I loved this book. I took it on holiday and it was sheer unadulterated escapism and joy. There was mystery and intrigue, fabulous and unusual characters, swift plotting and underlying it all great charm and compassion. You just know that the man who can write like this is thoroughly humane and a lovely human being. Uplifting really.

Enjoyable mystery with an engaging cast of characters. The story keeps you hooked and I really liked Osman's style of writing.

The book is a great promotion for retirement villages! It was refreshing to have an older cast of characters who were depicted as real people rather than older stereotypes.

Thanks to #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book and hope it becomes a series that goes on and on. The characters are simply wonderful and a brilliant worthy new addition to the amateur sleuth brigade that includes such luminaries as Miss Marple and Father Brown. Hugely entertaining, witty and the perfect distraction to a bad news day.

What a joy this book is - the older characters are fully drawn, interesting people. The plot is strong and engaging and it is also very funny. I didn't have high expectations, having been disappointed by other books written by comedians, but I am very glad to be proved wrong in this case.
Highly recommended. And thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a review copy.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron meet every Thursday to discuss old murder cases as a fun way to keep their minds active. When a man connected to the owner of their retirement village is found dead, the unlikely group of amateur sleuths are thrilled to find themselves in the middle of an active murder investigation. The two police detectives in charge of the case then have to deal with the gang, and their unorthodox detective methods, as they try to beat them in cracking the case.

I just loved everything about this book. It’s a funny and brilliant mash up of Miss Marple, Death in Paradise and the comedy horror film Cockneys vs Zombies (without the zombies of course!) My favourite thing about the story is the utter cheek of the four pensioners! The way they force their way into the major police investigation is both hilarious and endearing.

What was interesting to me was that on top of being a quintessential British murder mystery, The Thursday Murder Club also brings your attention to the value of older people in the community. As you get to know the lives of each character, the adventures they have had and the people they have lost along the way, they immediately feel like part of the family. I know I would love to befriend an ‘Elizabeth’ and see what kind of trouble we could get up to!

The Thursday Murder Club is the perfect cozy crime novel for Autumn and I can’t wait for the next in the series!

It’s the Golden Years of Joyce’s life and she is ready to put away her nurse’s uniform and enjoy them to the fullest at her new home in Coopers Chase retirement village. Everything is perfect: the flatlets are cosy; the dining hall is actually a contemporary, upscale restaurant; and the residents are welcoming … So welcoming, in fact, that at one of her first meals at Coopers Chase, Joyce is asked exactly how long it would take a girl to bleed out if she had been viciously stabbed by a robber who had broken into her home and attacked her. (About forty-five minutes, in case you were wondering).

So begins Joyce’s friendship with Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim, the three remaining members of the Thursday Murder Club, who meet in the Jigsaw room each Thursday afternoon between Art History and Conversational French. Each week, they delve into an old case file and try to solve what the police couldn’t. It’s a way of keeping themselves entertained, and as an ex-spy, nurse, psychiatrist and trade union leader, the four members of the Thursday Murder Club are always keen to solve a mystery.

But one day, they get a little bit more than they bargained for: Tony Curran, one of the part-owners of Coopers Chase is bludgeoned to death, and suddenly the Thursday Murder Club have got a real mystery on their hands … if the police would just let them get involved.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was immediately struck by the fact that it was written by Richard Osman. A big fan of Pointless, I was intrigued, and wondered whether this book would deliver the kind of entertainment experience I was used to from Osman. I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest. The plot was good; the characters were excellent; and the writing was easy to read. All in all, this was a super book that has made me excited for the sequel (which, it seems, is already well underway).

The book as a whole had a feel-good atmosphere about it, despite being a murder mystery. The characters were warm and witty, and I loved reading their story. Joyce and Elizabeth stole the show for me: the dynamic between them was wonderful, and the intermittent excerpts from Joyce’s diary were a wonderful way to get to know these two ladies and understand their friendship. I found myself thinking of Joyce and Elizabeth almost as my own grandmothers: feisty, full of mischief, determined to help, and reminding you of your manners when sending a text message. Joyce is the more demure, soft character, while Elizabeth is a more forceful one, with a get-it-done attitude that would probably scare most layabouts into action. I thought this relationship was perfectly crafted, with just the right balance of emotion and comic relief to make me truly believe in and care for these ladies.

