This is a fantastic debut novel from Richard Osman.
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim all live in a retirement village and meet once a week for their Thursday Murder Club to try and solve old murder cases but one day a murder happens on their doorstep so of course they think they are the perfect group to solve it and what a good job they do! The different chapters are from the perspective of many of the characters which sometimes made me think a bit to catch up to where we are with each one. Joyce's was more like a diary entry which was fun to read and her and Elizabeth quickly became my favourite characters.
The humour and wit the four friends had together and the way they brought the 2 police members assigned to this case, Chris and Donna, into their lives was hilarious (even though they could and should have got into lots of trouble).
I loved all the tricks Elizabeth had up her sleeve and with every little detail that is revealed you think you are one step closer to finding the suspect but this really wasn't the case.
One slight problem I had with this book was that for about 80% of the book you find out bits and pieces but the last 20% so much happens and is crammed into the end that it was all a bit too much information to keep up with.
However the book did keep me guessing throughout and I enjoyed it so it is well worth picking this book up, especially for fans of murder mysteries with humour and old age antics thrown in.

I was so intrigued by this book and it did not disappoint. I could not put it down. Really impressed with Richard's first book.

This is the kind of cozy mystery that will appeal to older readers. I sadly found the humour and general lightness of the story to be not my cup of tea (even if I am a fan of golden age detective novels).

If I’m honest, I rarely read 'celebrity' penned books. As an avid reader of actual books by actual writers, a novel penned by a TV star (like a lot of television these days) is dumbed down, vacuous, and ultimately, trash – you could say Pointless, even. Publishing is also awash with reality stars penning biographies; cookbooks from one-time show winners, pandemic fitness instructors, poverty porn food leftists, or a TV personality having a pop at writing fiction, their established social media followings being a guaranteed audience. The latter is where we find ourselves in this book review. As a fervent true crime fan and having followed Richard Osman on twitter for a while (958 K followers) when this book landed on my NetGalley list, I decided to request it. Unfortunately, this went against my better judgement.



Firstly, let’s take the title. It should be called The Sunday Murder Club. Set at Coopers Chase retirement complex, in leafy middle-class Kent no less, this twee piece of crime fiction, is at best, prime for an ITV Sunday night drama starring Felicity Kendall. The cast of characters certainly falls into Sunday night drama territory. Residents of the upmarket quintessentially English retirement home who form 'The Thursday Murder Club' is a bunch of octogenarians (or there about's) with humourless personality traits (which I think are supposed to be endearing) that investigate historical cold case files, as opposed to being in a knitting club, perhaps. You can already see where this is going. That is until the murder of the care home boss (!) and his right-hand man, in dubious circumstances. Que the cliched detective duo sent out to investigate. These two feckless idiots seem to think it's viable to rely on evidence from a bunch of coffin dodgers, that unrealistically, seem to be fully informed about police procedural, forensic techniques (when a skeleton is found, of course) and the subsequent reveal of the killer (s)?







Secondly, it's poorly written. The narrative is clunky, arrogant, boring, and fails miserably at any attempt of suspense, characterisation, or execution.



Thirdly, in places it's unreadable. The narrative is split between a diary entry of one of the residents, another resident who was hiding a poorly husband, and another one who I think buried a body, was hung up on his dead wife, and then committed suicide or something. It almost sounds exciting when written down and I imagine it would be if an actual writer wrote it and not some Pointless TV presenter.



I’m unsure as to how this ends as, unfortunately, I didn’t get that far. My kindle told me this would be a 2 and a half-hour read. I think I gave it about 58 minutes before giving up. If I ever end up in a nursing home as tedious as this one, I'd be sure to commit murder too.


Unsurprisingly, the book has received a unanimous and rapturous reception with a sequel planned. Just like reality TV, it's mass dumbing down. Pointless, you could say...

I loved this and was gripped. It was well read, witty and I was hooked.
The characters all had depth, I was rooting for Chris but thought Donna could be the one for him!
I loved the gentle interaction between the characters and it was a fun filled romp of a book. Please write more.
This was provided in exchange for an arc copy for netgalley!

