Hi ForeverBookers,
How are you all today? I hope you’re good!
I’ve just finished “The Thursday Murder Club” by Richard Osman and I enjoyed it! It’s not my usual genre, which you’ll know if you’ve been here long enough is fantasy/romance but I knew that before going in so that helped. I think I always knew that it wouldn’t be a 5 star read so the fact that I gave it four stars is good.
4 Stars!
“The Thursday Murder Club” really starts when a character called Tony Curran is killed in the story. The club comprises of Elizabeth, a very turned on woman. She’s very hot on the press and quick to make a judgement. Ibrahim, a slightly slower to the point man. Ron, another slower man, and Joyce a very funny, quirky character who I loved reading about and from. We get Joyce’s POV, which I loved reading, as she was hilarious. She’s the only POV we get in “The Thursday Murder Club.” I don’t know if in the next novels we’ll get a different POV! I’m excited to find out! This novel is a laugh. It’s cozy crime if anything.
The flow of the story was easy to follow because there aren’t any fantasy elements. The chapters in this cozy crime are really short, which made it easy to read. The murder or murders, perhaps, happen and the Thursday Murder Club need to solve it/them. That’s it. There’s also a couple of detectives/investigators working on the case too. Who finds the answers? You’ll need to read for yourself to find out!
I read The Thursday Murder Club for one readathon. They were:
Reading Rivalry - Woody’s Roundup - I took this to mean a group of people working as a team. The Thursday Murder Club do this!
Death is brought up quite a lot in The Thursday Murder Club.
Spoilers Below…
“Well, here I am. If you want to talk, go ahead. I’ll give you two minutes before I go back to catching criminals.”
Elizabeth gives a light clap of the hands. “Excellent! Well, first I will say this. Stop pretending you’re not pleased to see us again, because I know that you are. And we are pleased to see you again. This will be so much more fun if we can all just accept that.”
Donna does not reply. Joyce leans in to the tape recorder sitting on the table. “For the purposes of the tape, PC De Freitas refuses to answer, but is attempting to hide a slight smile.”
“Secondly, but connected to that,” continues Elizabeth, “whatever it is we are keeping you from, I know one thing for certain, it isn’t catching criminals. It is something boring.”
“No comment,” deadpans Donna.”
This happens 62 pages into the book. Tony’s murder has already happened at this point. This is Detective Donna de Freitas trying to put Elizabeth off wanting to figure out how the murder happened. As I said above, Elizabeth isn’t one to be put off something. When she has a bee in her bonnet, she keeps on at it until it happens! I loved this about her character. She was always trying to save her friends at whatever cost to her! Joyce is funny here, as she’s trying to use the tape recorder. Joyce and Elizabeth are a great double act throughout the book. They were my favourite characters, I think. They have the most backstory.
“So, Jason Ritchie for the Tony Curran murder,” says Chris. “and Matthew Mackie for Ian Ventham?”
“Unless we’re missing something,” says Donna.
“I wouldn’t put that past us,” says Chris. “So, let’s work it through. We know Matthew Mackie was there and we know he’s a liar. He’s a doctor, not a priest.”
“So we know he could get hold of fentanyl and he knew how to use it,” says Donna.
“Agreed,” says Chris. “I think we’ve got everything except a motive.”
“Well, he doesn’t want the graveyard moved,” says Donna. “Is that enough?”
“Not enough to arrest him. Unless we find out why he doesn’t want it moved.”
“Is impersonating a priest the crime?” asks Donna. “Someone I met on Tinder once pretended he was a pilot and tried to grope me outside an All Bar One.”
“I bet he regretted that.”
“I punched him in the balls, then called in his reg number and got him breathalysed on the way home”
They both smile. But their smiles are fleeting. Both know they are in danger of letting Matthew Mackie slip between their fingers. No evidence whatsoever.”
Chris is the male detective that’s looking into the cases of the murders. There are two murders that happen within this story. Tony Curran and Ian Ventham. Tony’s murder happens first. He’s a handyman who’s just going about his business when he gets “bludgeoned.”
I loved Joyce’s parts. She’s very scatterbrained, which is reflected in,
“If today was anything to go by, this whole murder investigation is going to be the most enormous fun. It has been a long day, and whether it has got us any closer to catching Tony Curran’s killer, I’ll let you decide.
I think Joanna saw a different side of me today. Or maybe I saw a different side to myself through her eyes. Either way, it was very pleasant. Also, next time I’ll tell you about Cornelius, who we liked.
The village is nearly dark now. In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you. So I’m putting today in my pocket and I’m off to bed.
I will just finish by saying that, back at Charing Cross, I nipped into Marks and bought a couple of gin and tonics in a can. Elizabeth and I drank them on the train home.”
She’s the character that I couldn’t wait to read the next thing about. Without Joyce, I wouldn’t have enjoyed the novel half as much, I don’t think. Joanna is her daughter, but she’s not actually present in this novel. She’s just spoken about. I loved Joyce because she brought humour to the novel. Knowing the author from TV shows, such as Pointless and House of Games I knew there would be some humour in the book!
The other characters play a smaller role in the book. The two other members of “The Thursday Murder Club,” Ibrahim and Ron add light relief to the novel. They’re a little like Joyce, but she has a few more distinctive parts to the novel. She plays a role I feel, along with Elizabeth more than either of the men do. Chris and Donna, the detectives play a role too. Other than that though, this novel is pretty simple. In the sequels the men might be more leading characters. There are twists in “The Thursday Murder Club,” which I didn’t see coming. There are twists in “The Thursday Murder Club,” which I didn’t see coming. The murderer is unexpected to say the least! That’s why I’m giving this a 4 Star rating!
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