The plot was also well-crafted, with about three or four mysteries all circling at the same time. The book has many strands, but they all hold their own and each subplot progresses steadily as the book goes on. Although you may be able to guess some of the resolutions from the start, I think there is enough left in the ending of the novel to still hold a surprise or two, even for the most careful reader.

Richard Osman has crafted a really good book here, but for the die-hard mystery fan, this might come across as too twee for you. There is no grit, and there are no action scenes with gunslinging heroes. Rather, the book takes a sedate pace, and the most the heroes of this book sling around is a script for chronic medication. The slower pace is not for everyone, perhaps, but I found it a refreshing change of pace. If the average thriller is the hustle and bustle of London, this book felt like the quintessential English countryside. It is slower to progress and there is less urgency throughout the book, but it is an absolute gem nonetheless.

Thank you to Penguin Books UK, Viking and NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Such an original and thoroughly enjoyable book! The characters are truly brilliant and I really enjoyed Richard Osman's writing style. It's very original, quirky and witty. This is a great one to curl up with on autumnal evenings - cozy murder mystery at its finest. I'll definitely be looking out for the next few books in the series - I've heard more are coming!

I am so happy I am able to be part of the instagram tour for The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Thank you to the amazing team at Penguin Random House and Viking, for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

Synopsis:

We follow Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim, who all meet up on Thursdays and solve mysteries. But when a murder happens in their environment, they cannot stay idle. Having their own tricks up their sleeves, they uncover evidence and keep getting closer to solving the mystery. But one mystery leads to another, and another, and before they know it, they are tangled in a mystery where everyone is a suspect and no one can be trusted.

My Thoughts:

Their personalities, especially the ability to be brutally honest and not care what they say or do is what kept me giggling throughout. Their resilience and perseverance, and the ability to trick people as well as be a nuisance was so refreshing to read, because it was so real, and I have seen it before.

I used to work in a care home with people that were suffering from dementia, and I am glad that there is a book like this one, that realistically describes how the elderly spend their free time and how mischievous they can be.

Sometimes they help the police, and sometimes they hide things and manipulate so much that I just couldn’t believe the audacity (which was funny on its own). But I think what I loved the most was how much fun they have while they are doing what they want to do – solve mysteries. And they are very good at it!

“In life, you have to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you.”

As a foreigner, I thought I wouldn’t understand the British humor.
But I suppose living with a British partner and working in the UK does help a lot. Damn, I’ve been here too long 😀 Although, there was one part that I did not get, and my partner had to assist me with.

I didn’t understand the meaning of “What forty-six kilos was in real money”. And when explained, let me tell you, I was not impressed. 😀

“People without a sense of humour will never forgive you for being funny.”

On the subject of mystery, because in the end, this is a mystery novel, it does deliver. There are multiple mysteries, shall I say multi-layered, and some of the mysteries did keep me wondering until the end. Some of them, I did guess quite early in the book. I kept thinking that all the mysteries would somehow end up connected, and they do, but not in the way I expect – that’s all I will say, without revealing too much.

I loved the The Thursday Murder Club.
It made me giggle, it made me wonder and try to solve the multi-layer mystery, it made me sad and surprised. It got all the emotions out of me, and I loved it! I would definitely recommend this book!

“Tony is not a believer in luck, he’s a believer in hard work. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.”

