TV Presenter Richard Osman’s debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club is definitely a winner.

More a cosy murder mystery than anything noir the storyline is excellent with well defined characters and nice moments of humour. Chuck in the odd red herring and this book will appeal to many.

Hopefully there will be future meetings of The Thursday Murder Club

Definitely recommended

In Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club, a group of residents at an upmarket retirement complex attempt to investigate unsolved murders at their weekly meetings.. Just as new member Joyce is brought into the group, sudden events at the complex provide a new influx of crimes to be solved.

Richard Osman's novel is not going to win any serious crime fiction awards but it does manage to create a good level of whodunnit suspense whilst being essentially light-hearted and frothy throughout. The characters are all somewhat exaggerated, and very much in an English eccentric style, but they are all brought to life with great affection. The dialogue is a particular strength, capturing the idiosyncracies of each character beautifully.

I think this book would lend itself fabulously well to further sequels.

This was a brilliant debut - funny in places, but full of pathos. Osman has created a wonderful set of characters and created a mystery that could have been anything, leaving a lot of room for trying to work it out. My only frustration would be the sheer number of red herrings and side-mysteries which at the end seemed a little... well, err... pointless.

I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book was a great weekend read. The fast paced action combined with the quirky and quintessentially British writing makes this book a must read. It concerns the mystery of several murders but at his heart, has themes of friendship and humor. It is full of twists and turned alongside several red herrings like a well written mystery. The characters are well developed and likable. After reading this book, the reader wishes they could join the Thursday Murder Club!
I would recommend this book to any fans of an old style murder mystery., like Agatha Christie.

Death is a familiar visitor at Coopers Chase retirement community but recently he’s been calling more often and not all his victims are retirees….
Richard Osman is well-known to British TV viewers as ‘my Pointless friend’ and his personality shines through in his first novel. I even recognised some of his on-screen themes like ‘famous in the 80s, famous forever’.
While he doesn’t quite have the plotting skills of mentor, Mark Billingham, his cast of perky pensioners and dodgy geezers are what keeps the story moving. To be honest, many of the characters are a bit stereotypical (aggro-loving union leader, polish builder) but at least the stereotypes are varied. My favourite character is police officer, Chris, who battles against comfort eating while waiting for a long overdue Ms Right to appear.
I finished the book feeling I’d had an enjoyable romp over Coopers Chase’s rolling hills and I hope, when the time comes, they’ll be able to squeeze me in.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

*Many thanks to Richard Osman, Penguin Books UK, and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
This book turned out to be a perfect weekend read for me. A multi-layered mystery which despite several murders, including cold cases, refrains from being graphic.
Senior citizens, who live together on an estate built for rather well-off retirees try to keep their 'grey cells' working, set up a Murder Club which meets every Thursday. The Club focuses of old cases mainly but when a murder is committed just round the corner, they cannot refuse the challenge.
There are many dynamic characters, each with their secrets, habits and weaknesses. There is a sense of humor, a good subdued humour, and I found myself chuckling occasionally.

I really wanted to enjoy this book and it started off well, but then it went downhill and I just couldn’t keep interested.
The Thursday Murder Club meet at Coopers chase to review old cases. Then one day, a real life case turns up and they turn their hand to trying to solve it with the help of 2 local police officers.
It started off quite funny and light hearted but then turned to be quite unrealistic. Surely 2 police officers wouldn’t rely on the information given to them by a group of OAPs who had been sticking their noses in and digging up the past? Towards the end it got too conversational and there was not enough action or intrigue to keep me going I’m afraid

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to readers. The unconventional setting of a retirement village and you have visions of Last of the Summer Wine howwever this book is anything but. The Thursday Murder Club exists to discuss historic crimes but when something happens on their doorstep then they themselves step up to investigate.

The characters are great fun, certainly an eclectic bunch and there is certainly more to discover about them with the promise of a second book in the series. There is great interplay between the octagenerians and the police and some surprising turns in the narrative to leave you guessing to the end. Humour is a feature of this book and is well used, being skillfully handled by Richard Osman this aspect is no surprise.

Witty, clever and ultimately satisfying this book will delight readers of all generations.

#TheThursdayMurderClub #NetGalley

Having met the lovely Richard Osman a few years ago and he having been very kind to my elderly mum I was intrigued to read this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the gentle writing style and could almost hear Richard reading it out loud (I suspect he will for the audio!). I’m certainly keen to retire somewhere like Cooper’s Chase as it seems very pleasant and fun but I suspect our four protagonists may have moved on by then... I’d like to think Jason and Donna would still be about though!

