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A review by msvee
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I see this more of a comfort book rather than a murder mystery. That was the main reason why I bought the hardback copy in the first place: I wanted a heart-warming tale about an elderly group of friends who love to solve mysteries and indeed the book has kept its promise on that side.
But like I said, it has a disappointing plot and here is why:
I feel cheated by the ending.
In a whodunit, normally you should be able to understand as to how and why someone committed a murder. In this case, there are three murders committed by three different people. There was so much potential to work on.
It seems like the author was too secretive and didn't share the full plot with us. It is frequent in this genre for an author to want to stay one step ahead of the readers, but in this case, he invited the readers to solve a mystery without providing the information and context to solve it.
Therefore, there is no way I could have guessed who the culprit was.
If you managed to solve it, I'm surprised the CIA hasn't recruited you yet.
Why would a junior police officer with a whole life and career in front of her, kill a man who murdered his girlfriend? Because of all the injustices she experienced as a "very junior" police officer? I had to read the reason twice to understand it. I would have loved to learn more, go deeper into the how and why, but our murderer is (un)conveniently brain-dead, so that's that.
None of the murderers are considered as suspects because there is absolutely no reason to suspect them.
Richard Osman has a way of making you feel sympathy for the culprits and - sorry Elizabeth - they actually do get away with it. They should all be behind bars but none of them are and everyone is okay with it because they are likable.
I did like the way Osman made me think that Joyce was the murderer throughout the second half of the book. I fell for it, easy trap you might say, but I'm a bit thick.
We could have gone without the Gianni Gunduz manhunt. Finding out that he was dead all along at the end was really unsatisfying.
Elizabeth has eyes and ears everywhere, she has been to places and seen things like no other. To me, her life story is the biggest mystery of the book and it has been left a loose end.
This said, I hope Richard Osman gets into it in his second book.
Yes, there is a sequel to this... although it would have been wiser to leave it at that.
I feel anxious for the author, what more is there to the story? What other murders are there to commit? I will be reading the second book out of sheer curiosity as to what could possibly come next.
To sum up, this is no Miss Marple. Nonetheless, I too am British and as much as I have a tendency to complain, I think the Brit mentality described in this book was spot on. The old geezers were mint. I rated this 3.5/5.
I feel cheated by the ending.
In a whodunit, normally you should be able to understand as to how and why someone committed a murder. In this case, there are three murders committed by three different people. There was so much potential to work on.
It seems like the author was too secretive and didn't share the full plot with us. It is frequent in this genre for an author to want to stay one step ahead of the readers, but in this case, he invited the readers to solve a mystery without providing the information and context to solve it.
Therefore, there is no way I could have guessed who the culprit was.
If you managed to solve it, I'm surprised the CIA hasn't recruited you yet.
Why would a junior police officer with a whole life and career in front of her, kill a man who murdered his girlfriend? Because of all the injustices she experienced as a "very junior" police officer? I had to read the reason twice to understand it. I would have loved to learn more, go deeper into the how and why, but our murderer is (un)conveniently brain-dead, so that's that.
None of the murderers are considered as suspects because there is absolutely no reason to suspect them.
Richard Osman has a way of making you feel sympathy for the culprits and - sorry Elizabeth - they actually do get away with it. They should all be behind bars but none of them are and everyone is okay with it because they are likable.
I did like the way Osman made me think that Joyce was the murderer throughout the second half of the book. I fell for it, easy trap you might say, but I'm a bit thick.
We could have gone without the Gianni Gunduz manhunt. Finding out that he was dead all along at the end was really unsatisfying.
Elizabeth has eyes and ears everywhere, she has been to places and seen things like no other. To me, her life story is the biggest mystery of the book and it has been left a loose end.
This said, I hope Richard Osman gets into it in his second book.
Yes, there is a sequel to this... although it would have been wiser to leave it at that.
I feel anxious for the author, what more is there to the story? What other murders are there to commit? I will be reading the second book out of sheer curiosity as to what could possibly come next.
To sum up, this is no Miss Marple. Nonetheless, I too am British and as much as I have a tendency to complain, I think the Brit mentality described in this book was spot on. The old geezers were mint. I rated this 3.5/5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Suicide
Moderate: Grief