Author:Richard Osman
The elderly amateur sleuths that comprise the Thursday Murder Club return for a fourth outing in this thoroughly entertaining murder mystery. There’s something quietly reassuring about these novels, the plotting of which has got tighter and tighter as the series has progressed. Here, an old friend is murdered and a package that was in his possession has gone missing. As the team investigate, they encounter art forgers, drug dealers and online fraudsters, and all the while the body count rises in this utterly engaging and engrossing read. The short snappy chapters keep the (fairly outlandish) plot rolling along at a swift pace, and you just have to suspend disbelief for a while and go along for the ride. The book is in turn thrilling, funny and poignant, and reading it is as comforting as a cosy cup of tea by the fire on a cold winter’s day – and by the way, it will undoubtedly be one of the year’s biggest sellers.
Length of Read:Long
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
The previous books in he series, gentle unthreatening thrillers.
One thing you’ve learned
This is the last we’ll read of the Thursday Murder Club for a while at least, as the author’s next novel will feature new characters, a father in law/daughter in law pair of amateur detectives. However, we are promised the team will return at some point.
Kaisfatdad says
Excellent review, Bargepole. You’ve got me itching to read this and the other books in the series.
The English Bookshop in Stockholm has a section called Cosy Crime: this will fit in perfectly.
When you look at it, Poirot, Father Brown, Maigret: a lot of crime writing always was fairly cosy.
However a lot of TV crime shows and modern crime fiction have got so very dark and gory of late. I suspect it is all about getting the ratings.
Curmudgeon? Moi?
dai says
Yes, let’s read about nice cosy murders instead. I have done it myself but it’s a fairly weird genre isn’t it? I sometimes wonder why murder sells so well. I am a little tired of it at least on the screen, I think gore and realism is the way to go. e.g. The Bridge – masterpiece. Death and murder probably needs to be horrible. Midsomer murders is hilarious (deliberately?), someone is inevitably murdered at a village fete or something and it carries on as if nothing has happened and the body count gets higher
fitterstoke says
When you say you’ve done it yourself…you’ve committed a “cosy murder”, dai?
Mike_H says
Careful, Fitter
Dai may know where you live..
dai says
A long time ago at a village fete
Bargepole says
These books are the polar opposite of grim and gritty ‘realistic’ crime thrillers….but read them in order if you can.
Kaisfatdad says
Don’t worry! I will! read them all. I really look forward to that.
As regards crime thrillers, there is gritty and realistic.
And then there’s gory and sensationalistic.
I do enjoy Norwegian, Jo Nesbo’s, Harry Hole novels. But he certainly pushes the envelope as regards gore and bloodshed.
The novels have sold very well, but the cinematic adaptions have not worked so well. For example, despite a very competent director, The Snowman was the pits.
Diddley Farquar says
The original Headhunters movie is a cracker. I’ve never read any of his books though. Not likely to. Richard Osman is pretty unbearable with his interminable, smug wisecrackery. Needs a slap. Think of being in his company for the duration of a novel, or several. How awful.
Kaisfatdad says
You should give a Jo Nesbo novel a try, Diddley.
He’s a good storyteller and that Oslo maverick Harry Hole is an excellent down-at-heel, stroppy, idiosyncratic anti-hero.
Oddly enough, The Bat, his first HH novel, takes place in Australia.
MC Escher says
Yep, definitely good advice, Bargey. I tried reading one starting from the end and going backwards. Total nightmare.
dai says
My Gran used to read Agatha Christie whodunnits starting with the last chapter, otherwise she couldn’t handle the tension
Sitheref2409 says
I want to like them, I really do. Osman seems like a Good Egg and deserving of support.
I bailed out of the first one fairly quickly. The prose style was incredibly offputting.
Someone, convince me I’m wrong, and why.
hubert rawlinson says
I’d like to convince you, but I’m in agreement.
Jaygee says
Ditto
Gatz says
I’ve read and enjoyed the first 3, and have this one on order. My other half, who reads more crime than I do, couldn’t get along with the first one at all and correctly stopped reading them.
dai says
As he is no doubt a multi millionaire after his TV work and success as an author he is probably ok without our support
ivan says
Same. He seems like a good sort, and I really wanted to like the first book. I’m no FR Leavis but I thought it was dreadful.
One can’t help but feel (and this ties into the Millie Bobby Brown/Ghostwriting thing) that maybe writing books should be left to people for whom it’s largely their day job. I can’t imagine TTMC being published if it had been submitted to an agent by a regular civilian, like Ronnie Barker would pitch his scripts. (Which were, as it happens, good enough)
Timbar says
I lasted 6 chapters with the first one. His writing style reminded me of Enid Blyton & after 4 chapters I was thinking “Am I enjoying this?” “Is it worth the effort?” Then after another 2 “Do I care what happens?”
Kaisfatdad says
I had no idea at all who Osman was or why he was well-known.
Bloody ex-pats, eh? No a scooby!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Osman
Gatz says
Oh, he’s ubiquitous but seems a decent sort so I’m happy enough about that.
Gary says
I used to watch Pointless on TVMucho website. Until last year you could watch an hour of UK telly a day for free and I used it for Pointless. Now they’ve changed it to just 15 minutes free, so no more Pointless.
Gatz says
That’s OK, he gave up the standard version of Pointless a while ago (he still does Pointless Celebrities).
Locust says
Have you searched for it on YouTube? I don’t watch it anymore but when I did for a while, I used to find it on YT.
Gary says
No! It never occurred to me they’d put episodes on YT. Dunno why, cos I watched quite a lot of Taskmaster on there (till I got bored of it). Now I see Pointless has its own YT channel. That’ll keep me entertained for the foreseeable, ta!
Sitheref2409 says
I’m in Australia.
My wife and I watch Only Connect, Pointless, and House of Games on YouTube.
Jaygee says
The Chase is the best of all of them
Cookieboy says
I’m on record here as saying Pointless was my favourite show and I meant it. In Australia it’s shown on Channel 9, 2.00pm weekdays for those here that have resorted to watching on youtube.
For a non-Brit some categories can be hard going so I tape it and fast forward through segments like “20th Century Chancellors of the Exchequer” as well as anything to do with the EPL I just can’t play along with those and can’t tell whether someone has offered up a good answer or a dumb one.
Their 100 can be very impressive, I saw one episode where the final round amounted to, “name any song off the Beatles debut.” I quickly rattled off Änna (Go to Him) and Chains and sat back in my chair thinking I would have just won the jackpot and neither one was a pointless answer!