Karen Chisholm
REVIEW
The Man Who Died Twice / The Bullet that Missed, Richard Osman
Reviewed By
Thursday, January 4, 2024
The last thing anybody needs is a fully blown review of anything to do with Richard Osman's wildly popular The Thursday Murder Club series, of which THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE is number 2 and THE BULLET THAT MISSED is number 3. These books deserve all the success they have achieved, but as I've been listening to the series on Audible (and have the 4th queued up at the moment), I thought a quick reminder to myself if nothing else about why a reader who likes the darker side of fiction would find these such great, fun listening.
Mostly it's because of the character studies. The four central cast members here feel like real people, act like you'd want people who might be in a retirement village but bloody well aren't dead yet (projection maybe?) would act, and are such good friends who allow and even celebrate the various foibles and emotional ticks of the others with low key, but empathetic and accepting joy.
I also like the way that the plots hark back to when the characters were young (remember the shy smile of my grandmother as she quietly told me one day "you young people think you invented sex and ability"). Of course these people had pasts, lived lives, did stuff, were good at things. Being old doesn't mean you lose ALL of that ability, cleverness, thinking, history, knowledge.
They are also made for listening - with lots of very short chapters, switching between the various characters viewpoints, meaning that you are kept in the action by never finding you're zoning out, or getting lost as can sometimes be the case with audio crime fiction.
Plus they are just joyous and god knows these days a bit of joy doesn't hurt. Maybe it is the projection thing - with every year as I hurtle more and more rapidly towards some truly sobering zero birthdays I still crave the dark side, but I also want a bit of joy now and then.
BOOK DETAILS
BOOK INFORMATION
BLURB
Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim - the Thursday Murder Club - are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their posh retirement village.
But they are out of luck.
An unexpected visitor - an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?) - arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam.
Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club.
BOOK INFORMATION
BLURB
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 listeners have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.
| Review | The Man Who Died Twice / The Bullet that Missed, Richard Osman | Karen Chisholm
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Thursday, January 4, 2024 |
| Blog | Updates - week ending 5th January 2024 | Karen Chisholm
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Tuesday, January 2, 2024 |
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