This was such an interesting book. I had been meaning to read it for so long as its been hugely hyped and think because of this I had really high expectations going in. I do think it got off to quite a slow start. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing as it meant we really got to know the characters well and this was something I found really useful as there were quite a lot of characters. The characters in this book were fantastic, as mentioned there were quite a few and they were all so different. They were all developed, well rounded and above all really funny. The dynamics between the Thursday Murder Club were great and share so much fun and humour in a dark situation. There is Elizabeth who, is a bit of a trogon, she seems to have no filter and no boundaries she wont cross. Joyce is the newest member of the club, avid baker and a bit of a minx, with an eye for romance. Ibrahim is an ex psychiatrist and the technical one of the team. Finally there is Ron, an ex trade union leader and always up for a fight for the sake of the fight. I loved the way they were not beyond using their age to get them out of trouble. From feigning confusion to telling police officers there is no point trying to prosecute them as they are too old to make it worth it! Despite this they are four of the most clued up people in the story. I think the book did a great job of flipping the narrative that older people usually have in books.

I also thought the relationship between the characters were fantastic. From the Thursday Murder Club members themselves and how they all have their role and work together to the relationship Ron has with his son Jason. From the relationship Elizabeth forms with police officer Donna to that Donna has with fellow police officer Chris. They were all so genuine and just a pleasure to read about.

Although this book was driven along by the great characters the plot itself as equally as good. I did wonder how believable it would be to have a group of elderly non police officers investigating crimes but somehow it worked. In real life these event probably wouldn’t happen but it was a lot of fun. I really liked that the plot was multi faceted with different levels to the crime. I enjoyed going along and watching the group discover the evidence and seeing the duplicitous means they used to get it.

Overall, this was a great crime book with a fantastic plot and characters alike. It had a real old school quaint crime vibe making it a cosy yet intriguing.

First of all a big thank you to netgalley, the author and the publishers for sending me this book to read and review.

I found this to be quite slow paced but an entertaining read. I will also be continuing with the series. I loved that most of the main characters were part of a murder mystery solving group in a care home. I loved seeing how all the different characters interacted together and how the mystery unravelled.

This book is like a warm hug with a sprinkle of crime.

Lovely characters, steady plot and a murder mystery which is oh so british and cosy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I thought this was a perfectly fine thriller! I was mostly interested to see why it had attracted so much (admittedly fervent) attention from readers; was it the famous name or the very good plot? I think it's neither. Well, Osman's name does give it a huge boost, but it's really the cute crime-solving grandparents that do it for us, I think. It's hard to go wrong there.

The mystery was serviceable. I cannot remember whodunnit.

The prose did not leave me cold, but I wasn't rushing to finding a pencil ito underline a piece of keen observation either. Again, serviceable. Again, unmemorable.

I was a tiny bit annoyed about the ethnic stereotyping, Turkish this and Greek that, but mostly because I belong to one of those groups mentioned. But again, serviceable. Fine. OK. I get it.

This is a series that relies heavily on the famous name for its numbers. and its USP of crime-solving-elders for those of us who actually read the genre on the regular. I'll definitely carry on in the series, but instead of waiting for the hardcover to drop in price, I'll probably wait for it to appear in my local e-library to inhale it in one delicious, forgettable go. A custard cream mystery.

I'm sad to say I haven't found a new favourite series, but don't we all need a quick cute murderous read in these pandemic years? And this pick-me-up was done better than most!

I highly recommend it to beginners of the mystery/thriller genre.

Loved this book. Really looking forward to the next book by this author. It was very well written. The characters were great and very believable.

I couldn’t get into this book at all and did not finish it. It all felt a bit wooden and too unbelievable. I may try again but I doubt it.

A great start to what is going to be a great serious. Funny and keeps you guessing.
This proves he Osman is not just a great presenter but one of the UK's new talent in crime fiction.

Just managed to getting around to reading this and am now regretting the delay. Loved this from the start, the descriptions of the characters are great, they may be fictitious, but Richard effortlessly brings them to life, and gives each a unique personality of their own.
Despite murder being the theme running through this excellent novel, this is very much a cosy read. Nice short chapters that keep you reading 'just one more'...It's clever, it's sad, it's moving in places, and it's wickedly funny throughout.

It's easy to see how Stephen Speilberg was drawn to adapting this book into a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed this unique take on a murder mystery concept and Richard Osman is one of the cleverest men I know, so he was always going to pull off a whodunnit book. Can't wait to read the sequel!

Thank you Richard Osman for writing such a superb book. I loved this it was brilliantly mysterious and hilarious at the same time!!

We meet Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the Jigsaw Room of an idyllic retirement village. They are having their weekly Thursday Murder Club meeting in which they discuss unsolved Murders. But when a murder happens close to the retirement village can they help uncover who done it??

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

A group of older men and women, each with a different background and set of skills, pass the time in their modern retirement home by investigating cold cases... until the home's owner gets murdered. Now they have to use the skills they've honed in between pilates and jigsaw puzzles and help the two local police officers, who are in over their head, solve this murder, all while dealing with their personal lives.