Hmm....
There are good and bad points about this book.. I struggled to read the first quarter of the book as the chatty style felt a bit over the top at first, though I can see that the author was trying to recreate the way an inquisitive older person would talk. I also felt that I was reading a written version of a successful Sunday night TV drama aimed at an older age bracket ('Last of the Summer Wine' murder version!)
This writing did improve as the book progressed and the story developed . The plot is fairly predictable, with big clues to the backgrounds of the main protagonists, but I think that is probably suited to the intended audience.
Overall I think that it will be a very successful first novel, and actually would be surprised if it isn't adapted for TV,

“The Thursday Murder Club” is a gloriously witty, highly entertaining debut mystery that echos the golden age of crime fiction, whilst also being a very modern novel.

Coopers Chase is a luxurious retirement village that is home to Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce - collectively they are the Thursday Murder Club, a group of septu and octogenarians who enjoy looking into unsolved murder cases from the past. When the owner of the retirement village and the builder he employs are both murdered, the gang enthusiastically throw themselves into solving a contemporary case. Managing to manufacture and foster a relationship with the police officers investigating the cases, the club efficiently and effectively dig into the murders. Together they will crack this case, but secrets will be spilled along the way...tears and heartache, ingenuity and intelligence will combine with a cracking sense of humour, as all involved discover just what has happened at Coopers Chase!

Richard Osman’s wonderfully written debut is undeniably worthy of all the high praise it has received. It’s the perfect blend of humour, charm and really gripping mystery that makes this such an unmissable read. The murder and mystery at the heart of the story is very well executed. There are so many layers to the plot that the eventual outcome is so far buried under shocking revelation after shocking revelation, that I defy anyone to claim that they knew what would eventually be revealed. Whilst the solving of the two murders is the crest of the plot, all the smaller truths (some heartbreaking, some touching) that come to light are equally as important and impactful. I also really enjoyed that DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna de Freitas always seemed to be one step behind the gang, but continued to build friendships with them (albeit totally against the book friendships, which makes them all the more special). It was fascinating learning the truth via the club, rather than the police and I found that this made things simultaneously comically outlandish and wholeheartedly believable - essentially, I just want Coopers Chase and the Thursday Murder Club to exist!

As well as creating a really well developed and puzzling mystery, at the very core of Osman’s narrative is an astute knack for characterisation. From Elizabeth’s acerbic wit and Ron’s bluster, to Joyce’s unrelenting enthusiasm and Ibrahim’s intelligent composure, this is a gang I want to be in! Osman’s observations on humanity are endearing, effortlessly accurate and, as such, movingly affecting. There’s something in all of the club member protagonists that any reader can relate to in an elderly member of their own family. There were plenty of moments I felt that my Grandma has traits of both Elizabeth and Joyce, for example. This relatability and plausibility made me instantly warm to all of them and they immediately became memorable and lovable. Similarly, Osman perfectly captures the rich, entitled, philandering arrogance of Ian Ventham (murder victim number two) with similar success. The slime he exudes literally oozes out of the pages and I felt a genuine hatred towards him, as I was supposed to (parking in the disabled space was the final strike for me!). Joyce is the main character who’s first person narrative permeates throughout the story. I initially found it interesting that of the four lead characters, Osman had chosen her to take this coveted spot. However, the more I read the more it became clear to me. Newly invited to join the club, Joyce very much represents us as the reader. Her fascination with murder and the police investigation surely mirrors many a mystery reader’s own interests, but more importantly, she learns about her fellow members and the other key characters along with us. This makes her diary entry portions of the book both important for revealing information, but also for drawing us into the lives of the characters. I found Joyce’s pages fun to read and Osman perfectly depicts a slightly lonely, but still spunky and adventurous older lady with deftness. Combined with this accomplished characterisation, the brilliant observations of everyday life, extraordinary circumstances and laugh out loud one-liners make this novel just as much about people as it is murder. Frankly, that makes it all the more special.

I really fell in love with these characters and highly recommend “The Thursday Murder Club”. What’s even more exciting is that there is a sequel coming - I can’t wait!

This is a light, fast read that’s great, great fun. My mum lives in a retirement home, and while she and her friends aren’t quite as sharp, hilarious and gung-ho as Elizabeth and her gang, nor as fond of a tipple, I could relate absolutely to this novel. What a wonderful choice of protagonists – a group of elderly folk living in a luxurious retirement village determined not to let the challenges of old age get in the way of friendship, fun and adventure. Elizabeth is the unspoken leader of the Thursday Murder Club, a group of four friends who meet to solve unsolved murder cases. She has huge chutzpah and is not afraid to wangle herself and her gang into a real, ongoing murder investigation by fair means or foul. Sharp, cunning, clever and seemingly experienced in all things cloak and dagger (just what did she do as a younger woman?), she uncovers truths and secrets that keep the club one step ahead of the police. This is a cosy murder mystery, written with kind, gentle humour. I loved the image of the Waitrose delivery vans clinking with wine and repeat prescriptions each time they drive over the cattle grid into the village. Apart from the members of the Thursday Murder club, the novel is peopled with a range of memorable characters, both good and bad. And many who fall right in the middle. There are several bodies and several suspects, which kept me guessing. Richard Osman (not being English, I had to Google him to find out why he’s famous) writes absolutely delightfully about human foibles, and the challenges of growing old.

