The
Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman.
The Thursday Murder Club is Osman’s first, and so far,
his best novel. Well. You can’t say
fairer than that. And that statement
alone will give readers a taste of what’s to come, all of which is a pure delight. I’ve been wading through some pretty heavy
stuff lately and it was an utter pleasure to sit back and enjoy that rare
combination of excellent characters, a complex plot (you have to pay attention
at all times!), and wonderful humour combined with shrewd observation on what
to expect when we reach the wrong end of life.
The residents of Coopers Chase retirement village have
reached that stage of their existence, but a number of them are refusing to
throw in the towel just yet, and have formed The Thursday Murder Club, held on
that day in the Jigsaw Puzzle room and organised by Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron,
all of whom had very interesting occupations before Old Age caught up and
galloped past them: Elizabeth was
something mysterious and high up in law enforcement (she has influential
'friends’ seemingly everywhere); Ibrahim
is a retired psychiatrist with a huge, not to say alarmingly pedantic grasp of
facts and statistics, and Ron – Red Ron is a famous Union stirrer and battler
of legendary repute, the bane of every British Prime Minister for the last
forty years until arthritis and his short-term memory did for him. They are still intent on using their combined
formidable intelligence to solve a Cold Case, and have just recruited Joyce as
a new member.
Joyce is practical, disarmingly cheerful and a prolific
baker of excellent cakes – and she’s a nurse, providing necessary medical
knowledge to the group – oh, they’re going to have great fun solving the cold-case
murder of a young woman who died in the 70’s!
Except that not one, but two ‘fresh’ murders occur within
days of each other: first, the builder
of the retirement village is bludgeoned to death in his home, then the
developer for whom he worked is poisoned with a massive overdose of Fentanyl. Never mind that the police are on the scene
with alacrity – the Thursday Murder Club will provide invaluable assistance,
not least because they live On the Job.
And it’s great to have mysteries to solve, for it makes them feel young.
Mr Osman successfully negotiates the fine line between
pathos and bathos by treating his great characters with utter respect, and
giving them – and the reader – myriad opportunities to laugh; at themselves, at each other, and at life. SIX STARS!
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