This is very much the definition of a cozy murder mystery: the English countryside, gentle characters that just want to live their peaceful lives, a tiny bit of romance and lots of interpersonal stories. friendships, parents and their adult children, widow(er)hood... I loved Joyce's voice, I loved Chris and Donna, I loved the veiled references to Elizabeth's past; I also appreciated that they didn't pretend all crime was petty, but didn't feel the need to add a rape here or there to advance the plot, and I enjoyed the Jack Reacher type of attitude, where sometimes bad things happen to bad people and we don't need to cry about it. It's not a moralizing story, it's an escapist one.

The pace is good from the very start until almost the end, when all of the loose threads and a few more get sorted out. My only gripes are some of the clichés (priests and nuns; murderous foreigners) and how we are presented with several solutions to each case only to be immediately refuted and given a new explanation. That, plus the two or three solved mysteries that don't involve a murder, made the last 100 pages a bit confusing. I don't think the novel needed all of that to be successful. However, seeing how it's the author's first novel, I understand he might have felt compelled to add the whole kitchen sink to the resolution.

In many ways, it reminded me of The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, another first novel, by Stuart Turton. While Turton's mystery was more sci-fi/fantasy and read like a thriller, Osman's novel reads like a cozy version of a classic English murder mystery. I'm very much looking forward to more stories from Coopers Chase!

I really enjoyed this book it took me awhile to read which is good i usually skim read but i took this in . 5 stars i wouldnt change anything and the cover is great. Thank you Richard Osman.

Humorous, energetic, and exciting are not words you would necessarily apply to a retirement home, but Richard Osman is able to say that about his fictional world. I loved this book and found the mystery both emotional and interesting - the armchair detective in me was very happy! The ending disappointed me a little, but I can't say why without giving spoilers. I am definitely looking forward to book 2!

It is compellingly amusing and I didn't want to miss a single thought or memory any of the characters were having, because those thoughts or memories were either an important part of the story or they were amusing, often both at the same time. A thoroughly enjoyable read and I am looking forward to the follow up.

'm a great fan of Richard Osman: he has a quiet, gentle, intelligent humour, and I always find him interesting, entertaining and a delight to listen to and watch. So I needed no encouragement whatsoever to read his novel.

On the whole, it's very enjoyable. It's a bit Midsomer-Murders-ish; there are a few murders, a good detective, his faithful sidekick, residents with secrets and some smiley moments. All jolly good fun.

Here we have four septuagenarians in a retirement village trying to outwit the police in solving a murder…or two…or more. There are lots of secrets…and it's not just the victims who have them.

It's well written, though the present tense narrative, of which I'm very definitely not a fan (in truth, I really hate it!), just doesn't work here. It was a little messy. It all got a bit confusing, too: many plot twists and turns, a plethora of characters made it a bit hard to keep up, and it was rather misty and woolly towards the end.

That said, it's a delightful, witty and entertaining read, and I can't wait to catch up with these very likable senior citizens again.

This wasn't entirely what I expected, and around halfway through I was going to give up on it but persevered. The characters are really fun, but the plot got a bit confusing at times.

I found the book well written, witty and charming. A very easy read and a perfect little page turning for the holiday season. Would be a perfect gift as who doesn’t love a mystery!

One of the most divisive books on Instagram. I can see why, it took me a while to get into it but there were definitely parts that I enjoyed.

Somewhat late to this. A well-written story of home residents with a 'hobby' murder club becoming entangled in a real-life case. I say well-written as this is the main positive thing about the book; for me the rest did not work. Characters who mostly became more irritating as time went on, endless convenient coincidences in their backgrounds, the investigation and the ways that things come together for the crew.

There was a lot to enjoy about this book and it is absolutely about the most English of settings - a retirement home. Not just any retirement home though, this is a whole community of people who are not done yet. There are squabbles about parking permits, residents committee, pilates and knitting club. All in an idyllic area of the south east. (Genuinely it sounds like a wonderful place).

Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron are the Thursday Murder Club - they look over old cases, try and come up with new lines of reasoning and have fun puzzling things out. And when a real murder happens close to their retirement community, it's the perfect time for Elizabeth to bring in her particular skillset to help solve the crime.

There's also a lovely secondary story going on featuring the police investigating the murder and the growing relationship between these two characters is a lot of fun to read. There are also plenty of amusing asides that are delivered in a very dead-pan British way that are wryly amusing ... and then you move on.

Some things were quite jumbled, however. I'm not sure why we needed a very giddy set of diary entries from Joyce during the book, and there were quite a few POV switches that did make things confusing. There are also a lot of characters - the book is short enough to keep track of them but it also means that you never quite feel the satisfaction of getting to know anyone fully.

There are also quite a few themes that I wish had been developed properly - one was the Murder Club itself - what exactly had been their previous success rate and what did they do when they found things out before now? And Elizabeth's own contacts and skills seemingly knew no bounds to keep the group always a couple of steps ahead of the police. But because there was a lot of behind the scenes action, it often seemed quite muddled which exact strings were being pulled.

Look, it was a fun book. It became a little convoluted, a little hard to believe and had a slightly strange sense of justice throughout - but it was exciting and enticing enough to pull me out of a significant reading slump and I'm actually looking forward to the next one.

3.5 stars overall