From the synopsis I knew this wasn’t going to be the usual crime fiction tale. Its set in an up market retirement village in the Kent countryside where four of the residents meet up every week to discuss and investigate police cold cases. The information on the cases is supplied by a retired Chief Inspector who is now a resident in the village care home who just happened to have “held on to” a few files after she left the force. The members of the club (The Thursday Murder Club) are all very different – an unlikely group of friends who are at times hilarious in their antics – but they have all held prominent positions in their former years and as such have interesting tales to tell. Suddenly the group find themselves with a real life murder case on their hands and take great pleasure in helping the police solve the case. I found the book slow to start but it picked up and was an enjoyable read. I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read The Thursday Murder Club over a couple of days. It was an interesting premise but the book just didn’t do it for me. I found the pace somewhat slow and laboured. Sorry but this wasn’t one for me. 2.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

I really enjoyed this book, well done Mr Osman! The characters were adorable and there was so much going on but everything was resolved in the end. I live in West Sussex, not far from Haywards Heath, so it was great reading about local places. And oh how I would love to end up in Coopers Chase! I think old police files should be given to more of our senior citizens to solve. Can’t wait for the next book in this series and please, put this on TV. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin General UK for letting me review it.

Rating 4.5/5

There is always that moment of trepidation when you are about to dive into a book by someone well known, that you have seen to be witty and humorous, because there is a level of expectation that comes along with it. I am happy to say that in this instance The Thursday Murder Club was even better than I was hoping it would be.

It is definitely the characters that made me fall in love with this book, our four main characters Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron are a great combination. They all have very different personalities but each possesses qualities that are important to the group and don’t seem to mind if they are occasionally playing outside of the rules.

I especially liked Elizabeth her tenacity and uncanny ability to get exactly what she wants and the fact that the others just go with it knowing it’ll turn out ok in the end. I also loved Joyce, her subtlety, the way she takes everything in, it was great to have diary entries from her, I loved her voice and she was very funny.

The story itself was very entertaining, cosy mystery can sometimes be a bit of a hit or miss for me, but this one was just right. I liked that there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered and that it wasn’t obvious where the story was headed. There were enough moving parts and misdirection to keep things interesting and had me wondering how everything tied together. It also had me giggling a lot throughout, there is something about the author’s keen observations on life that are very funny without feeling like they were set up to be.

I really can’t recommend The Thursday Murder Club enough, and I am very much looking forward to joining the gang again in the future for some more fun and adventure.

Four friends in a retirement community get together weekly for their Thursday Murder Club. Soon they're investigating a murder closely followed by a second one. This case has them all entangled and each one was present at the second murder. Can they get to the bottom of it and find the truth?

Being a fan of the author i was instantly excited to read this and it didnt disappoint. The story is well written and detailed. There are some clever and well built twists through the story. There are many side mysteries along the way that all slowly come together. I figured out some of it but not all. The plot is a steady build but kept me reading until the end. The ending was really good and finished the story perfectly. I liked that everything was tied off in one way or another. The characters are all likeable and instantly recognisable as someone we know. A brilliant mystery.

This book is everywhere! Fab read, fast paced with great characters and a cracking storyline. Really enjoyable and will definitely be purchasing Richard’s next book.

The Thursday murder club is a murder mystery whose protagonists are, rather unique.
Four people nearing 80 years investigate old inactive cases of police.

Living in a luxury retirement house and fighting old age battles, Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce keep their brains active by brainstorming over the old cases.
They keep themselves busy with their investigation and solving the mysteries. Imagine now, if they get hold of a new live murder case and that then they are also witnesses to a murder. Their excitement, how much they might subdue it, knows no bound.

Four of them team up with the local detective DCI Chris Hudson and DC Donna De Freitas to solve the puzzling and unique murder mystery.

Elizabeth is the implicit leader of the group. She is the one who delegates jobs to the rest of the team. She navigates herself skillfully. Her past is hidden (on purpose) and appears shadowy.
Joyce is the newest member of the club. She found her way in the club through her baking skills. It is through diary notes the reader’s progress through the chapters. She was a nurse with NHS and now brings in medical knowledge to the team.
Ibrahim is the technical person and brings in the logic and deductions along with Ron Ritchie.
DCI Hudson with much reluctance agrees to take help of the Thursday murder club. As the chapter progresses, the plot gets complicated, and the turn of events blindsides the reader.
The Thursday Murder Club is a quirky murder mystery that will keep you hooked until the last page.

Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin UK for the copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

What a great book. I want to live there when the time comes. Four residents with so much time on their hands start investigating old cases that another resident who was a former police inspector was interested in. Unfortunately Penny was poorly so Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim got to together and formed The Thursday Murder Club. It was joined by Joyce a former nurse and the book goes through their thoughts having fun along the way. A local developer wants to develop more land a part of which is a cemetery for the nuns who lived in the home which was a former nunnery and here the fun begins for the sleuths. Murder, mystery and outwitting the local police become their fun of choice and they try to solve the murders etc. I would love to know what Elizabeth was in her former life – ummm could hazard a guess but would probably be wrong
I always hope I have the murderer as the book wends its way towards one person only to find I was way out as another character is introduced which could be the one. This is why this book was so good and flowed along at an easy pace.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read Richard Osman’s book and also the publishers. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it without hesitation and hope there will be more in the series.

This was a delightful book! I loved Richard Osman's humour that was twisted into the intelligence of this book. I adored the characters, The Thursday Murder Club, has cemented a place in my heart. I think the premise of the plot was wildly intriguing and intelligent. I loved it!

What a book, and what a cast of characters - I want to be friends with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. I adored it's charm and the quintessential British-ness, and the group of old folk uncovering all sorts of mysteries, all with their associated heartbreaks and dramas, were a pure delight!

4.5 Stars
In a peaceful retirement village in Kent, four unlikely friends meet up once a week on a Thusday to investigate unsolved murders. Then 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.
This is a debut novel by the TV celebrity & what an entertaining read it is. I’m always wary of books written by celebrities but this one is well worth reading. The members of the club are varied Elizabeth with her shady past & secrets, Joyce the cake making (liberally incorporating vodka), ex nurse, Ibrahim the ex psychiatrist & Red Ron ex trade union leader make for a wonderful mix. There's also a middle aged detective & a female constable who the club take a shine to. There are moments of hilarity for example Chris being invited to tea as well as sadness & pathos as you would expect in a retirement village. There are plenty of red herrings & secrets, which make for a captivating read. I certainly look forward to more cases for the Thursday Murder Club
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

I wasn’t sure what to expect. But for some reason this book jumped out at me.
A sleepy retirement village and a group of unlikely sleuths.
An enjoyable easy read. I wasn’t disappointed. I feel there is definitely more to come from the Thursday murder club.

Is a feel-good murder mystery a thing? Because if it isn’t then Richard Osman has just created a genre.
The Thursday Murder Club comprises of four friends living in an idyllic retirement village, who spend their Thursdays trying to solve old murder cases. But when a local property developer is murdered, it’s time to put their skills to good use and catch a killer! As it’s meant to be a mystery, I will leave it at that...
Oh my, how I loved this! I must confess to never reading any cosy mysteries before, but now I feel like I have missed out - this was just such a warm, tender and funny read that I never wanted to end. The characters are all wonderful, proving that age is nothing but a number, and I wanted nothing more than to be in the room with them as they solved their mysteries. Every time I thought I knew what was coming, or ‘whodunnit’, the story went in a different direction and kept me guessing until the very end. This has all of Osman’s trademark wit and warmth and will be one of those stories you could give to your 20yr old brother or your 90yr old nan - I just hope this is the beginning of a series as I can’t wait to meet Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron again!

A warm, cosy mystery/detective novel. Don't expect this to be a page-turner or get the pulse going, as there's no tension, but do expect likeable elderly characters (as well as a few young-'uns) and a satisfying plot.

I can see why this is billed as the first of a series as the characters have been introduced well and have plenty of room for further development (and importantly you're left with a bit of intrigue/interest to find out more about them).

If brutally honest, I was left a little disappointed with the final portion of the book (but can't describe why without spoilers) but overall the novel was good and definitely enjoyable. I'd be interested to read the second instalment.

Many thanks for the preview copy.

“A few glasses of wine and a mystery. Very social, but also gory. It is good fun.”

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is a delightful mystery debut from Richard Osman.

