REVIEW: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

My one word review of the first novel by TV's Richard Osman - FUN. I loved this light-hearted comedic type murder mystery with its cast of quirky lovable OAPs.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Penguin for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.

Expected: 3 September 2020

The blurb

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.

But when a local property developer shows up dead, 'The Thursday Murder Club' find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

The four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late.

The review
This quirky, quintessentially British, crime novel was so much fun - just what many of us need right now.

Richard Osman has a unique writing style, which took a bit of getting used to particularly as some chapters are written in the third person and some from the point of view of Joyce, one of the Thursday Murder Club's member and residents of the retirement village. But, his unusual rambling style fitted the theme perfectly, particularly Joyce's chapters, reflecting the chatty, scatty manner in which elderly people often muse. This extract, from Joyce, sums up what I'm trying to say perfectly:"It is called the Jigsaw Room,  by the way,  because this is where the bigger jigsaw are completed,  on a gently sloping wooden table in the centre of the room. When I first walked in, there was a 2,000-piecer of Whitstable harbour,  missing a letterbox of a sky.  I once went to Whitstable, just for the day, but I couldn't really see what the fuss was all about. Once you've done the oysters, there's no real shopping to speak of.  Anyway...."  

Madcap yes but Osman manages to perfectly balance the mystery with the everyday preoccupations of his elderly characters, their opinions of each other and descriptions of daily life in the retirement village daily life. Whilst not something serious murder mystery fans will probably like, I thought the other elements provided a really nice touch and made sense as murders don't typically take place in a vacuum, after all. It does mean, however, that there's a lot going on and the plot becomes quite complex with lots of intertwining stories, some which are actually relevant to the murder and others more to individual characters (everyone has a story to tell after all).

There was probably one too many strands to the story line so it didn’t always flow smoothly, was a little too convoluted and confusing at times, and somewhat far-fetched. But, I did like the way the author didn't force a tenuous link between all the different strands, even though it meant I wasn't keen on all of the motives in the end.

Osman says he based the story on a visit to a retirement home and some of the characters he meet there. However, he dreamed them up it really is the diverse characters that make this book - nothing else matters. I love stories featuring young at heart older people and felt real affection for the eccentric crew of amateur detectives. And, that's really part of the charm, the way the characters show that just because they are all old and rightfully worried about their mortality, they are also living very much in the here and now. They use all their charm and wile to gain any advantage they can to try and solve the murder. As Elizabeth aptly says: "Imagine if we only ever did what we were supposed to?"

When reprimanded by the police, Elizabeth also says: "You might try to explain to the CPS that four people in their seventies and eighties have failed to report digging up a body....With what evidence, other than the inadmissible confession you've taken from us this evening? And with four suspects, all of whom are quite happy to go to court, smile happily and pretend to mistake the judge for their granddaughter."

Despite being a light-hearted comedic type murder mystery, because of the age of the main characters it does also touch on some pretty serious subjects including medical issues, physical decline, loneliness, grief and loss. But, once again Osman manages to juggle the two seamlessly and with respect.

Not without its issues, but take it as it's meant (not too seriously) and you've got yourself a fun, entertaining, and eccentric mystery which makes for a wonderful break from the dark and grisly nature of much of this genre. I, for one, am looking forward to the next in this crime series and seeing what Joyce and the gang get up to next.

The author

Richard Osman is a British television producer and presenter. The Thursday Murder Club is his first (and best) novel so far. Follow @richardosman on Twitter to find out more.