The Thursday Murder Club was a release that I was highly anticipating ever since I first heard about it, and whilst reading this book I was pleased to find this is undeniably the work of Richard Osman (this was obvious by the fact that I, at numerous times, had to google some of the words used, just to understand what they meant- haha!).

At first, I thought that the main characters would be the downfall of me being able to enjoy this book- I typically read YA fiction and so a book with pensioners as protagonists seemed like it would be a bit too big of a jump, but let me tell you that I ended up absolutely falling in love with them. Ron, Ibrahim, Joyce and Elizabeth- these characters are, to the untrained eye, unlikely heroes- but they each have their own personality bigger than the last, and to say that their ‘best days’ are behind them would certainly be an injustice.

Some reviewers have called this a ‘cosy murder story’ and as someone who doesn’t typically read ‘who-dunnit’s or gritty crime stories, that suits me just fine. This story has a multi-layered mystery, and whilst I had some suspicions about some of the right people, I never once accurately guessed even one of the number of revelations that make up the final few pages.

With all things considered, I have decided to rate The Thursday Murder Club a solid 4/5 stars

This was a really appealing choice, given the author's clever-guy image. I was expecting something wise and witty, with a smart, game-like feel. In reality, the punctuation error on the first page set the tone for the rest. The head-hopping points of view didn’t help, nor did the wavering narrative voices or stereotypical characters. Of course this wasn’t intended to be high literature but the crime genre has some hugely accomplished exponents. Hopefully, a further edit can tighten it up but clearly to me this wasn’t a very impressive read, even for a debut.

This was a fun read and I certainly enjoyed the various characters. A refreshing read with a great spin on the usual "crime" books. Certainly will be recommending this book for the book club we run and will be ordering it for the library. Thanks for the review copy

There were parts of this novel I enjoyed it was well written, witty and had some very interesting characters, but thought there was a bit of a jump in the different stories and it was quite confusing at times .Think it will appeal to many readers and I liked the actual plots but overall was not really my type of book. I'm sure it will be successful and wish Richard good luck with his writing career.

Loved this. Fans of cosy crime will be in their element - four residents of a retirement village meet weekly to discuss cold cases. Their backgrounds mean that they have an edge over the casual observer. When a murder happens on their doorstep, they can't help but investigate, often staying one step ahead of the police. Easy to read and hard to put down, this will be one of my books of the year.

Provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

I think this has been my favourite book of 2020! It started off really well with the introduction of the Thursday Murder Club and then progressed at a very steady pace.

The book is well written and the characters are amazing. I fell in like with each and everyone of the club members and the police officers.. even some of the auxiliary characters too!

I was drawn in immediately and at so many points in the story I was convinced I knew what’d happened and who the murderer was. I was wrong. It was twisty and turny and it led to the place I hadn’t expected and yet when we got there it was so very clear!

I loved this debut novel and I would most definitely read another by this author.

Well, that was a nice surprise! I usually stay clear of celebrity writers as, in my experience, they tend to be over rated and over hyped but I have to say that this book by Richard Osman was pretty good and had me engaged from start to finish.

The plot is multi-faceted with several murders both recent and historic but rather than this causing confusion, it all seems to flow smoothly and logically despite its complexity although you do have to keep your wits about you to keep up at times. The writing style is easy to read and flows well and although the main subject matter is murder, there are snippets of humour and more tender moments too.

The setting of a rather upscale retirement village is unique as are the main characters who are engaging, appealing and, at times, amusing. I really would like to get to know Elizabeth better - she is a very intriguing character and there are teasing morsels of her previous working life which are very interesting and I want to know more.

This book is what I would call a cosy-read that could be enjoyed by anyone and I would recommend it to those who enjoy a classic murder-mystery without the violence and graphic detail.

