The Thursday Murder Club: A Mystery Novel Unraveling a Deadly Puzzle

Janice McInnes: Richard Osman has a wonderful mind. His style of writing is
both quirky and endearing.
The characters were superb. They continue to live in my mind. The merging of comedy and murder was attained so beautifully that it seemed to be the natural way of things
Thank you Richard

United Kingdom on Oct 30, 2023

shelliefromtirau: What can I say? Its perfect. It is literally the perfect cosy mystery. The characters are immensely likable. The setting is charming. The pace is fast. The writing is witty. The mystery is solid. I literally cannot recommend this story highly enough. Go buy it and then buy the rest of the series as I am about to do :)

United States on Oct 29, 2023

Engie: I enjoyed this book. I feel it could've been 100 pages shorter and still have the same mystery and development. Overall, I liked the ending and the wrap-up on the murders.

On to the next book 📖 ☺️

United States on Oct 22, 2023

Alksped: This book had a ton of twists and turns to keep you guessing and it didn’t end at all like I expected, but police confiding in them? A little silly. Still, the characters at Coopers Chase are fun friends who, by the end, you are wishing you were related to them somehow so that you could come and visit for tea. Add in their interesting approaches to each investigation and multiple murders across decades and it kept me guessing! Enjoyed it more than I thought by the end than I had thought I would at the beginning.

United States on Oct 08, 2023

D. A: Bought this to see what all the fuss was about. First; I did enjoy it for the most part but there are some flaws. The story line is heavily reliant on coincidence. That many murders ? That many tragic love stories? Really? All in the same place? That said, ignore the implausible plot and barely believable character or two and the writing is good with some genuinely heart-wrenching observations. Anyone who has seen Richard Osman on tv will hear his voice in every word, no bad thing. All in all, a pleasant, lightweight read, and with all its flaws, I will probably read the next two in the series.

United Kingdom on Sep 25, 2023

Rachel nortonRachel norton: After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children. The Thursday Murder Club meets every Thursday (hence the name) at Coopers Chase, a peaceful retirement community where nothing much happens. That is, until a murder occurs within its idyllic community, and four of its septuagenarian residents decide to stick their noses in and solve it themselves.
I was immediately taken with the quirky and loveable cast of characters. The senior citizens made me chuckle with their sassy antics and their unapologetic zest for life. The gentle humor strikes just the right balance, without coming across as too flippant or cheesy. I also adored the detectives in here, with their protectiveness of these septuagenarians and their good-natured acceptance of their often questionable behaviors.
As for the mystery itself, it started out really strong. I was completely bought in during the first half, playing arm chair detective while following along with each clue and red herring.
But then it kind of became convoluted and confusing. It seems like the book tried to insinuate guilt on every single character, one by...

United States on Sep 08, 2023

Michelle Llewellyn: I have to agree with other reviewers about this book. The quirky characters are the best part and whole concept to hook a reader in-a group of retirees who like to investigate cold case murders and try to solve them...until an actual murder takes place at their retirement home community. I had high hopes for this book as this is not a genre I read very often, I prefer historical fiction. So, I probably won't be reading the other books in this series. If not for my bookclub, I would never have picked this up and that's just what "The Thursday Murder Club" is-a bookclub-type of read.

"Well, let's start with Elizabeth, shall we?" any good writer worth their salt knows the first line of your novel is critical. This is how you pull in your reader and keep them hooked. This is one of the best opening lines I've come across in a long time, unfortunately by the time I got to the end and the murder was solved, I was still confused over who had actually "dunnit" (kinda important if you're writing a whodunnit novel!) and not really caring what the motive of the killer was. Neither were ever fully explained.

Elizabeth is the unofficial leader of this motley crew of...

United States on May 08, 2023

Mrs S J Sansom: What a treat this book has been! The Thursday Murder Club has filled a Famous Five-shaped void in my adult life that I hadn’t realised was there. Okay, so there are only four members of this amateur crime-busting cabal … no dog (yet!) … and the ginger ale has been replaced by pricey bottles of Malbec … and the bones may be creakier than my beloved childhood gang, but the derring do, the charm, the well-meaning bickering, and the fabulous ability to outsmart the rozzers are all heartily present.

In a nutshell, The Thursday Murder Club has the potential to be the single most influential piece of marketing the (luxury) retirement village sector has ever seen. It vividly creates a setting of quintessential countryside chic, with rolling hills, farm shops, small stone bridges over a meandering river … and introduces an unexpected abundance of lamas … but generally very lovely. And the retirement village itself - Coopers Chase - boasts an array of activities and outings and gatherings to rival any Club 18-30, albeit of a more age-appropriate gentility …

… Apart from the Thursday Murder Club, that is. It’s something of a covert black-ops group masquerading...

United Kingdom on Sep 24, 2021

Mike's mum: When you find that the three page acknowledgements from the author at the back are more interesting and better written than the novel itself then that is a worry. Let me say that I like Richard Osman on the television but a novelist he is not! Banal, tedious and poorly written. I read somewhere that it is aimed at a TV audience whatever that means - possibly for the folk who enjoy 'Death in Paradise' or 'Mrs Brown's Boys'? The novel is made up of caricatures and I didn't care what happened to them. I can be stubborn so refused to give up on this story but it was very hard work and with hindsight I should have done. The police are portrayed negatively and as somewhat dim and we are meant to believe that these other characters in a retirement home have all these contacts around the world enabling them to solve crimes from their armchair.
Kate Atkinson and Ian Rankin are on the book cover making flattering statements. Why? That seriously undermines their judgement and credibility in my eyes. On the back cover someone says: 'Laugh out loud'. Really? The humour is tired, cliched and resorts to stereotypes; in effect little asides from the author which are not amusing. Richard you...

United Kingdom on Oct 22, 2020

Siltone: I have always enjoyed watching Richard Osman on TV, in fact one of my favourite programmes is Pointless. So, my ears pricked up when I briefly heard someone on the radio mention that he'd recently penned his first ever novel. After listening to the outline of the book which, amongst other things, entails four elderly friends whose hobby it is to solve murders, well I just had to order myself a copy.

This is a typical 'very English' whodunnit, featuring eccentric characters who come alive on the page. The principle players are: Elizabeth (ex-spy chief), Joyce (former nurse), Ibrahim (retired psychiatrist) and Ron (ex-trade union boss) who reside in a gated retirement village situated on the south coast. These are folk who I soon came to care about, despite their individual flaws. They may be fictitious, but Richard effortlessly brings them to life, and gives each a unique personality of their own. Old age can sometimes be a burden to them, and they may have to endure certain physical and mental issues, but combined they are still a force to be reckoned with. These amateur sleuths are also somewhat unorthodox when it comes to the methods they employ to investigate and...

United Kingdom on Sep 02, 2020