It's difficult to know how to review this book. As it crosses so many genres, it could appeal to so many people but at the same time it might not quite cut the mustard with any of them. It walks a comedy-crime tightrope, yet - despite a wobble or two - gets comfortably across the ravine.

The premise is much like Osman's first foray; a bunch of senior citizens get together to solve a crime. This time it's a little darker and tougher as the Mafia and MI5 turn up on the doorstep, but that makes it a little too unbelievable at times, even when you suspend your belief right at the start knowing it's a comedy caper. Generally speaking, I like my crime grittier, so for me this is like watching an episode of Colombo as light relief after a full series of Des or The Killing.

Overall, The Man Who Died Twice is very entertaining with genuine wit and warmth lacing the story, but it left me wondering whether Osman would actually be capable of creating a really cracking novel away from cosy crime. There is real skill here behind the soft and comfortable setting and sweet old pensioners and perhaps it could be employed more satisfyingly in another direction?

In summary, a lovely read - which isn't quite as gentle as The Thursday Murder Club - and won't frighten grandma. The perfect Christmas present for someone who enjoys an undemanding yarn.

I was provided with a free ebook copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for this.

The Man Who Died Twice is the second book in Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series. I listened to the first book as an audiobook and absolutely loved it, so I was very excited to get a sneak preview at the next book.

The first book involves 4 pensioners who solve a series of murders at their old folks home. We have Elizabeth, ex spy and group ring leader.
Joyce, sweet old lady but smarter and more cunning than you would think.
Ron, grumpy old man who is a fan of diversion tactics.
Ibrahim, ex psychiatrist and the brains of the group. Also the only one who can still drive.

In this book, the crowd are back at it again. Except this time it's because Elizabeth's exhusband shows up under protection after one of his missions as a spy goes wrong. When both him and his handler are found dead, the Thursday Murder Club take it upon themselves to try and catch the killer yet again.

As a stand alone book, this is fantastic but I would say that I enjoyed it a little less than the first one. I think it's because the plot in this one seems a lot more far fetched and it also involves a lot of new characters and new settings that I didn't warm to as well. That bein said, it's a really gripping mystery and I wasn't able to guess the killer before it was revealed to me, I always consider than to be the sign of a good mystery.

If you were a fan of the first book, I'd thoroughly recommend this one. I hear there will be a third and I'll be reading that one too!

I’m not sure when I have enjoyed a novel more than I enjoyed Richard Osman’s debut, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’. That story was convoluted, sure, but it nipped along, the characters were charming and there was a frothy light touch like a glass of cooled Pimms on a summer’s afternoon.
What Osman has here managed to do, is navigate the difficult second album. He had left himself with some work to be done: the first book had bodies dropping like ‘The Wire’-era Baltimore, a killer revealed to be a beloved character and now the challenge becomes: do it again. But, you know, better.
Well, I’m delighted to say that he has. Here, Osman takes us inside Elizabeth’s murky past – her role with the Security Services, her rakish ex-husband and the way her history keeps peeking into her present.
There are less characters than in the whirlwind original outing but Douglas is joined by hopeless waitress Poppy, who may not be all she seems, as well local drug Queen pin, Connie Johnson and her ascendancy and a nasty little character called Ryan Baird. This wee hoodlum is, to my mind, one of the few people in Osman’s fiction who I would happily see shot in the face by Elizabeth from point blank range.
‘The Man Who Died Twice’ is a charming romp covering treasure hunts for twenty million pounds worth of diamonds, the exact way to disguise the exact identify of a body and the reason why MI:5 use a safe house in Godalming.
I am well aware that there are readers who dislike Osman’s work because he is famous to begin with. Others dislike the fact he does not write serious Dostoeveskian meditations on the nature of crime. But I find his writing charming, safe and as entertaining as an afternoon cup of tea at your nan’s house and I thank him for it.
Also, I listened to both the original and the sequel in audiobook form read by Lesley Manville. I listened on long car rides alongside a mother who has dementia and doesn’t take that much pleasure in long form stories these days. Both Manville’s performance and Osman’s writing delighted her, amused her and kept her entertained and, for that, they were cheap at twice the price and I shall be ever grateful to them for their work.