It's taken me a while, as I had to put it down due to uni and work but I've finally finished The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - a fantastic read. I loved the characters, the intriguing mysteries and can't wait for more from this team of amateur sleuths! 4 Stars

I have been excited about this book since it was announced more than a year ago. If you're in the UK, you'll know Richard Osman as the one with all the answers on Pointless or the host of House of Games. He's got a lovely way about him on Twitter, he always comes across very well any time you hear him talking and the plot synopsis sounded great. In fact it all sounded so good that I was worried it couldn't live up to my expectations - especially as a debut novel. I mean murder mysteries aren't exactly easy to pull off.  The fact that I'm writing about this here, indicates that I have good news for you! Anyway, to the plot.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron all live at frankly rather nice sounding retirement village in Kent. Every Thursday they take over the Jigsaw room meet up to discuss unsolved murders (under the guise of a society for fans of Japanese opera to keep away the nosy). Then the owner of the retirement village is found dead, just after a consultation meeting about an expansion. Now they have a live case to solve - they've got the skills to do it, but will they manage it before it's too late?

Now reading that plot synposis you'll think that you've read stories like this before. And yes this does have some similarities with cozy crime series featuring an older protagonist. But it's not really a cozy crime. The mystery is twistier and more complicated. I can't say much about the solution, because that would be spoiling things and you know that I don't do that, but it doesn't quite fit the cozy format. And as well as the mystery, there are proper side plots. It's all told as a mix of narrative and Joyce's diary - which really works as she is the newest member of the club and gets to do a lot of the exposition - but all four members of the Club are properly realised characters with backstories that you hear about, hopes, worries and fears. And the two police officers are great too. It's also got a strain of melancholy to it - they are old people and they're not done with life, but they do worry that this might be the "last time" that they do something and worry about the things they have lost (and in some cases develop strategies to try and combat this). Oh and it's funny. Dryly funny and witty not pratfalls and stupidity funny. Wry observances and witty asides type funny. It's great. I would happily have spend another 100 pages with the gang.  If there's another one, you can sign me up to read it now.

If Jessica Fletcher moved to a plush assisted living community and got bored she would start the Thursday Murder Club but Elizabeth has got there first! She and her group of plucky old friends strive solve the unsolvable then a real hot murder lands in their doorstep and with newcomer Joyce and a handy (W) PC looking for just as much excitement as them and a step up the career ladder they aim to solve it.
The Thursday Murder Club is a lot of fun. The core group of OAPs are all very different characters with their own distinct voice obviously Elizabeth the the best, she’s bad ass and get things done and has so many favours to call in its a wonder she not running the country (or is she?). However the real strength of the novel is in how it shows people struggle with many issues no matter their time of life; loneliness, dissatisfaction, stagnation, fear of the future are things everybody struggles with. There are also real poignant moments that tug on the heart strings like saying goodbye to the love of your life or worrying that you will never even find the live of your life or just that life hasn’t turned out how you thought it would.
These moments are balanced with light however as our heroes battle through with each other’s help. There’s a real optimism and zest for what’s left of life and being 70 sounds pretty good fun and apparently you can get away with murder!

Let me begin this review by saying I don’t read crime. Ever. I think it’s a horribly conflated genre which gets a lot of hype but is boringly predictable and formulaic. However, I wanted to try The Thursday Murder Club because I find Richard Osman to be one of the most intelligent and erudite celebrities currently gracing our screens, and I was curious.

The Thursday Murder Club mainly takes place in and around Coopers Chase retirement village, formerly an old convent and graveyard, and now host to an array of characters — a wonderful blend of eccentric and poignant — enjoying the latter part of their years in companionable community. The titular club meets on a Thursday and was originally set up for the impressive Elizabeth and her friends to explore the cold cases to which fellow neighbour (and former police detective) Penny still has access. After Penny’s health declined, the Thursday Murder Club was down one member, and so in steps Joyce, former nurse and relative newcomer to Coopers Chase, enticed by Elizabeth. The rest of the club is rounded out by Ibrahim, a former psychiatrist, and Ron, the former leader of a trade union — and when a real murder takes place, the Thursday Murder Club just can’t resist…

Alongside the club members, we are introduced to other members of the community, such as Bernard and John, plus the owner of Coopers Chase (Ian) and his questionable business dealings and contacts. Then there’s the actual police, Donna and Chris, who are leading the investigation into the murder but who spend a lot of the time trying to both corral and catch up with the likes of the very persuasive Elizabeth and her friends. Add to this a mix of poignancy, potential romance, humour, and the fate of the graveyard itself, and you have the makings of a very clever, very intricate, and very entertaining story.

