Author: Richard Osman
Publisher: Viking (Penguin Books)
Who’d have thought four old codgers living in a retirement home could solve the murders of people living locally, when the police couldn’t? Set in a peaceful retirement village, four improbable friends, thrown together only due to living out the end of their days together, meet weekly to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club. They may be pushing eighty but they still don’t have the wool pulled over their eyes. There are four murders in the story and as it unravels they solve them all. This is the synopsis of Osman’s first work of fiction.
The story is told through the
narrative of Joyce the voice of gullibility and virtue, who excitedly relates the
adventures of the four most unlikely sleuths living on the Kentish weald in
middle England. The Thursday Murder Club of the title was set up to discuss
unsolved murder cases. One of the original club members, Penny, had fallen seriously
ill and was no longer able to attend, so the club decided to recruit new member,
Joyce. The other, more experienced members all bring their own individual skill
sets to the Thursday Murder Club. They are Elizabeth, a former intelligence
agent who has never really retired, Ron, a staunch Trade Union leader and Ibrahim,
a psychiatrist.
The first murder victim is a
former drug trafficker who was bludgeoned to death in his kitchen; the second
is one of the main suspects of the first victim; the third, a serial killer and
the fourth is actually the motive as to why the first victim was going to die; his
death occurred years before the story begins and is only hinted at during the
beginning of the book. Sounds
complicated? Well, yes but those who appreciate murder mysteries but aren’t devotees
of the more gruesome, bloody-thirsty variety of the genre will enjoy this
intelligent but ever so slightly sedate work of fiction.
Apparently, the main buyers of
murder mystery novels written by television celebrities are those of more
mature years, and dare I suggest that Osman has maybe fashioned this story with
the silver-haired market in mind. Rather than it being an Agatha Christie reboot
(aka Agatha Christie - The Tuesday Club Murders, featuring Miss Marple), it
compares more to the Ealing Comedies genre.
Is it condescending to suggest that Osman has intended to make it more
popular with older readers?
The protagonists of this novel
defy all the negative stereotypes of senior citizens who have been abandoned
only to quietly live out their remaining days in a retirement home. They are a
team of smart, active, mature human beings whose intelligence knows no bounds
and who are always one step ahead of the local police.
The novel is easy to read, rather
sedate, if not a little slow at times. There are the usual quips about senior
citizens and the challenges of modern technology and the older generation
getting away with murder (no pun intended) when it comes to law-breaking and
coercing the local police to turn a blind eye about some of their antics.
The plot is somewhat devious, and
there are some red herrings, sub-plots and other digressions which at times
feel like padding and the ending doesn’t come as a massive shock but the
setting is novel and contemporary.
Grief, dementia and death are dealt with discerningly as part of
everyday life along with the relative emotions which accompany them.
The characters are slightly
cartoonish, unbelievable at times, and somewhat irritating but I can’t help
thinking that they are meant to be. It
is amusing due to the OAP rebellion and the unexpected twists and turns whilst
at the same time being rather moving due to the subject of old age and death in
families.
It is a witty story, (although I
didn’t laugh out loud) albeit not a traditional thriller or whodunit. The story
is charming but, for me not very compelling. It didn’t hold my interest for
100% of the story as I was expecting it to which was disappointing. I can imagine the late Alistair Sim and Co
doing it proud.
A follow-up novel or even a
succession of Thursday Murder Club mysteries seems probable as there seems a
lot more to learn about the four protagonists in the story, as well as PC Donna
De Freitas and her boss, DCI Chris Hudson of the local police force who help
solve the crimes.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard.
.............................................................................................................................................................
I too have read this book, and thoroughly enjoyed the easy read. I do agree with my colleague on some points, but I can most certainly state that I am not yet in my more mature years and silver-haired!
The book is delightfully retrospective and the storyline and the characters are not meant to be multi-faceted. In fact, the novel is very filmic in many respects, none more so than that each chapter is rather short and would quite easily correspond with one scene in a film. Yes, I am certain that the Ealing Comedies of the past would have picked this novel up and adapted it on the spot. However, that is the novel's charm and delight, not its downfall.
It is a very confident and proficient debut novel, and was indeed very humorous too at times. Admittedly, I do rather have to agree with Pritchard that the denouement and ending was somewhat expected, coming as no surprise. I personally would have preferred a more Miss Marple-ish final twist, which never came. That being said however, I do also agree that there is much more to be wrought out of these Retirement Home-dwelling amateur sleuths; and is there a budding romance between PC De Feitas and DCI Hudson I wonder...?
Reviewer - Alastair Zyggu
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