A rollicking good read. Thrilling and comic in turn, it builds upon the characters from his first book and this is an even more exciting one.

Great plot and writing, this is a book to revel in.

Highly recommended.

Absolutely loved catching up with the antics of our four lovely characters of Coopers Chase retirement home.
If I ever have the need to go in one I vote to go there.
They get embroiled in a new murder mystery where twenty million pounds worth of diamonds have been stolen.
The author has quite cleverly explored the world of pensioners & shows they have a lot more to Offer than sitting in a chair.
The four main characters are brilliant at manipulating & confusing who ever they want information from.
Underneath all the comical capers the author takes you on he also touches on sensitive areas associated with old age.
This is a fun lighthearted read & not to be taken too seriously it made me laugh & certainly brought a smile to my face.
Sensitive issues are handled with compassion & respect for these lovable characters.
Reminds me a little of Last Of the Summer Wine which was on the tv I loved all the antics those pensioners got up to.
The author has managed to make the pensioners more interesting which they truly are as they have so many life experiences.
Thoroughly enjoyed it & will be looking forward to the next.

I thought The Thursday Murder Club was an ok read, but definitely preferred this one. No quite 5* but a worthy 4.5. It's a very twisty, turny mystery set in the world of espionage. We got to know the four main characters better, and even met Elizabeth's ex-husband! This time they're trying to find some missing diamonds worth twenty million pounds! The supporting characters of Chris, Donna and of course Bogdan are all back. There are lots of laugh out loud moments, and also moments of sadness, and I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel.

I really enjoyed the first book in the series, so super excited to receive an advanced copy of The Man That Died Twice. I have to say I was slightly disappointed and at times I struggled.. As the story started to develop I began to feel hang on is this getting a bit too far fetched. It did.. The four main characters of the Thursday murder club became key members of the police and MI5 investigation team.. Would this happen? So in many ways the story lost credibility which I found affected the flow and my motivation to continue reading. Having said this, Richard has a way with words, developing the characters and weaving much of his his humour into his descriptions and the ongoing relationships of the main characters. So all in all a good book but not as enjoyable as his first.

Although this is a fantastic follow up to the Thursday Murder Club it can also be read as a standalone book, with hints to the first book thrown in.

It's another brilliant book by Richard Osman. I enjoyed the story which had twists and turns right up to the end and the original characters are just fantastic, all with their own individual quirks. Amongst the very quintessential British humour is a sprinkling of darkness just to give it balance.

Thanks to Penguin Publishing Group and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read

The sooner the third book is out the better! I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth and the gang and this mystery is the best yet. The Man who died twice is full of mischief, great one liners and fully developed characters from Connie to Bogdan (who I adore). Just where are the diamonds? Who killed the first two victims and why?
I think Steven Spelberg better get the casting if these films spot on because Richard Osman has given us a rota full of characters that you can picture, hear and make you chuckle & gasp all at once!!!

I want to go and live in Cooper's Chase and hang out with the Thursday Murder Club.
Absolutely brilliant writing from Richard Osman, this had me engaged from start to finish with tears, laughter, genuine anticipation and joy. Not a wasted sentence in the whole book, the twists turns and links were superb.
Another wonderful visit to Fairhaven and Cooper's Chase. Adventurous but entirely believable plot. Wonderful characterisation and genuinely lovely people. I just wish they were real.
There were moments of sadness, of reflection and poignancy as well as superb moments and plot twists throughout. The end was immense, not what I'd expected at all.
Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for a review copy. Off to buy my own to give it away.
I cannot wait for part 3.

I somehow loved this more than the first TMC? Rarely does a sequel not only match but beat an original. I adored seeing our characters again and felt such joy reading this book!

