BOOK REVIEW: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman:  

They’re a funny lot, the Thursday Murder Club.  Ostensibly discussing Japanese Opera in a Kentish Retirement Village but actually: discussing unsolved murders.  When the owner of Cooper’s Chase dies, they have a fresh one to uncover.  As they work with/intensely annoy the local police liaison officer, it’s not just the present, but the past that is uncovered.  

You’ll have notice the slightly arch, mocking tone of the setup.  Richard Osman:  factual destroyer of people’s dreams on Pointless, comes through on every page.  Jokes about Waitrose deliveries and whether or not it’s possible to kill someone with a John Lewis knife are lightly placed in front of the reader’s eyes, not slammed across the page.  See also the characters, a cross section of British society:  Elizabeth (ex-Spy), Joyce (Nurse), Ibrahim (Psychiatrist) and Ron (trade union leader).  

If the book has a fault, it bears the scars of some heavy-handed re-writing.  The murder leads to another, then another, then a secret being uncovered.  The plot does not thicken, it becomes slippery.   There is also a grinding shift in tone in the book’s second half, with meditations on growing old, Alzheimer's and assisted suicide.  

But it succeeds through sheer exuberance and charm.  It’s a genuine pleasure to see a book that is both witty and engaging, be such a massive success.  A hit in sixteen countries with the film rights sold, it’s an enjoyable read.    Like most books I love I’m now emotionally invested in the casting, so I’d say: Helen Mirren for Elizabeth, Julie Walters for Joyce, Omid Djalli for Ibrahim and Ray Winstone for Ron.  

A second book, The Man Who Died Twice is released this month; with Elizabeth, possibly the most shadowy, elusive character as the focus.  As a debut, Thursday Murder Club is slightly flawed.  But; it’s a book that succeeds with charm, wit and an evident, growing skill for the author.  

Kev McCready