I very much liked the characters in this novel and they were delightfully drawn and realistic. It wasn’t ‘gripping’ but it wasn’t meant to be. It was, as earlier described, very gentle but entertaining nonetheless.

It’s a solid 4* from me (five is something outstanding) and I’d very much recommend this to readers.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
This was exactly the type of novel I love; quirky, amusing and intelligent. I am sure this would have been published whether or not the author was a celebrity. From the opening I was fully engaged and could not wait to see how the storyline developed. The idiosyncratic humour of the novel reminded me of Joanna Cannon’s The Trouble with Sheep and Goats.
The four main characters, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim were engaging and fully developed as were their contacts in the police; Donna De Freitas and Chris Gibb. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim were residents at a very upmarket retirement village and to keep their brains active were working through the old cases of Penny (an ex-detective chief inspector). Elizabeth had kept the Thursday Murder Club going even though Penny had succumbed to illness and was now lying in a nursing home, unable to contribute to their investigations.
Each of the characters has their own talents to bring to bear upon these old cases; Ibrahim the psychiatrist, Elizabeth the ex-spy, Joyce the ex-nurse and “Red Ron” the veteran of many union battles. They are enjoying the stimulation of working through Penny’s old cases when a new case appears right on their doorstep and they cannot resist trying to solve the mystery before the police. The plot is fast paced and keeps you guessing throughout. There are many a twists and turns along the way; one minute you think that you have solved it only to have your theories confounded. I would thoroughly recommend this novel to anyone and will be sharing it at my book clubs. I can’t wait for the next offering from Richard Osman and look forward to watching the film should Steven Spielberg (who has bought the film rights) make it. I would like to thank Richard Osman, Penguin and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this novel in return for an honest review.

What a fabulous book! We follow the story of Joyce, an ex-nurse; Ibrahim, a psychologist; Ron, a former Union Leader; and Elizabeth, whose past is nothing if not mysterious; four friends who live in the retirement village of Coopers Chase, Kent. Far from being ready to slow down in their retirement, the group instead use their considerable skills to look over old police cases, branding themselves as the eponymous “Thursday Murder Club”. Considerable excitement ensues when the murders of two men connected with the retirement village occur within quick succession, leaving our heroes in the position of being able to investigate, and hopefully solve, the case alongside the police.

The characters, from the four friends to the police officers they work with and the supporting cast, are just wonderful. They are all warm and humorous and so alive – I found myself desperately wanting to be their friend and was sad to leave them when the book ended. The plot is clever and unexpected, and the tale, despite being about murder, has numerous genuinely funny moments. A Vegan café called “Anything with a Pulse”?! Amazing! The author is known for his wit in his television appearances, and this has translated perfectly within his novel. I can’t wait to read more of his work, and sincerely hope that it will be set within Coopers Chase!

My thanks to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for the arc to review.

Move over Miss Marple, there are some new crime solving Pensioners in town and they mean business. As I said before, I've been looking forward to reading this book for quite some time. intrigued by the premise and more than a little bit curious to see what kind of book we would be offered by someone who is renowned for a laid back and conversational style of presenting. It is fair to say that when you pick up this book you are getting a lot of Richard Osman with it too, the narrative tone very much a mirror for the way he comes across on the screen. But beyond this you get a story which sits very much in the cosy crime sector of the bookcase, but has brilliantly diverse characters, a twisted plot and a whole lot of mystery to boot. Put simply, I really rather enjoyed this book.

The action, if you can call it action with everything happening at the pace of your typical retirement village, centres around a small group of the village's residents, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, who meet up once a week to try and solve cold murder cases that, thus far, the police have been able to solve. It probably won't surprise you to hear that they only meet on Thursday's, but that is only because it is the only day that the Jigsaw room is free ... These four intrepid Pensioners come from very different backgrounds, are really unique and likeable characters, but all with one thing in common. The desire to work out whodunnit. When murder comes knocking at their own door and they no longer need to worry about solving cold cases, they start on a quest for truth that not everyone will be happy about.

This is a classic murder mystery tale. Multiple murders to be fair, but with many little surprises along the way. This is mostly told from multiple perspectives, following each of the victims, suspects and amateur sleuths in turn as we all examine the evidence and start to solve the murder using the cleverly laid out clues. As in the tradition of all good Christie novels, our team are ably assisted in their investigations by two professional Detectives, PC Donna De Freitas and DCI Chris Hudson, because they need to get their inside knowledge from somewhere obviously. I really loved the way in which the four, especially Elizabeth, played a canny game in terms of getting the police to feed them information, whilst all the time holding back evidence and statements themselves until they had worked out their importance in the investigation. For anyone else it would be classed as some kind of misdemeanor, hindering an investigation and the like, but for his lot it made them all the more endearing.

