Amid the stresses of finishing my degree, I finally got around to reading ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ by Richard Osman – a book that has been at the top of my wish list since it was released in 2020. Osman’s witty banter on popular shows such as ‘Pointless’ and ‘House of Games’ was enough to make his debut novel a promising one, and it is safe to say that I was not disappointed.
‘The Thursday Murder Club’ is a crime fiction novel like no other. In the peaceful retirement village of Cooper’s Chase, pensioners Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim pass the time by looking into unsolved murder cases in an attempt to crack the age-old mysteries that baffled the police. Life at Cooper’s Chase is fairly unremarkable; the type of life that you would expect in a luxury retirement home. But everything changes when local property developer and ruffian Tony Curran is murdered in cold blood. With the help of PC De Freitas and DCI Hudson, the Thursday Murder Club spring into action to catch the killer haunting the village of Fairhaven.
Osman’s novel is a book that does not take itself too seriously. The writing style is casual and light-hearted, often being written from the perspective of the pensioners themselves, and invites the reader not only through the mystery of murder, but also through the intrigue toward the lives of the elderly protagonists themselves. A particular element that I enjoyed was the encompassing sense of Britishness throughout the whole story. One-off references to Joyce’s Waitrose shop or Ron’s stardom in The Sun make the environment of Cooper’s Chase a lot more recognizable and real. Osman has perfectly captured British mannerisms that make the novel a lot more subtly humorous, despite its serious topic; it reminds me a lot of Edgar Wright’s ‘Hot Fuzz’.
Aside from the witty plotline, I admire how Osman dismantles the existing notions of old age. It is easy to think that a club devoted to octogenarians solving mysteries is an entirely hilarious concept, and although it is to an extent, the way in which Osman gives each character autonomy through heavily detailed backstories and relationships with others makes the novel so much more poignant. The relationship between Joyce and Elizabeth is specifically enjoyable, proving that sisterhood never truly dies with age. The contrast between Elizabeth’s dominance and Joyce’s kindness makes for an unlikely pair of friends, and I like the fact that they are not placed in competition with one another; they are both equally as valuable in solving Tony Curran’s murder, despite their opposing skills. These characters are not just words on a page, but fully established individuals that prove that there is more to retirement than boredom and old age.
In all, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ is an enjoyable read for everyone - even those who are not avid book lovers. I was actually recommended the book by both of my parents who, despite their typical interest in serious thrillers, both loved it. With the advent of the announcement of the fourth book in the series, ‘The Last Devil to Die’, I now have renewed motivation to read the next two novels by the time of its release in September 2023.