What a lovely murder mystery. I'm not sure if this would come under the cosy genre, but it is a tale of a bunch of elderly sleuths in a retirement village in the south of England. Joyce is invited to join the Thursday Murder Club by Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a vibrant, can do, enigmatic layd who has a cloudy past and she "knows" people. Joyce and Elizabeth are joined by Ron and Ibrahim and together they look at cold cases held by a previous member of the group, Penny, who has sadly succumbed to the scourge of old age. That is until they have a real life murder on their doorstep and the amateur team sink their teeth into it like a dog with a bone.
I loved the characterisation and this is a genuinely laugh out loud funny book. I hope there will be more tales from the Village.

A wonderfully charming book.
It's as if Midsomer Murders had a crossover with Waiting for God.

Richard Osman has a great way with words and his characters are an absolute joy.
This might be a murder mystery but it's also a lot more than that. It's a story about people, about relationships and about ageing.

It's in stark contrast to most mysteries and despite having more twists and tuns than a corkscrew it is a cosy alternative to the thrillers you might normally stumble across.
Highly enjoyable.

A complete joy to read, I loved it!

An unlikely group of octogenarians have formed a murder club in their retirement village. Old files from one of their fellow residents whom had served as a police officer form the starting point of their investigations. As new skills are developed and bonds tighten a real murder or two are committed and the crew get to business.

Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron, all in their later years but all with rich stories of their early lives and some very particulate skill sets between them. There are stories within stories here and they flowed off the page with intellect and humour.

I rarely give 5 stars but this book deserves it! Highly recommend and looking forward to book 2 already!

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman's, (yes that Richard Osman), his first crime novel, was a good old fashioned English village whodunnit, and as Osman's debut novel the plot was far from 'Pointless'. Not so much murder at the vicarage, more murder at the former convent, that had now been converted to a luxury retirement home.
The Thursday Murder Club were founded by a retired police inspector to solve cold cases, but then murder occurs on their doorstep, and these self-styled third age detectives are not about to step aside and let the police have all of the glory of solving this one.
Far removed from plausible police procedurals that we have become accustomed to in these enlightened times, it's a step back to traditional entertainment of a murder mystery, when the sleuths take a bow to a rousing round of applause when the culprit(s) have been banged to rights.
I found it a breath of fresh air from my normally darker reading journeys into the crime drama. I'm interested to see what Mr Osman is going to come up with next.

I was very much looking forward to reading this book...and I was not disappointed. I thought the setting for the novel - a retirement village - was a great choice, and I liked the way Osman wove the challenges and joys of getting older into the story. Although this is a murder mystery, a lot of the book is about how the characters develop and interact with one another, which made it very believable and drew me into the story. (Fans of Elizabeth is Missing and Three Things About Elsie will enjoy this.) I would definitely recommend this book, and really hope Osman will write another.

James here ( @james_reads_books on Instagram)

Well. This was a good ‘un. I absolutely raced through the advance proof of this crime mystery I managed to get my hands on. I was DESPERATE to chat about it. especially when I thought my favourite character might be the culprit- the ideal buddy read....

The story follows four residents of a luxury retirement village who investigate cold police cases every Thursday in the Jigsaw Room - Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and most recently Joyce.

In their former lives they were a psychologist, social justice campaigner, nurse and well no one knows quite what Elizabeth did - but if you found out she’d probably have to kill you.

They really get a chance to test their skills when a murder occurs, practically on their doorstep.

This is packed with humour and wry observations on modern life, but equally looks at the human condition and there are moments of real emotional heft in the story.

The cast of characters crackle with life and you will fall for them all in different ways, including the police officers they railroad - excuse me, befriend - along the way and all the other residents they utilise to help them.

This was a treat from start to finish and will be one I return to time and again just to spend time with such a lovely bunch of characters. The turns of phrase and the sheer Britishness of Osman’s humour is sure to be a balm in these troubled times. If Victoria Wood had written cozy crime, this would surely have been the result.

This simply must be the first in a series or I will probably explode.

Advance copy provided in exchange for an honest review

A retirement complex in a peaceful village location makes an unlikely setting for a murder, and four octogenarians make an even unlikelier team of investigators. This novel had me hooked from its first chapters as I wondered what crime the four members of the Thursday Murder Club, friends Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might possibly solve by poring over old police procedurals. It is not long, however, before a fresh murder is committed on their doorstep that the four friends get to investigate together with the local police.

The narrative switches between a general narrator and Joyce’s diary entries which means there are occasional breaks in the ‘flow’ of the story, and some of the police investigative methods also seemed a tad unlikely, but these are very minor points in what is an engaging plot with a cast of believable, likeable characters. I particularly liked the fact that Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron shatter ‘old age’ stereotypes with their combination of energy, wit and powers of deduction. PC Donna de Freitas, who is just starting out in her police career, is another warmly drawn character. Full of comical moments, the novels nevertheless addresses some big issues of our times such as assisted suicide and mental health issues.

Having delivered so much, I was delighted to find that The Thursday Murder Club is the first of a planned series of books. I thoroughly look forward to my next encounter with Osman’s literary protagonists and wish to thank the publishers’, Viking, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for this honest, unbiased review.