The story is packed with more twists and turns than the cable sweaters made by the knitting club, with more than the odd surprise along the way. As we are dealing largely with people moving towards the ends of their lives, there are moments of real emotion and poingancy too, just enough to summon the odd tear, but not enough to take you away from what is for the most part a fun, often funny, whodunnit in which the Murder Club play on their apparent 'frailties' to meet their own agenda's and ably show what the benefit of years of experience and wisdom can bring to an investigation. Joyce as the newest and possibly most excitable member of the team has a lot to bring to the club, and with the story interspersed with chapters from her diary, a lot to give to readers too, not just about the investigation but life in the retirement village as a whole. She may be new but in the end it is one of Joyce's memories that proves to be a vital clue, leading to the final, most vital reveal if them all.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the dynamic that Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron had between them. They are fun characters to get to know and to spend time with and although the action, and suspicion comes a little too close to home for some of them, I did find myself rooting for them from the off. Likewise Donna and DCI Hudson make for a great detective pairing and the banter and camaraderie between them and with the pensioners is a joy to read. If you like a good old cosy crime read with great characters, good humour and plenty of mystery then you are going to love this book and I'd definitely recommend giving it a whirl. I just hope there are plenty more of these to come, after all Elizabeth had a whole stack of cold case files for the club to get their teeth into ... 😉

A lovely, gentle murder mystery! This is beautifully written, as I would expect from Richard Osman. It has his tongue in cheek humour and reminds me of Agatha Christie in parts. The gang of old folks are definitely my growing up goals! They have a great time together and take care of each other too. I hope there will be more to come from this group.

I usually love murder mystery book but I’m sorry, this wasn’t for me. The book is well written and I’m sure will be enjoyed by many. I struggled to the end but I didn’t enjoy it.

3.5 rounder up to 4

Four pensioners who live in a retirement community get together once a week to solve cold cases. Ron, Ibrahim, Elizabeth and Joyce are members of the Thursday Murder Club. When someone linked to the community is murdered, they suddenly have an active case to work on.

Richard Osman is a well known British TV producer and presenter. Our protagonists are all in their eighties and live at Coppers Chase retirement village. They usually try to solve cold cases but now they have a live murder investigation to solve. The story is told from .multiple points of view and snippets from Joyce's diary entries. I loved the four main characters. They were true to life. Thus is a cosy whodunit with some humour thrown into the mix.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #PenguinBooksUK and the author #RichardOsman for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Richard Osman can write, and The Thursday Murder Club is a jolly good romp of a read. You'll know already that it's set in a posh residential 'home' or clubhouse for the elderly but spritely of mind, and a nicely-controlled, diverse mix of men and women have formed themselves into a little sub-club for solving pretend mysteries when lo! There's a small crop of real murders to investigate.

Using a selection of voices to set the scene, unfurl the mystery (and there's a good mystery and a nicely achieved twist) and demonstrate a pre-Covid moment of relative sanity in a certain kind of middle-class society, Osman creates a compelling narrative that keeps you happily turning the page and enjoying small bursts of revelations about Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim and the regulation police characters, as well as a nicely-displayed set of possible murderers.

As the author is some way off the ages of his Club-members, it's pleasing to feel the empathy enfolding the elderly and their quirks and foibles about technology, or their still-potent powers of stirring up a demo (Ron, the ex-Miner's TU leader) or reaching into the Deep State to get vital clues (Elizabeth - ex MI5 it would seem). He's dedicated the book to his Mum, and I guess that's the ideal reader-demographic, but I think anyone who enjoys a good Kate Atkinson (and I envy him her resounding endorsement of the book) would take pleasure in this novel.

Thanks net galley for the free read. I really enjoyed this murder mystery - which was so much more than just another mystery novel. The reader is drawn into the world of Elizabeth and fellow members of the Thursday murder club where they investigate cold cases whilst living at an upmarket retirement village. Great twists and turns and good to read about the lives and background of the different characters. It would be great if this was the first of a series of murders solved by the club.

The Thursday Murder Club is a funny and exciting crime thriller. The story takes us to a rather superior retirement community, and we meet the four residents, of differing backgrounds, who make up the Thursday Murder Club. They meet in the Jigsaw room, which happens to be free on Thursdays, hence the name. At first, the quartet concentrate on looking at cold cases but, all too soon, there is a real life murder to draw their interest. Soon, they are involved in the investigation, bribing the police with cake and solving clues left, right and centre.