The Thursday Murder Club is BACK! It’s the following Thursday after their first case together, and Joyce is already wistful about how quickly everything is going back to normal. She’s thinking of getting a dog to liven things up.

But when Douglas, Elizabeth’s ex-husband suddenly appears in Coopers Chase, claiming to be in disgrace and caught within mafia crosshairs after a botched MI5 mission leads to the disappearance of diamonds worth twenty million pounds, life has suddenly become exciting once more… and complicated… and dangerous.

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB was one of my favourite reads last year, and I loved the follow-up even more. I will continue to read this series for as long as Richard Osman continues to write and publish them. The crux of the idea—four seventy-somethings solve murders together—holds up even when the plots expands beyond their fancy retirement home.

There’s a lot going on in this one: did Douglas steal the diamonds? Is Douglas actually dead? If so, where are the diamonds then? This main plot eventually weaves together with subplots involving Chris and Donna grappling with a local drug dealer, and also trying to pin a local delinquent for stealing Ibrahim’s phone and attacking him on that street.

What I love most about this series are the characters. All people with a lot left to give and an astonishing breadth of life experience, some of their offhanded comments hit with the force of suckerpunches. They’ve all lost people, faced with a society that now underestimates them, and they’re all aware they possibly have few years left.

I’m really excited to see where the next book will take us. There’s been some fascinating character development, and I wish it was already out.

The sequel to The Thursday Murder Club, this book was a really enjoyable read. I would have liked to give it 4.5 stars.
The plot had plenty of twists and turns and the outcome wasn't what I expected at all. The characters that we met in the first book, developed more in this one and we got to know a bit more about them.
I love Joyce's diary that she writes in the first person and we get her thoughts and feelings on all that is going on around her, which adds a bit of comedy to the books.
All in all another winner from Richard Osman and I wait with anticipation for Book 3.

After reading The Thursday Murder Club I was pretty excited to find out what adventure the foursome got up to next; surely there wasn’t going to be more dead bodies turning up at Cooper’s Chase? But no this time it’s a living person who shouldn’t be there.
We finally find our Elizabeth’s secret; in a fairly low key way as of it wasn’t a secret, that she was an MI5 agent before retirement, and one of her ex-husbands who she worked with comes to Cooper’s Chase looking for her help. During a run of the mill house search and CCTV installation £2million of diamonds goes missing; I’ll not spoil how, and so begins a manhunt and a diamond hunt where the stakes are life and death. ​
There is also a separate storyline around Ibrahim who found some confidence in driving and exploring during the first novel and decides to borrow Ron’s car weekly to have a solo adventure. However, his confidence is thwarted when a group of teenagers jump him, stealing his mobile phone and leaving him dying in the gutter. It’s frustrating that; as so often is genuinely the case, the police; Donna and Chris of course, know who the culprit is but can do very little to prove it. Against all the rules they suggest it is left to the Thursday Murder Club to take matters into their own hands.
I really enjoyed the first book, but actually the second one is even better. It is honestly such an easy to read style that Osman adopts and there are little aspects that make the characters all so relatable; especially Joyce, that it’s a pleasure to read. I’m looking forward to the third instalment next year already!!!

The Man Who Died Twice 🏡 🧐

I HAVE TO SAY I THINK THIS MAY BE MY FAVOURITE EVER SERIES. Does anyone know of any other similar books because I need this in my life?

I absolutely loved the first book in this series as you all know and the second one did not disappoint at all. It gave me the homely, witty, fun, mystery vibes all over again. I never thought reading about old people in a care home would be my thing, but this is so engaging. I definitely think the author’s way of writing dialogue is seriously impressive and is very different to other authors.