I was really looking forward to this book and I was not disappointed. I found it charming that the idea for this book came from the authors visit to a retirement home. Once I had come to terms with the method used by the author to tell the story I began to enjoy it immensely.
The main characters were brought to life with understanding for the older generation and humour The humour through the book was fairly understated and I could accept a little more as I enjoyed this different aspect to a murder/mystery.
I thought the plot was believable and the twists acceptable and I do hope this is not a one off!
I cannot wait to read this authors next book
Definitely an enjoyable read

This is such a fun and engaging read- I loved it! Osman's observations of the active, intelligent and sprightly retired community is sincerely portrayed and I am desperate to live there! The mystery is lightly told and keeps the reader thinking and laughing.
I eagerly await the second in the series and will definitely be recommending to friends, readers and book club.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Inrahim and Ron live in a retirement village. Close to eighty they are active with enquiring minds. Every Thursday they meet to try and solve unsolved murders at the very aptly named Thursday Murder Club. Then the unthinkable happens a murder happens right on their doorstep closely followed by a second so they have a live investigation. Working with the local police (somewhat reluctantly on the part of the police) their investigations bring them rather close to home.
Very amusingly and acutely observed this murder mystery, whilst rather tongue in cheek, cannot fail to amuse. Definitely had me hooked!

What a delightful, quirky murder mystery.
I'm always wary when I read that a book is meant to be "laugh out loud" as I rarely find that it is but this book did actually make me do just that. I loved the style of this book, to me the murder came second to the understated but genius observations of the characters.
The characters are well described and pretty believable (although I'm not too sure about the past exploits of one of them). The author lets the reader read between the lines and does not insult their intelligence..
This is not a gritty thriller, although there are a number of deaths, but a cleverly written engaging book with enough clues and red herrings to please mystery fans but the real pleasure is in the characters found within its pages.
A joy t0 read and I hope there are more like it to follow.
Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in return for my honest review.

This is not a genre I usually read but I have to say I really enjoyed it.
I found it a little slow at the beginning but it soon picked up and I found myself reading just a couple more pages. I didn’t expect the ending so I was pleasantly surprised. I’d definitely read more books by this author.

Four friends who live in a retirement village meet up every week to investigate cold cases. It’s not long before they involve themselves in 2 very recent murders as well.

The characters were likeable and there were a few funny moments, I also liked the idea of old friends playing detective. It was very much a cosy, murder mystery book.

I found it was a bit too long winded for my liking but having said that, it was okay.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was an excellent read, deeper and fuller than appeared within the lives of a group of friends living in a retirement community. Elizabeth had endless numbers of contacts in every field of business, crime and life in general, it was so tantalising to wonder what she did as a living years before. The main characters were so entertaining amid sinister goings on from years back coupled with several very sad events that tore at your heartstrings. . I loved that each and every little cameo story reached a conclusion although it was still a little confusing at the very end as we never found out how Penny committed her murder, a little more information on this event and how it affected John would have added to the overall finality of the book. It would be easy for Richard to write a follow up which I hope he does. I must admit, I didn't expect him to write such a light hearted novel with a leaning towards Midsomer Murders and Agatha Christie but nevertheless it was very enjoyable.

Set in a retirement complex where a group of OAP's meet on Thursdays to solve cold case murders. They suddenly find themselves trying to solve a murder that happens on their doorstep, can they beat the police to it?
Richard Osman's wit and charm are intertwined in a cosy, sleepy mystery, not unlike Midsommer Murders. A comfortable debut novel, I am looking forward to the development of the characters and reading the sequels.
I want to thank NetGalley, Penguin Books (UK) and author Richard Osman for a pre-publication copy of this book to review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin Books, and Richard Osman, for this ARC in return for my honest review. From watching Richard on Pointless, House of Games, and guest appearances on shows like The Last Leg and Would I Lie to You, I was excited to have the chance to read this book and I wasn't disappointed. A funny, charming whodunnit with enough red herrings to keep even Columbo guessing, I absolutely loved this book. I hope there's more to come.

This is a gentle Murder Mystery rather than an edge of your seat thriller but has some endearing characters and the gentle dry humour that we might expect from Richard Osman.
I didn't engage with the book immediately as I found the writing style a bit irritating until I settled into the novel and began to ignore the style. The use of present tense, mostly pronoun sentence openers and simple sentence structures definitely delayed me becoming immersed in the plot, however the characters captured me in the end and I did enjoy it. It had the feel of a Sunday evening television drama, perhaps it has potential there.
I would read another book in this series but I won't be counting the days until I can!

Being slightly familiar with the work of Mr Osman via his television work on Pointless and various panel shows as well as his writing on twitter I had a feeling I would enjoy this first novel from him. I was not disappointed.

The book revolves around the residents of a retirement village, local constabulary, some "businessmen" and a murder which occurs.

The characters were well developed and the narrative from 2 perspectives one being that of one of the retirees.

There is plenty of light humour throughout and enough twists and turns to keep you going through the pages. I would recommend this to anyone else looking for a good read and Mr Osman has set himself a fairly high bar for any subsequent novel.

My thanks to Penguin Books for the advance copy through Netgalley.

How I would love to retire to a community such as that described in this book. I found the characters in the book the most enjoyable part, they are to an extent stereotypical and very much tongue in cheek. Who wouldn't want an Elizabeth when trying to solve a crime. However, it was this love of the characters and the Thursday Murder Club itself that made the book for me and the crimes and the perpetrators of the crimes were much less important and it is for this reason that I cannot give the book 5 stars. All the characters retirement community, criminals and police are well drawn and interesting. However when we look at the crimes and who committed them there is just too much there, for me it does not hold together particularly well and I found it a little unbelievable. It is a great first book and yes would read anything more about this community so look forward to the next one.

Excellent debut, with believable characters, oodles of red herrings, a plot to keep you rapidly page-turning to the end and some genuine 'laugh out loud' moments!!

Set in a retirement village filled with a variety of people with time on their hands, different skill sets and the Thursday Murder Club which looks at cold cases. Then there is one, then two murders, which they decide to solve, with help from the police. Everything is important - the locations, the characters and their former occupations, their relatives.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking for an ARC.