There are engaging characters, very clever plot twists, and a subtle humour which drives the plot along. I can’t wait to find out what our four friends get up to next!

In the book community we often talk about trying to find books that do something a bit different - sometimes it seems that in order to save the world you have to be between 15-25 years old, usually male, and an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time. What about literally everyone else in the world?

And what about people who have a very specific set of skills who are now retired so have all the time in the day to go over cold cases? Especially when a murder happens right on their doorstep and concerns their home, the 7th best retirement village in England, Coopers Case. 

We have four members of the Thursday Murder Club, Elizabeth (who is very much the leader and has a seemingly complex past that has left her with a lifetime of important connections and owed favours), Joyce (who was a nurse and who now keeps a journal, which is an excellent way of delivering certain facts for the reader or revealing scenes that happened that aren't shown in the book itself, without it seeming forced), Ron (who is never afraid of standing up for what needs to be protected and demonstrated for, and still loves a chance to get on his soapbox for a bit) and Ibrahim (a retired psychiatrist and the one with the mathematical mind). Being in a retirement village they are often visited by various spokespeople from society, and one day get a visit from the police to listen to a home safety presentation about not opening front doors to strangers or falling for various scams, and it's through this that they meet PC Donna De Freitas, a police woman who is far better than most of the small police centre she's moved herself out to after a bad breakup and a split second decision. She wants to be out there catching serial killers and taking on the big cases, not working in such a sleepy little back county... and this just so happens to line up with exactly what the Thursday Murder Club want, too.

It's so refreshing to have a set of very intelligent older people who are often overlooked and know how to play to this advantage. There's a tv show called New Tricks which is quite similar, but honestly this book is so much better - the characters are more likeable, the dialogue is a lot more fun, and the general observations about life and such are really quite entertaining.

It also has its sad moments. Some of the main characters have already lost their life partners whilst some are worried about their curernt partners, and they're all a bit worried for their neighbours daily as they slip further away. Another main character is a woman who doesn't say a word yet is still integral to their group. She's in palliative care now, and is someone Elizabeth visits often, another way that we get information about the case without it seeming forced. This woman, Penny, seems like she was a member of the Thursday Murder Club until soon before the novel starts, and there seems to be some guilt of Joyce taking her place, which gives a nice lived-in feeling to this club and the retirement village itself.

As far as murder mysteries go, this one is quite complex with more and more information getting uncovered through various means and their initial suspicions changing as this comes to light or they get a feel for the various suspects (and more people keep dying). It's not obvious who did it at all, and there are surprises right until the end of the book - and not in a way that seems ridiculous.

The author, Richard Osman, is quite well known in England and anywhere else that airs the TV quiz show Pointless. We have so much more to thank him for though, as before he was a debut author or a tv presenter he worked in the behind the scenes of TV on shows like Out of 10 Cats and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, all the way back to Total Wipeout, Whose Line is it Anyway, and Deal or No Deal (he knows who the Banker is!)

Somehow, it also seems that he can write. I can't wait for the second book in this series and see what the Thursday Murder Club get up to next.

Set in the Kent countryside, Coopers Chase is an exclusive retirement village. All the residents appear to be well off financially or have wealthy children paying their fees. There are good amenities - swimming pool, gym, talks on security, computers, zumba classes, pilates, bridge, crosswords and a murder club!
Elizabeth and Penny, who was an inspector in the police, started the murder club. When she retired, Penny brought files of "cold cases" so that they could investigate. Penny is now permanently in the hospital wing, unconscious on a ventilator, her life over. Her husband comes to sit with her everyday.
Elizabeth has been in some government department - Mi5 or Mi6? She has many useful contacts. The other members of the club are Ibrahim who was a Psychiatrist, Ron who was an outspoken Union leader and there is Joyce, she was a nurse. It's her diary that provides most of the story.
The murder club target Donna who is in the police and visits the village to give a talk on security. She left the Met. because of a failed love affair, but is now bored. They get her seconded to Chris a detective inspector when there is an actual murder to investigate. It often feels that Chris and Donna are the only ones involved from the police!
This is a very enjoyable cozy mystery. Well written by this well known TV personality, famous for hosting quiz shows. You believe and enjoy the company of the various characters from the retirement village. I understand there is to be a second book and I eagerly look forward to this. Very well recommended.