The characters are brilliantly British and are incredibly well-drawn. I was constantly kept within the story and whenever I wasn’t reading I was thinking about them and the murder. I didn’t see some of the twists and turns coming and I certainly didn’t work out the identity of the murderer. The structure of the story is deep and complex, and as well as the investigation the reader is kept occupied by the relationships between the characters and their various past careers and connections. The humour is top-notch and never once threw me out of the book — there’s a scene involving tea and cakes which had me in literal tears of laughter.

As well as the mystery and humour, there’s a lot of gentle poignancy, some of it bittersweet and some of it absolutely heartbreaking. I did weep over this book, several times — something I wasn’t expecting. As a reader I appreciated the gentle layers of emotion and the implied (and otherwise!) motivations of each character; as a writer myself I appreciated the care and attention taken to crafting each scene and the weaving together of the various plots to create a net in which to catch both the murderer and the reader themselves. The ending was brilliantly wrought and I was left seeking the next adventure.

I have since had to retract my comments about crime being a horribly conflated genre which gets a lot of hype but is boringly predictable and formulaic. The Thursday Murder Club was none of these things and was a most entertaining, captivating, clever, and emotional read. I have since ranted about this book to friends all over the world, my medical team, and my family — my poor husband has had to put up with me reading aloud sections, between tears of mirth and tears of heartbreak, at all hours of the day and night. Richard Osman has produced a brilliant debut, proving himself to be a fantastic author, and I can’t wait for the next one.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Viking Books UK/Penguin Random House, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is, I suspect, my book of 2020. A clever, heartwarming, well-crafted whodunnit crime novel. Four pensioners meet every Thursday to try and solve cold cases...but then a real life murder falls in their laps - and then another one does. But with the second murder all four are witnesses and also potential suspects. This is a wonderfully charming yet rather clever debut from the fabulous Richard Osman. I laughed, I cried, I was genuinely moved by the characters and the plot. I did not guess the ending and you won't either. I will be purchasing this cosy clever crime debut for many of my loved ones as Christmas presents this year!

I adored this book! It was brilliant, hilarious and I could not not put it down. It made me laugh out loud on more than 1 occasion. Highly recommend it! Thanks netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic debut novel from Richard Osman.
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim all live in a retirement village and meet once a week for their Thursday Murder Club to try and solve old murder cases but one day a murder happens on their doorstep so of course they think they are the perfect group to solve it and what a good job they do! The different chapters are from the perspective of many of the characters which sometimes made me think a bit to catch up to where we are with each one. Joyce's was more like a diary entry which was fun to read and her and Elizabeth quickly became my favourite characters.
The humour and wit the four friends had together and the way they brought the 2 police members assigned to this case, Chris and Donna, into their lives was hilarious (even though they could and should have got into lots of trouble).
I loved all the tricks Elizabeth had up her sleeve and with every little detail that is revealed you think you are one step closer to finding the suspect but this really wasn't the case.
One slight problem I had with this book was that for about 80% of the book you find out bits and pieces but the last 20% so much happens and is crammed into the end that it was all a bit too much information to keep up with.
However the book did keep me guessing throughout and I enjoyed it so it is well worth picking this book up, especially for fans of murder mysteries with humour and old age antics thrown in.

I was so intrigued by this book and it did not disappoint. I could not put it down. Really impressed with Richard's first book.

This is the kind of cozy mystery that will appeal to older readers. I sadly found the humour and general lightness of the story to be not my cup of tea (even if I am a fan of golden age detective novels).

I loved this and was gripped. It was well read, witty and I was hooked.
The characters all had depth, I was rooting for Chris but thought Donna could be the one for him!
I loved the gentle interaction between the characters and it was a fun filled romp of a book. Please write more.
This was provided in exchange for an arc copy for netgalley!

