If Midsomer murders had a book style, this would be it
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The Blurb:
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.
But when a local property developer shows up dead, 'The Thursday Murder Club' find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
The four friends, 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?
The Review:
This is a quintessentially British murder mystery classic. Set in a retirement village, our 4 protagonists have all lived very different lives, but they come together when their mutual obsession for poring over cold cases, is set on fire when an actual murder occurs within their midst. This is just the type of book I needed right now. It is as warm and light hearted as a crime thriller could possibly be, with lots of tongue-in cheek humorous moments.
"It was Thursday because there was a two hour slot free in the jigsaw room between art history and conversational French. It was booked, and is still booked, under the name 'Japanese opera - a discussion', which ensured they were always left in peace"
You'll need to suspend a certain amount of disbelief for this one, as several murders take place within quite a small community, (hence the Midsomer Murders comparison) and the level of coincidences that rack up in order to tie it all together are quite convoluted.
But the characters are wonderful. Elizabeth is like Miss Marple on acid; these are not your usual depictions of retirees! Osman carefully depicts characters that may be old, but are in no way 'doddery'. In fact, they are the antithesis of how old people are usually portrayed in fiction, which is what made this a breath of fresh air.
In amongst the silliness and shenanigans, this murder mystery is very well crafted and also treats you to some moving and poignant moments. It deals with the concept of 'ageing gracefully' in a really sensitive way. I often found myself snorting with laughter, shortly followed with a sharp intake of breath at a touching moment beautifully depicted.
This falls into the genre that I like to call 'cosy crime' and is a great one to buy your mum for Christmas. Wholly recommended if you're looking for something light, whimsical and engaging (if a bit silly).