A fun romp with a less common set of characters. I'm pleased there will be sequels, unlike many celebrities books this one deserved all of the hype. The people I've bought copies for have also loved it

A great debut by one of my favourite people! I couldn’t tell it was him writing it, which was disappointing - I wanted to hear his voice in it. But I’m already looking forward to further books from his pen.

The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman
This is one I was really looking forward to. I think it started great, but I felt I lost my way a bit around the middle of the book. I did keep reading to see how it ended though.
I might have enjoyed this more if it was a tad shorter.

Unfortunately I really struggled with this book, although it did pick up half way through. I really enjoyed Richard Osmans style of writing, but unfortunately just a little too slow for me. Overall an okay storyline and likeable characters, I just wanted the pace to be picked up!

I was really interested to read this book because I thought it would be a cosy mystery, which I quite enjoy – no gritty crime for me, thank you! The author, Richard Osman always seems quite witty on TV and Twitter so I hoped that there would be a bit of humour in the book, which I always enjoy.

This book revolves round a luxury retirement home where some of the residents have formed a club of sorts looking at the unsolved cases of former policewoman Penny. When Penny’s ill health means she’s moved to the hospital wing, former nurse Joyce is recruited to the group, and she provides the narration for part of the story. Other parts of it are third person.

The group members are quite diverse. The group’s unofficial leader is Elizabeth, who formerly did something very interesting, presumably a spy. Joyce is very ordinary and relatable. Ibrahim is a retired psychologist and ‘red’ Ron is a former trade union activist.

‘Ron is looking forward to causing a bit of trouble, and I am looking forward to watching him do that.’

Before long a real murder happens to a connection of the retirement home, and the Thursday Murder Club (so called because that’s the time they can book the activity room) set to work.

Obviously they would need access to police information and so they set about getting that using their various approaches:

“Can I call you Donna, love?”
“You can call me Donna, but maybe don’t call me love,” says Donna.
“Quite right, darling,” agrees Ron. “Noted.”

Police sharing information seems a lot less likely these days than in the days of Poirot and Miss Marple so I had to suspend my disbelief a little on this, although the author does make attempts to make this plausible!

The first half of this book I absolutely loved. The characters were all interesting, with the author bringing both pathos and humour into their stories, although some we get to know better than others. I particularly enjoyed how amusing the story was:

“Would you like the detailed answer, or the simple answer?” asks Ibrahim.
“The simple answer please, Ibrahim,” says Elizabeth without hesitation.
Ibrahim pauses. Perhaps he had phrased his question poorly? “But I have prepared a detailed answer, Elizabeth.”
Ibrahim lets this hang in the air, until Joyce says, “Well, let’s all enjoy the detailed answer shall we?”

Later on, when the mystery is beginning to conclude I enjoyed the story less as it got a little depressing towards the end. I felt that the unravelling could have been cleaner; it was a bit convoluted which is not what you want from a cosy mystery where all the loose ends are usually tied up in a neat bow. However, on the whole I enjoyed the book and would rate it as a 4 star read. I would definitely be keen to read the next book in the series, The Man Who Died Twice which is due for release in September 2021.

An excellent first novel, funny, charming, touching and entertaining. The world of the retirement village is tenderly evoked and the first-person narration is very well done. You end up completely involved in the lives of the characters, moved by their successes and failures, both small and large.

Very very good, treading a fine balance between blackish humour and all-out whodunnit. Osman gives a deliciously fresh twist to a classic murder mystery novel, starting from his cast of superannuated yet wonderfully sharp OAP sleuths.

I've tried this book a few times, and just can't get into it. The premise is good, but it's just now drawing me in enough to finish it.

I thought I would absolutely adore this book - I love Richard Osman and I'm a massive fan of mysteries. By no means did I dislike this book, it just wasn't as good as I expected, especially with the major hype that accumulated around this.

I found some of the story quite confusing to follow and I appreciate that it's old folks doing the investigating, but it definitely wasn't as 'exciting' as I thought it'd be. I'll probably still give the sequel a go when it's published but I'll likely lower my expectations in line with this one.

I can understand why this has won a shed load of prizes and plaudits. I was all prepared to be saying 'Huh. What's all the hype then, he'd not have got the contract if he were an ordinary writer,' but I am happy to eat my words.
It's light, fun and yet with sufficient tension and surprise to make me want to turn the pages. I hope he writes a follow up.
Recommended

Four friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim, live in a retirement village which must be situated somewhere near Midsomer as there are almost as many murders occur. The village is built on the land of a nunnery and the land developer wants to dig up the old graves and build on there, but someone has other ideas. The four decide at their meeting of The Thursday Murder Club, that they are ideally placed to help the police solve the murder.

