Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Thursday Murder Club

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The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

29 reviews

megelizabeth's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

"The daffodils will always come up by the lake, but you won’t always be there to see them. So it goes; enjoy them while you can."

Reading this a few years after its release, I couldn't help but feel it didn't quite live up to all the hype, but I still enjoyed it overall. It's well-written with an interesting plot and fun set of characters, and it's of course very witty and full of a very specific British humour which I appreciated. It's also a great combination of gripping and fast-paced on the one hand, and then complex, layered, and bittersweet on the other, with important things to say about ageing, relationships, and illness and death.

My main issue with this book is that there's a significant part of the ending which just didn't make sense to me at all, in terms of a certain character's actions and the impact that these then have on the plot. Maybe I was missing something, but it just seemed so out of character for me that it was difficult to look past, particularly as otherwise I found the various strands of the mystery to be wrapped up in a satisfying way.

On a lesser note - and perhaps more of a personal preference - I wish that more of the story had been told from Joyce's point of view and particularly that the police officer characters had been less prominent.

I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book, as there were definitely elements of this that I really liked and I do enjoy Osman's writing style, but there were also big drawbacks for me. I suppose time will tell!

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aphraclare's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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cooliuscaesar451's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It starts off slowly but the characters suck you in ❤️ I found myself verklempt time and time again at the end.

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jaydub0221's review against another edition

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funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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mbexte's review

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

A delightful murder mystery carried out by a quirky group of friends.
Super pleasant and easy read.

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greatexpectations77's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought this was very cute, and the writing style from Joyce's perspective is a delight. I did struggle with that thing where when there are a bunch of characters, I have a hard time keeping everyone's characteristics separate. But I thought this was fun, and I would continue to read this series.

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abhirupa's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I'm in shambles over this book. It's not even a sad book, like it's not supposed to but I was genuinely in tears over some parts. The murder plot was a little far-fetched here and there but so charming you're willing to overlook any issues. I am also blown away by how this author managed to create such genuine, three-dimensional characters full of live, love, sadness, and sympathy sometimes in literally a single paragraph. Please read this book. Here are some of my absolute favorite quotes.

"We all have a sob story, but we don't all go around killing people."
"It is Ian's regular smoothie. Some raspberries, a fistful of spinach, Icelandic yogurt (Finnish, if they are out of Icelandic), spirulina, wheatgrass, acerola cherry powder, chlorella, kelp, acai extract, cocoa nibs, zinc, beetroot essence, chia seeds, mango zest, and ginger. It is his own invention, and he calls it Keep It Simple."
"Ibrahim knows he is a safe pair of hands. Over the years he has saved lives and saved souls. He was good at what he did, and that's why, even now, some people will drive for miles...just to speak to an eighty-year-old psychiatrist, long-retired....This morning Ibrahim is needed. Which is what he lives for." (crying, screaming, throwing up)
"He had once read a headline about Diet Coke that was so worrying he had chosen not to read the article."
"'You'd look like Nicki Minaj. You know Nicki Minaj, Joyce?' 'No, but I like the sound of her,' says Joyce."
"People without a sense of humor will never forgive you for being funny."
"It was lucky that Chris loved his job, was good at his job. He always found it easy to get up in the morning; he just found it hard to go to sleep at night."
"Dear God, I will miss you, you fool. Sweet dreams, darling. What a chase." (i am a shell of the person i once was)

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andloveistoolong's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I picked up The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman because I liked the idea of reading a mystery set in a retirement village!

Blurb:

Four members of a retirement community form a club to discuss and try to solve cold cases. When one of the people who helped build their community is murdered, they decide to take the opportunity to solve a real-life murder case.

Review:

It is easy to see why The Thursday Murder Club gained such buzz when it was released. The writing is clever, the elderly members of the Thursday Murder Club are endearing and well-written, and the book (especially the first half) is chock full of humor. I laughed out loud several times while reading. At the same time, the retirement community setting—a place that is both lively and sober, given the age of its members—offers an opportunity for touching and poignant moments as the characters face the realities of aging and losing loved ones.

Toward the end of the novel, as Osman works to tie up the loose ends to the main mysteries, the red herring mysteries, and almost every other random plot point he has introduced, I started to feel lost in the weeds. The book contains an unusually large supporting cast of characters, and nearly every single one of them had their own ending or mystery that Osman felt the need to address. The focus shifted away from the main Thursday Murder Club members, draining the story of much of its initial humor and heart. Although I enjoyed watching the police and the senior citizens work through the clues and the mystery step by step, I was disappointed that the author still opted for the surprise “info-dump” resolution to the mysteries instead of letting the reader figure out the solution at the same time as the characters.

The story also suffers from occasional tonal dissonance as Osman tries to make the narrative funny, cerebral, lighthearted, serious, and exciting. One throwaway line that stuck out to me in this regard was a remark about one of the main police characters: “She had arrested a shoplifter in Fairhaven last week, and when he had struggled, she had brought him down with a baton between the knees. She was aware she had hit him much harder than she should. Sometimes you just had to hit things” (124-25). That line greatly disturbs me, as it paints police brutality as something that is normal and relatable. The book completely glosses over the problematic nature of referring to a person as a “thing” that can be beaten by police to let out their excess anger. There were other similar, if less alarming, instances where Osman occasionally drops the ball when trying to juggle multiple tones.

Overall, I enjoyed many aspects of The Thursday Murder Club, but my enjoyment waned significantly as the story went on. I do not feel compelled to pick up any of the story’s sequels.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like The Thursday Murder Club if:

· You are a fan of cozy, small-town murder mysteries

· Following a quirky cast of elderly crime solvers sounds like fun

· You enjoy stories that alternate between humorous remarks, serious reflections on life and death, and crime investigation

You might not like The Thursday Murder Club if:

· You prefer simpler mysteries

· You don’t like having to keep track of multiple characters and plotlines

· You are upset by people making light of murder

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