Set in a luxury retirement village in the south-east region of England, new resident Joyce is quietly thrilled when Elizabeth asks for her professional opinion about a knife wound, and then extends an invitation to join The Thursday Murder Club. The club, so named because it meets on Thursday’s, studies cold cases from the files of a retired Detective Inspector (who is now too ill to participate), and includes Elizabeth, a former intelligence operative; Ibrahim, a mostly retired psychiatrist; and Ron, once a union boss, who enjoys playing devil’s advocate. The group enjoy the intellectual challenge of their investigations, but when the part owner/builder of The Coopers Chase Retirement Village, is found bludgeoned to death, the foursome are determined to have a hand in solving the case.

The Thursday Murder Club is a cosy mystery, rather than a thriller, but if one death isn’t enough to satisfy your lust for murder, you are in luck, because Curran is only the first to die. The builder is barely in his grave, when his pompous partner, Ian, keels over dead, and then the bones of another murder victim are found in a graveyard. Osman offers an engaging plot that provides plenty of red herrings as the Club members, and police, try to determine what, if any, connection exists between the three deaths, searching for motive, piecing together clues and chasing leads, even all the way to Greece. I thought the story was well paced, and just unpredictable enough to keep me guessing.

Honestly though it’s the quirky, shrewd and lively protagonists of this novel, who despite their advanced age, or perhaps because of it, aren’t shy about insinuating themselves into the case, much to the exasperation and eventual grudging respect of local police officers, PC Donna de Freitas, and DCI Chris Hudson, that are the winning ingredient. I was absolutely charmed by the personalities of the foursome as they inveigled, manipulated, coerced, and traded favours in their race to solve the murders. Joyce, Elizabeth and Donna in particular are spirited characters who tend to steal the limelight.

Though there is plenty of humour to be found in The Thursday Murder Club, much of it dry in the way that only British humour can be, there are some poignant moments too, which gives the story some depth. Osman touches on some of the disadvantages of ageing, such as failing physical and cognitive abilities, the illness and loss of a spouse, and loneliness, but also reminds us that old age doesn’t have to mean giving up on passion or excitement.

Charming, witty and entertaining, I sincerely hope that we’ll be enjoying the antics of the The Thursday Murder Club again soon.

Richard Osman has written a very entertaining murder mystery set in a retirement village. ( one that sounds like it could be a perfect place for me in the not too distant future lol ). As the body count rises the super sleuth gang of four, with the help of the local CID, set to work to unravel the mysteries surrounding each passing. The story is well written and the plot is fast paced. The characters are well rounded, enigmatic and also very endearing. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it. Hopefully Richard is already planning his next novel.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an advance reading e-copy.

A whimsical portrayal of a group of Four seventy year olds living in a retirement home who enjoy trying to solve unsolved murders hence the name The Thursday Murder Club. One day a real murder comes along And their ring leader Elizabeth sets them on the quest of solving the murder of their retirement home owner. The plot takes you on a circuitous trip unearthing secrets galore amidst the plethora of characters .
It will be interesting to get to know the quartet in later volume(s) but for me too much was crammed in plot and character wise in this first foray .

I didn’t go into this book with any preconceptions but I know Richard Osman from Pointless and thought the title sounded like fun. At first I thought it was a whimsical story about a group of older people living in a retirement village with a murder thrown in. I even thought I didn't care 'who did it' at the half way point I was just enjoying the characters but as the story unraveled it stopped being as obvious who the murder was and I found the last quarter really gripping. This story isn't just a murder mystery though - I found it really moving and I thought the ending was perfect. I can't wait to find out what Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron do next.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

The story centres around four elderly friends, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, and together they form The Thursday Murder Club. They all live in a retirement village called Cooper’s Chase, and spend their time solving cold murder cases. Until a real murder stumbles into their path which they all jump in to help solve. Then they discover more crimes.

This book was just brilliant. It’s a crime mystery mixed with humour. I loved it, it’s my favourite book of this year. The characters were wonderful, and I wish all elderly people were like this in real life. The story wasn’t ever boring, it went quickly, I loved it.
Would whole heartedly recommend it.

I’m always a bit nervous when a household name writes their first book; will I love their book as much as I love what they’re already known for?!

No reason for nerves with this one – this is a cracking novel from Richard Osman, and I loved every minute of it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I really hope it’s going to be the first of a series, and that we return to the Thursday Murder Club for more stories in the future.

Four residents of a very upmarket retirement village become friends and form a club to investigate cold cases, but then a local property developer’s body is found, and the friends find themselves right in the thick of a real-time murder case. Despite their ages, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron get totally involved, and are determined to find the murderer.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and Viking for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.