Hmm....
There are good and bad points about this book.. I struggled to read the first quarter of the book as the chatty style felt a bit over the top at first, though I can see that the author was trying to recreate the way an inquisitive older person would talk. I also felt that I was reading a written version of a successful Sunday night TV drama aimed at an older age bracket ('Last of the Summer Wine' murder version!)
This writing did improve as the book progressed and the story developed . The plot is fairly predictable, with big clues to the backgrounds of the main protagonists, but I think that is probably suited to the intended audience.
Overall I think that it will be a very successful first novel, and actually would be surprised if it isn't adapted for TV,

“The Thursday Murder Club” is a gloriously witty, highly entertaining debut mystery that echos the golden age of crime fiction, whilst also being a very modern novel.

Coopers Chase is a luxurious retirement village that is home to Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce - collectively they are the Thursday Murder Club, a group of septu and octogenarians who enjoy looking into unsolved murder cases from the past. When the owner of the retirement village and the builder he employs are both murdered, the gang enthusiastically throw themselves into solving a contemporary case. Managing to manufacture and foster a relationship with the police officers investigating the cases, the club efficiently and effectively dig into the murders. Together they will crack this case, but secrets will be spilled along the way...tears and heartache, ingenuity and intelligence will combine with a cracking sense of humour, as all involved discover just what has happened at Coopers Chase!

Richard Osman’s wonderfully written debut is undeniably worthy of all the high praise it has received. It’s the perfect blend of humour, charm and really gripping mystery that makes this such an unmissable read. The murder and mystery at the heart of the story is very well executed. There are so many layers to the plot that the eventual outcome is so far buried under shocking revelation after shocking revelation, that I defy anyone to claim that they knew what would eventually be revealed. Whilst the solving of the two murders is the crest of the plot, all the smaller truths (some heartbreaking, some touching) that come to light are equally as important and impactful. I also really enjoyed that DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna de Freitas always seemed to be one step behind the gang, but continued to build friendships with them (albeit totally against the book friendships, which makes them all the more special). It was fascinating learning the truth via the club, rather than the police and I found that this made things simultaneously comically outlandish and wholeheartedly believable - essentially, I just want Coopers Chase and the Thursday Murder Club to exist!

As well as creating a really well developed and puzzling mystery, at the very core of Osman’s narrative is an astute knack for characterisation. From Elizabeth’s acerbic wit and Ron’s bluster, to Joyce’s unrelenting enthusiasm and Ibrahim’s intelligent composure, this is a gang I want to be in! Osman’s observations on humanity are endearing, effortlessly accurate and, as such, movingly affecting. There’s something in all of the club member protagonists that any reader can relate to in an elderly member of their own family. There were plenty of moments I felt that my Grandma has traits of both Elizabeth and Joyce, for example. This relatability and plausibility made me instantly warm to all of them and they immediately became memorable and lovable. Similarly, Osman perfectly captures the rich, entitled, philandering arrogance of Ian Ventham (murder victim number two) with similar success. The slime he exudes literally oozes out of the pages and I felt a genuine hatred towards him, as I was supposed to (parking in the disabled space was the final strike for me!). Joyce is the main character who’s first person narrative permeates throughout the story. I initially found it interesting that of the four lead characters, Osman had chosen her to take this coveted spot. However, the more I read the more it became clear to me. Newly invited to join the club, Joyce very much represents us as the reader. Her fascination with murder and the police investigation surely mirrors many a mystery reader’s own interests, but more importantly, she learns about her fellow members and the other key characters along with us. This makes her diary entry portions of the book both important for revealing information, but also for drawing us into the lives of the characters. I found Joyce’s pages fun to read and Osman perfectly depicts a slightly lonely, but still spunky and adventurous older lady with deftness. Combined with this accomplished characterisation, the brilliant observations of everyday life, extraordinary circumstances and laugh out loud one-liners make this novel just as much about people as it is murder. Frankly, that makes it all the more special.

I really fell in love with these characters and highly recommend “The Thursday Murder Club”. What’s even more exciting is that there is a sequel coming - I can’t wait!