go three or four times a year if we could. There were four of us. We would do a matinee and be back on the train before rush hour. In Marks they do a gin and tonic in a can, if you've ever had it? We would drink them on the train home and giggle ourselves silly. The gang has all gone now. Two cancers and a stroke. We hadn't known that Jersey Boys would be our last trip. You always know when it's your first time, don't you? But you rarely know when it's your final time. Anyway, I wish I had kept the program."

5) "The village is nearly dark now. In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you. So I'm putting today in my pocket and I'm off to bed."

6) "'He hasn't played chess in a long time, Bogdan. That was nice to see.' 'He is good. He was a tough player for me.' They have reached the iron gates of the Garden of Eternal Rest. Bogdan pushes one of them open and guides Elizabeth through into the cemetery. 'You must be quite the player yourself?' 'Chess is easy,' says Bogdan, continuing the walk between the lines of graves and now flicking on a torch. 'Just always make the best move.'"

7) "For Ibrahim one of the beauties of Coopers Chase was that it was so alive. So full of ridiculous committees and ridiculous politics, so full of arguments, of fun, and of gossip. All the new arrivals, each one subtly shifting the dynamic. All the farewells too, reminding you that this was a place that could never stay the same. It was a community, and in Ibrahim's opinion that was how human beings were designed to live. At Coopers Chase, anytime you wanted to be alone, you would simply close your front door, and anytime you wanted to be with people, you would open it up again. If there was a better recipe for happiness than that, then Ibrahim was yet to hear it."

8) "Right on cue, Ron Ritchie walks in with a nice bottle of white and three glasses. Jason sits down next to her and takes the glasses from his dad. He really has been charm itself since he accused her of murder."

Ended up listening to this as an audiobook after mildly panicking that the third in the series was about to lob, and I was still struggling to get to this debut on the teetering unread pile. Glad I did.

Fans of this style of novel will be well aware of the buzz around THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB (the book name / and the group that it features). Four people from a retirement village (Cooper's Chase) who meet weekly to investigate unsolved mysteries, the old hands Elizabeth, Ibraham and Ronald are joined by recent arrival Joyce, just as two murders occur right on their doorstep.

Causing a bit of havoc for PC Donna De Freitas and DC Chris Hudson along the way, De Freitas twigs very early on that an offer to co-operate with this wily bunch is better than trying to stop them from getting involved. Not only does it turn out to be helpful, you get the distinct impression that spending time with this group is a highlight.

Along the way there's some intrigue about other members of the community, touches of romance, a bit of family tension and some background intrigue about the four main characters. It would appear that Elizabeth is possibly a former spy (she's cagey), Ibrahim is a retired psychologist and very adept at interpreting human foibles, Ronald is a retired union boss - known as Red Ron because of his fiery red hair and temperament to match. Joyce is an ex-nurse, and it's her diary notes that keep us updated on what's going on with everyone throughout the story.

A fun listen, the audio version was a hefty undertaking, coming in at around 12 and a half hours worth - although there was nothing at all hard about listening to the narrator's voice as it just flowed. The tone is very much Richard Osman's voice as well - for those that have been fans of many of his TV shows over the years. The chapters are short, switching backwards and forwards between Joyce's narration, and actual events, with Elizabeth the brains behind the operation, Ibrahim the trusty sidekick, Ronald a bit inclined to be the devil may care dive in guy, and Joyce, well Joyce bakes, fusses, and never misses a thing.

Definitely on the cozier side, despite the number of murders, but never veering off into too sweet, or too silly territory, I have to say I loved listening to this one. Very different from my usual fare and whilst I initially though it was just the thing to have burbling away in the background, all too often I found my attention drawn to it, and did a lot of concentrating on the activities (bordering on action at points) instead.

www.austcrimefiction.org/review/thursday-murder-club-richard-osman

In a retirement village, Joyce is asked a question by member (well leader, let's be honest) of the Thursday Murder Club Elizabeth about how long it would take to bleed out from a certain wound. They meet in the jigsaw room every Thursday hence the name. There she meets the tough as nails but heart of gold Ron and the ex-psychologist Ibrahim.

Together they solve cold cases. But when a murder occurs related to their retirement village it uncovers secrets that end up closer to home.

Mechanically the story alternates between Joyce's journal entries and a third person view but it does have a fairly decent pace.

The characters a very likeable and have very distinct approaches, Elizabeth has many contacts and is very observant (with a history that's very hush hush), Ron is rough around the edges, Ibrahim is more for the analysis (and I suppose the little grey cells style) and Joyce acts as our entry into the club but is one of those people who really wants everyone to like her but not in a painful way.

And with Donna and Chris in the story you also get some police procedural thrown in for good measure.

There's a lot of mysteries in here that get uncovered, though it's not one of those tales that you're expected to be able to solve it before the characters do. The ride however is an intriguing one and looking forward to what the sequel presents.