“The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman
I was suspicious of this book, as I am of any book “written” by a celebrity. But I found myself pleasantly surprised. Osman offers something perfectly crafted to appeal to anyone who has enjoyed a cosy Sunday afternoon detective show.
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?
I am always a little suspicious of books written by celebrities. Firstly, I never really believe they have much to do with the actual writing. There is an entire industry of ghostwriters out there who churn out books for celebrities to pretend they wrote. Secondly, they are often just not very good. The book’s appeal is the famous name, and all too often, that means actually coming up with something worth reading is way down the list of priorities.
But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at The Thursday Murder Club. It’s honestly not bad at all. The plot may not be gritty or dark, but it’s not candy-floss either. The characters each have their own unique sense of identity, all of them having backstories ready to be plumbed in future stories. The plot is intricate, multilayered, and kept me guessing right to the end.
What I will say is that the book couldn’t have been more tailored to be the quintessential “cosy English” style if it had tried. And while there’s nothing wrong with that, I couldn’t quite avoid the cynical thought that Osman had written his book with the ambition of getting this series adapted for Sunday afternoon television.
But even if this is the case, Osman hasn’t been lazy. He knows his audience, and he knows the world in which he has set his story. As someone who grew up in a small country town filled with retirement homes, the characters are spot on. It could have been easy to make the retirement community setting stale and cliched, but I have to admit there is a real sense of Osman knowing his audience. The world of the book might not be “realistic”, but it’s definitely not fake.
Overall, The Thursday Murder Club was a surprisingly entertaining read. With the author being a celebrity, I will always have doubts as to how much Osman actually wrote himself. But whatever the case, this is a fun, cosy, rewarding read. You’re not going to find yourself taxed by reading it, but you won’t be disappointed, either. And you can play the fun game of guessing which actors will be cast in each role when the series is inevitably adapted for an ITV Sunday afternoon TV series.
