The Thursday Murder Club is Richard Osman’s first novel. It’s a really entertaining, heart-warming story that will make you cry. The engaging story and writing make it easy to read, so it’s the perfect book for a long haul flight. Here’s my book review of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
Overview of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is the first book in a series. It follows the story of some residents of Coopers Chase Retirement Village. The four main characters all live in the retirement village – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. At first, they meet on Thursdays to discuss past unsolved murders – it’s a hobby of theirs.
However, they’re soon investigating not one but two current murders. Two men are murdered – one is the owner of the Coopers Chase business, and the other is a builder who has worked on the project. These murders happen in the context of new plans to extend the retirement village, which would involve buying nearby land and building on a graveyard that dates back to the time that the site was a convent.
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron get deeply involved in trying to solve the murders, assisting (or sometimes hindering) the police, Chris and Donna. They uncover secrets, not just of the two murdered men, but also secrets of other residents of Coopers Chase. And in the end, they and the police solve the murders. Well, sort of.
What I liked about The Thursday Murder Club
I really enjoyed this book. I found it really funny, but also really sensitive and heart-warming. And I loved the main four characters – especially Elizabeth and Joyce. I felt like I knew these characters – I knew exactly the type of people they were and could completely imagine them. I loved how these four old people were constantly breaking the rules and pushing the boundaries, while always having huge amounts of fun. It was really life affirming to read about four characters in their 80s who still had such a zest and enthusiasm for life. And I loved how they didn’t take anything in life too seriously – they were all past that now. It was lovely to read a book that made me realise so many of us take things too seriously, and maybe we should all be approaching things with the fun attitude of these 4 characters – especially Joyce and Elizabeth.
Humour and difficult themes
Although this book was really happy, there were sad or bittersweet elements as well. Inevitably, for a book set in a retirement home, there are themes of death. I thought the author dealt with this theme brilliantly – it was always sensitively done, and while sad it was also heart-warming.
I was particularly moved by the themes of losing husbands or wives. Several of the characters had had their husband/wife die, or become seriously ill, or be starting to decline with dementia. The characters John and Penny were particularly moving, as was Bernard. The book really portrayed the lifelong love that these characters felt for their husband/wife, and how much they struggled with life without them – but would still do anything for their spouse, even if they weren’t around anymore. It was so incredibly touching and heart-warming to read about such absolute and total love.
The author had a real talent for talking about some of these sad topics, such as death, with exactly the right type of humour. There was a paragraph towards the end of the book that had me laughing and crying – when (tiny spoiler) Joyce was writing in her diary about mixing up two people’s ashes in her Tupperware containers. I just loved that image. To be honest, I loved all of the chapters that were Joyce’s diary. She was such a great character.
What I wasn’t so sure about
I don’t think there was any part of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman that I didn’t like. I guess the only thing would be that some parts of the story I was slightly less interested in. These were just the parts about past drug offences and gang violence from Tony and his old friends. I get that it was part of the story. But I just didn’t find it as interesting reading about this. I just loved the parts of the story about the 4 residents of Coopers Chase. The majority of the book was about these characters, or about the police who I also liked. So most of the book was the parts that I enjoyed, which was great.
Would I recommend The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
I would 100% recommend The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. My book review is super positive! It’s the perfect book to take on a long haul flight. It’s easy to read, funny, heart-warming and inspiring. I loved this book and I can’t wait to read more books in the same series, and see what Elizabeth and Joyce get up to next.
Hope you enjoyed my book review of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman! Make sure you check out my other book reviews of books that are perfect to take on a long haul flight.
