Do the members of the club commit murders on Thursdays?

Do they always solve murders on Thursdays?

Definitely not the former. The latter is closer to the truth, but that’s not quite it either. They meet every Thursday, and they attempt to solve murders whenever they can. More relevantly (for our purposes) The Thursday Murder Club is the title of a new novel by Richard Osman.

We Americans have never heard of Richard Osman. At least I haven’t. But apparently he is very well-known in the UK—though mostly as a comedian and a TV host, not an author. So I went into this with an open mind, with no preconceptions.

And the verdict is… I enjoyed it. A lot. The premise and premises are pleasantly unusual for a mystery: a disparate group of well-off pensioners in a pricey retirement village in southeast England. And some of them have formed the aforementioned murder club that meets on Thursdays.

The story is told from several points of view, always clearly delineated. There is no violence (apart from the offstage murders), and the whole thing is very British, including the humor. You might expect it to be quick reading, but actually it isn’t, as you’ll miss a lot of the details and particularly a lot of the humor if you don’t pay attention to every word. So read it, but budget plenty of time so you can savor what you’re reading.

The Thursday Murder Club is the first in a series, by the way. The second installment will be on its way from the library as soon as other readers take their hands off the copy that I want.

Categories: Books