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  • Writer's pictureLucie Ataya

Review: The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman


Rating

'The story is brilliant, the characters are on point, and the plot is full of twists and turns you'll never see coming.'


~~~


As a big Agatha Christie fan, I'm always a little skeptical about reading crime novels - because nothing really ever compares to her incredible work. But Richard Osman's masterful debut novel blew my skepticism out of the window!


The Thursday Murder Club is the story of four amateur detective friends, pensioners living in an idyllic retirement village, who occupy their spare time with solving unresolved crimes. So when a murder occurs right under their noses, the members of the Thursday Murder Club - Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron - jump in investigation mode.


The story is brilliant, the characters are on point, and the plot is full of twists and turns you'll never see coming. The Thursday Murder Club is a book in which the lines between heroes and villains are blurred, where we're faced with a very realistic depiction of the complexity of human beings. It's full of people with nuances, a hundred shades of grey, characters all the more loveable for being imperfect.


There is a lot I loved about this book, but my favourite bits were these innocuous remarks and observations about people, humanity and the world we live in. These comments made in passing but full of truth and vividly accurate. Little sentences here and there that make you pause and think, and look at the world around you only to realise how on point they are.


And to having four octogenarians as the main characters, I say bravo. How original and inventive, and how very refreshing. The sixty-two year old woman in me absolutely loved being amongst kindred spirits.


The book is a testament to both the wonders and the challenges of growing old, to the different paths people might take when faced with the passing of years and the relationship with death when you come to an age where it's ever-present. It's a wonderful reminder that our senior citizens are as sharp, as cheeky and as capable as their younger peers - something that often gets forgotten.


Unless you're a serious hater of a whodunnit novel, I can think of no reason why you shouldn't pick up this book. It's a wonder to immerse yourself in.


The audiobook is expertly narrated and worth listening to, and it also has a really nice bonus interview with the author at the end.

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