Do you love this series? Have you read this one, did you think it was as good as the first one? ⭐️

It was good to revisit the Murder Club quartet and their foibles and quirkiness. I did find this second book a bit far-fetched in its plot but I still wanted to know what was going to happen. It was refreshing to see that Elizabeth was not always right and that Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron had more to offer in solving the mystery. Was good to see more of Donna and Chris in their private lives rather than just in their police work.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Richard Osman/Penguin General UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

I received an ARC of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. WOW WOW and WOW is all i can say about this one. Richard Osman's Thursday night murder club of Octogenarians step forward once again to right wrongs and uphold the law whilst not always staying strictly within the letter of the law themselves.

Too many authors create a linguistically beautiful narrative populated by badly drawn characters or create living breathing characters who plod through non-events. The beauty of this book (in my view) is that the author has decided not to emphasise either characterisation or narrative but has created a cast of characters who move the narrative forward in unexpected ways. I love all of the people in this book, they are real, they live just across the street from you and me and they act in many ways the same as those people across the street - but then they have just a little je ne sais quoi to propel them through the book.

I love the depiction of ageing, of dementia, of the fear of never finding your way out of where you are that lie just beneath the surface of this book. It is about so much more than elderly neighbours trying to solve the latest mystery.

I cannot wait for the next

Elizabeth and the gang are back and they are better than ever!

Delving even darker into Elizabeth's secret past as her Ex-husband contacts her for help. Donna and Chris are on a stakeout to catch a well-known villain who is uncatchable and Ibrahim becomes badly hurt in a mugging; but his friends won't let these thugs get away with it, even if the police can't do anything about it, they will.

This book has dead bodies, diamonds and revenge. What more can you ask for?!

I have read the first novel in the series and was super excited to read the second and Osman does not disappoint!

One of the best things about this book is the loyalty and strength in each character; to the 4 geriatrics, the 2 main police officers and even the villains.
Each character has their own unique personality which is light and relatable from arguing over who gets to see the dead body first to which one wants to take revenge.

I actually think my favourite character is Stephen (although he is only a minor character) simply because my heart breaks a little with each chapter he is in.

The character I least like is actually Joyce, but I think that's because I don't understand her, and the novel wouldn't be the same without her

And wow I didn't guess/work out the villain either, which is unusual for me.

I cannot wait for the third, definitely a series I want to continue

The second book in this series by Richard Osman. I haven't read the first but that doesn't matter, this is a crafted thriller with great characters and a swing and motion in the pacing that makes for a very enjoyable read. Almost certainly going to end up filmed at some point as this has broad appeal and is pleasingly paced and plotted. Recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC of this book.


I didn’t think Richard Osman’s first book in his Thursday Murder Club was great, but I thought I’d give the second book a chance because the first book was so popular, I thought maybe I’d missed something. Unfortunately, I found the second book suffered from all the same issues as the first.

Osman writes with some beautiful touches of gentle observational humour which make you smile; he is clearly infatuated with his characters, his characterisation is strong and you get a really good sense of them, especially the old ladies. The problem, however, is the plot. I felt both books lacked a compelling narrative. There is nothing propulsive about the plot, it meanders along and in both books I just didn’t care about the outcome. This really is an issue in a mystery book.

There doesn’t ever feel like there are consequences to any of the events. I think five people are shot dead in this book and their deaths are largely met with a shrug of the shoulders or the other characters feeling it’s jolly good fun to be surrounded by all this death. The heroes of the book commit crimes left, right and centre; framing someone, withholding evidence, stealing evidence, lying to the authorities, purchasing drugs etc. and it seems we are supposed to find this endearing. Why should we care about who has committed one crime, if the people investigating it are perpetually committing other crimes? They are no better than the villains.

Judging by the hype around this book, I am in the minority in being underwhelmed by these books. I’m sure this will continue to be a wildly popular and successful series, I’m just not sure why. It probably has something to do with the excellent marketing. The books are beautiful and very current. The titles are catchy, although the title of this book has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, it’s just a throwaway line from what is essentially the epilogue. I wonder if this series would have been published if it were not written by a celebrity.