Book Review: The Bullet That Missed (The Thursday Murder Club, #3) by Richard Osman

Title: The Bullet That Missed
Series: The Thursday Murder Club, #3
Author: Richard Osman
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication date: September 15, 2022
Length: 413 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind—leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.

Our favorite gang of septuagenarian crime solvers is back! What more is there to say?

As established in the first two Thursday Murder Club books, the fabulous foursome of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron have a weekly club meeting in the jigsaw room of the Coopers Chase retirement village — not to work on conversational French or play cribbage or do a bit of knitting, but to crack open cold case murder files, track down clues, and solve the case.

This time around, they focus on the case of Bethany Waites, an up and coming young TV reporter who disappeared while investigating a major tax fraud scheme. Her car was found crashed at the bottom of a cliff, but her body was presumed carried away by the tide and was never found. As the gang digs in, they apply their unique investigatory skills to conversations with police officers, money launderers, convicted drug dealers, TV stars, and more.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s past as a secret agent comes back to haunt her, as it tends to do. A shady figure threatens the life of someone important to her, unless she carries out an assassination on his behalf. She doesn’t want to do it… but there’s another life on the line, and she has very limited time until the threats become reality.

As always, the main characters’ lives intersect with friends, love interests, local crooks and law enforcement, and all sorts of colorful new people to involve in their schemes. Danger, subterfuge, and lots of tea and cake are involved.

I’ll admit that the details of the main crime in The Bullet That Missed didn’t enthrall me quite as much as in the two previous books… but that’s okay. The crime is only part of the point of reading these books. The real fun is in hanging out with the characters, seeing them in action, and enjoying their very funny dialogue and escapades.

I’m eager to continue the series, and plan to do so as soon as my library hold comes in for the next book!

Up next: Book #4, The Last Devil to Die

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Book Review: The Man Who Died Twice (The Thursday Murder Club, #2) by Richard Osman

Title: The Man Who Died Twice
Series: The Thursday Murder Club, #2
Author: Richard Osman
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Publication date: September 16, 2021
Length: 355 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It’s the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?

But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

Another outstanding adventure with the dynamic foursome of the Thursday Murder Club! We’re back in the world of the Coopers Chase retirement village, where Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron enjoy their comfortable surroundings, good friendship, and solving murders together.

When former spy and all-around bad-ass Elizabeth receives a letter from a man she knows to be dead, it sets of an unlikely chain of events involving an arms dealer, the mafia, stolen diamonds, and local drug dealers… to say nothing of chess matches, home-baked goodies, and various outings in the Coopers Chase minivan.

It’s always great fun to see these characters in action. Their group dynamics, with room for each of their distinctive personalities to shine, are a hoot. This book’s escapades are unpredictable, convoluted, and a winning combination of silly and dangerous. There are high stakes… but also plenty of laughs.

Count me in as a new-ish fan of this delightful series! With three more books currently available, it’s great to know that I have more murders and adventures to look forward to!

Up next: Book #3, The Bullet That Missed

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Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Title: The Thursday Murder Club
Author: Richard Osman
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: 2020
Length: 382 pages
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library
Rating:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

I am very late to the party… but I’m glad to have finally arrived! It’s true — The Thursday Murder Club is just as much fun as everyone says.

This entertaining novel centers around a mismatched group of friends at a luxurious senior residence in the countryside who, for fun, devote their leisure time to solving cold case murders. The cases become much less cold when two murders connected to the property occur. Now, the Thursday Murder Club has a real-time case to investigate, much to the consternation of the local police, who always seem to be at least a step behind our gang of seniors.

The characters are terrific — a woman who would appear to have had an adventure-filled life as some sort of secret agent, a nurse, a psychiatrist, and a notorious rabble-rouser, plus the various other friends, relatives and acquaintances who fill out the population at Coopers Chase. Not everything is as it seems, and as the story progresses, many long-held secrets are revealed — some tied to the recent murders, and some not.

The tone is upbeat, even while discussing murders and other crimes and scandals, and I loved the motley assortment of personalities and skills and interests that the main characters present.

The Thursday Murder Club is delightfully entertaining, and I can’t wait to continue with the series!

Purchase linksAmazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.orgLibro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.