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*This book has been kindly given to me pre-publication via NetGalley. I would like to thank this platform, the publishers, the writers, and my followers for getting me to this position. All opinions are my own.*
The Thursday Murder Club is Richard Osman’s debut novel about four elderly people living in a community care home in Kent. Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Penny set up a ‘murder club’ every Thursday where they revisit old homicide cases to see if they could shed new light on the events. Quite the hobby for a bunch of 70-year olds. Eventually, Joyce takes over from Penny after her health declines. While initially their club is a hobby to satisfy themselves and relive their past careers, their work turns out to be of immense value to the local police department when a real murder happens to the man who built their care home. Looking for a chase, the gang find themselves entangled in the murder and will do anything to figure out who the culprit is.
This book has clearly had a lot of time, effort and research put into it. From the characters complexity to knowing what will reel the reader in, the story fits perfectly into the murder fiction genre and is definitely going to change the traditional scene up. The post-Brexit, conservative Kent that acts as the setting of the book, as well as the dry British humour the characters possess is quite the odd combination for a murder, but it works perfectly. Nothing drives a murder story further that witty comments from a couple of old guys, and that’s a sentence I thought I’d never say.
While initially I did almost dismiss the book because it took a while for me to get attached to any of the characters, by the time I reached around 40% into the narrative I found myself eager not only to uncover the case but learn more about these characters personalities and their wacky backgrounds. My initial lack of interest was due to the murder being presented to the reader very early on, before the reader has a chance to familiarise themselves with any of the protagonists. Luckily, I continued reading and am extremely thankful that I did – this book is everything that a reader needs in the 21st century; witty, humorous, insightful, complex, and very, very British (all the things I support).
The research that Osman has put into this book is beyond compare, from being able to create a detailed description of the community home and how it’s run, to the sights the protagonists visit across London and Kent, only explains a portion of the knowledge Osman had to acquire before writing this book. Additionally, the intersecting lives of the characters as well as relationships and different timelines reveals a complex story that has the perfect combination of suspense, complexity and logic. By the end of the novel, everything fit perfectly into place, despite the constant flow of characters and their personal stories to the murder. Once again, I can only credit Osman and his incredible mind for being able to piece this book together.
One of the main attractions of this book that kept me wanting more is the four protagonists. These four lovable, interesting characters really drive the story forward and their deep friendship to one another is so raw and tangible that it’s easy to forget they are in their 70s and in a community care home. The lust for life they have as well as their energy, slyness and cheeky characters is what makes them so lovable – even the other residents in the home acknowledge that their spirit is unlike no other, and powerful when the four of them are together. Their ability to make fun of each other whilst also knowing when to make comments, when to not and when to comfort is heart-warming and it only intensifies when you think about some of events they’ve had to experience in their lives, most notably loss. The friendship, to them, is not just a group of elderly people solving mysteries, it’s about acknowledging that their remaining years aren’t plentiful and wanting to spend their days with the people whom they love.
On the murder/mystery side, it is everything I didn’t expect it to be – I find murder mysteries often fall into similar tropes, with the police usually being the culprit or involved with the culprit, the characters often unlikable and the plot being simple. However, this case is anything but simple and the characters throughout are extremely likeable, making the case feel as important to the reader as to the characters. Throughout, the reader is hooked by the characters as well as the on-going murder case.
Overall, I’d wholeheartedly recommend this book, a mystery book lover or not. If you love and crave that British, witty humour and want to fall in love with characters again then this book is for you. From laughing because of one-off comments by Ron to tears because of Joyce’s love for her friends, this book will stay with me for the rest of my life. If you’re interested in reading this book, it will be published September 3rd, 2020 and you can pre-order it here.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