The story itself seems deceptively simple but there were several red herrings and one or two surprises. Told from several points of view, including two police officers, it alternates between them frequently - maybe too frequently as I sometimes forgot who was narrating and had to turn back a page or so to look it up. It was written in a quirky, funny way and the four main characters are definitely intriguing, but I didn't love it as much as I thought I would.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers, Penguin Books (UK)/Viking, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Thank you to Penguin Books UK for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to give The Thursday Murder Club 4 stars out of 5.

The Thursday Murder Club consists of four friends - Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. Four residents living in a luxury retirement village meet once a week (on Thursdays of course) to discuss old murders and try to solve them between themselves.

However, things take a turn when they find themselves in the middle of a murder case, right there within the community of the retirement village. They decide to investigate but will they figure it all out before it's too late?

I had high expectations for this and it definitely met them. I loved Richard Osman's writing and despite being a murder mystery, it still made me smile throughout. The whole idea of the Thursday Murder Club was clever and the four of them really made this book a whole lot more interesting. I'll definitely be continuing with the series.

I highly recommend The Thursday Murder Club to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries (e.g. Agatha Christie) and comical, wholesome reads.

Just finished this book and really enjoyed this debut mystery novel. Fast read, fun read and lots of red herrings and plot twists. The Thursday Murder Club is a group of retirees in England who meet every Thursday to go over Cold Cases and try to solve the old crimes. But then actual murder comes to their doorsteps and now this group is trying to solve the crime, and "help" the police. 117 chapters and so the action is really always moving and we find out a lot about those in the Murder Club and we also get a very good description of all the characters, the crimes and the investigations. And it appears that by the way the book ends there will be more Thursday Murder Club books in the future

Joël Dicker meets Jonas Jonasson! Or maybe Murder she wrotes and Miss Marple?

But no, Richard Osman has his own style and his own world. There's nothing quite like it, and that's what makes this book great for everyone: strong or casual reader, man or woman, from 20 to 80 years old.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron can't be contained.

This was fab! Loved the characterisation and voices in particular, it felt really well-observed. The overall premise and plot were great, and I appreciated the retirement community as a social levelling space, thought that was a good observation and well-used. There aren't enough books about older people, and I think this used their gifts well, without glossing over what limitations people in a retirement community would have - there was something of the boarding school mystery to some of the shenanigans, which was fun (the sneaking out past care assistants etc). So, in many ways, like Enid Blyton (but modernised, of course) for grown ups!

This was an attempt at murder solving, by a group of elderly people, with the help of the police. This was funny at times but a bit far fetched..

I had to give up on this book - really was not for me. Not that it really matters as it has sold so well.

A really enjoyed this murder mystery Not your typical murder mystery but gently meanders along and is a nice easy page turning read. Kept me engaged and I did not want this to end. Would make a great tv series.

I’d heard from so many friends The Thursday Murder Club was both funny and well written that I had to go against my better judgement and give it a go. I was sceptical of another TV personality ‘churning out a popular genre book to cash in’.

The setting is believable as 4 retired professionals now in their 70’s meet up once a week to try and solve cold cases to keep their brain cells active and relieve the boredom ageing has bestowed on them. Each has something to offer as they bring their former career skills back to the fore. A psychiatrist, a spy, a nurse and a professional rebel rouser...quite the quartet.
However the old trope of amateur sleuths being one step ahead of the local police brought back memories of Christie’s Miss Marple & TV’s Jessica Fletcher to name but 2.

The humour I was expecting was there initially but dried up fairly quickly. The story became a bit pedestrian., there was a twist (predictable) but too many bodies, too many motives and even too many killers.

Nice moments as the characters were fleshed out but even this seemed at the expense of the actual story. Disappointing debut but that’s not to say I would not pick up Osman’s next book out of curiosity but it would probably not jump to the top of my ‘to be read pile’.

When lockdown hit last March, I really lost my reading mojo as most of my reading was done on my commute and in my lunch, so I've struggled to get back into it.

This was a good book to ease back into proper reading. It's funny, well written and a nice, easy read. I only figured out half of what was going on, so well done to Osman for fooling me. I've already recommended this book to quite a few friends.

Off topic, but I had my mind blown last week when I discovered Osman is sibling to Mat Osman, bassist in Suede! Who also has a book out, so I'll keep an eye out for that one.