Thank you to Penguin General UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I read a lot of indie books - and this is not one of them. It's published by Penguin and has clearly gone through the full intensive publishing mill, with the highly-polished editing and promotion you would expect. I'm usually wary of such books, because they rarely live up to the hype. Established, reputable publishers turn out an awful lot of crap-for-profit books these days and I'm sick of them.

Despite my misgivings, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Yes, I know the author is funny on TV, but that doesn't necessarily always translate into a good book. It's funny, well written, well structured and very engaging. Not fall-off-your-seat funny, not 'hilarious' situations; rather your typical, understated British-TV-show humour. Casual and clever wit. Very BBC Friday/Saturday night.. You'll know yourself if that's your thing or not.

Maybe it was because I had just finished a very sad literary novel (excellent book also, but not easy reading), but reading The Thursday Murder Club was a very welcome, lighthearted and refreshing reprieve.

It is set in and around an upscale retirement community somewhere in the south of England. The main characters are residents. However, instead of the clichéd <em>old folks</em> one might expect, these guys are well-rounded characters with distinct backstories. Each of them is defined not simply as an old man or woman, but as an older version of their former professional selves. Still mentally active and still with connections to the rest of the world. There's ex-spy chief Elizabeth , former psychiatrist Ibrahim, former trades union leader Ron and former nurse Joyce; all very different and bringing their own qualities, skills - and backgrounds - to the team. On the police side, there's the Chris and Donna duo. The interplay between the two of them and between them as a team and the Murder Club, is very well done and adds to the fun and plot twists.

Noteworthy - Joyce keeps a diary that is interspersed through the story. It's very, very funny as well as providing variety in the narrative structure.

The plot is, like its characters, rather rambling and at times makes no sense, but it all makes sense in the end. Lots of unexpected twists. Sure, you could argue that it is far-fetched... Of course it is! It's a comedic cozy mystery set in a retirement community, for goodness sake! If you're looking for highly accurate social realism, you're reading the wrong book.

What makes this book such a pleasure to read is its warmth and compassion, along with the wit and fun. It's character driven. So it's wonderful to know there's at least one more book in the offing. I want more of this!

<em>My thanks to Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.</em>

Witty and fun, as to be expected of Richard Osman. Plenty of likeable characters and lots of twists and turns and misdirections.

This is a wonderful book, and hopefully the first of many. I understand the second in the series is due soon, can’t wait. It is well written, with a mixture of funny and poignant situations. I loved the characters and where the story was set. it keeps you guessing right to the very end. A great read and highly recommended.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is based around an upscale retirement community, and specifically one of the activities that takes place there - the Thursday Murder Club. This group meet weekly to look through old cold cases to try and solve them. However, soon murders start occurring around them - providing a live case to test their wits on!

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this story- I thought the premise sounded interesting, but I thought it might be a bit staid and predictable. Happily, I was quite surprised!! It’s much funnier than I expected, with very well crafted characters. Each of the characters seem to have a very interesting backstory and it wasn’t overwritten - there were references to their past, but just enough to keep me intrigued, although I would welcome further detail, particularly for Elizabeth, I imagine that she has a very interesting story to tell!! I really enjoyed this - a good plot, with a solid mystery at its heart, and a fairly elegant solution. All the loose ends were nearly tied up to a satisfactory conclusion, and I would definitely be looking for the next in the series! A good 4.5 stars!

I am a big fan of Richard Osman's work, so I was really excited to be given the opportunity to listen to his debut novel to see whether his talents would stretch to writing. It seems that they do, as I loved his writing style. It's gentle with a healthy dose of British humour that meant that a smile rarely left my face as I was listening.

It is the characters in The Thursday Murder Club that are the star of this show. Although it seemed at first that there would be little for me to relate to in these geriatric detectives, I quickly grew to love them and their foibles, wanting to become involved in their lives in the retirement village. This is enhanced by the entries from Joyce's diary which allow us to see events from her point of view. However, it is not just the older people who gave me reason to enjoy this novel. The police officers working the case, Chris and Donna, are also well developed and I was able to warm to them too.

The Thursday Murder Club may not be the gory novel I would usually read, but nevertheless it is very well plotted and it kept me intrigued throughout as I wondered who was responsible for the crime. There are a few twists as the mystery is resolved and this meant the ending was not the simple ending I had predicted, but rather a poignant one which left me with some things to think about.

The audio version of The Thursday Murder Club is narrated by Lesley Manville. I love her work and she narrates the novel as brilliantly as I thought she would. She adds inflection and expression in all the right places so that she can bring Osman's wonderful characters to life.