The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

 

Richard Osman is so bloody annoying. Incredibly clever, very funny, great at thinking of game shows. And now he can write really excellent books too. Irritating.

Four octogenarians who live in a retirement village get together each week (on a Thursday) to look at and solve old murders. And then a real life murder happens in the village.

The Murder Club are:

1) Elizabeth. The leader. A mysterious past career in intelligence. Contacts everywhere, brain like Poirot, an ability to read people like books and able to manouevre people just as she likes. But she's not hard or unlikeable. Her love for her ill husband and ex-Club member Penny (in a permanent coma) make her an entirely sympathetic main character.

2) Joyce. An ex-nurse. Quietly sits in corners un-noticed and overlooked. Brain like Miss Marple. Roped in for her medical knowledge and to replace Penny, she soon becomes a key and invaluable member of the Club. In turn the Club becomes and key and invaluable part of her.

3) Ron, an ex Trade Union leader. Still hankers after the days of stirring things up. Son who is a famous ex-boxer with murky connections and a suspect in the case.

4) Ibrahim. An ex-psychiatrist. Um... that's about it in terms of background info on him.

The two men, especially Ibrahim, obviously don't get as much character development as the ladies. I'm hoping this will get expanded in the sequel.

5) Donna and Chris, the Police officers. Donna is a young PC who has moved from South London for a fresh start but misses the excitement of the big city. And Chris is the Senior Detective who is feeling sorry for himself. They get on surprisingly well.

What I really appreicate is that Richard Osman doesn't go in for cliches. The relationship of the Murder Club with the police doesn't follow the old trope of police-dismissing-old-folks which is refreshing. In fact they become a great team. Donna and Chris immediately recognise the worth of the Murder Club and work with them.

If I have any criticism of this book, it's that the very premise of it means that there can't possibly be that many sequels. Which is sad.

As an aside, I read on wikipedia that there was a bidding war between the publishing houses for the book. Must be nice for a first time writer, mustn't it?! Lesson for first time writers - be famous already!