The Thursday Murder Club

 Synopsis

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crime; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the friends suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case. They might be senior citizens, but they are cleverer than most. As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

Loved

• The gang! I've always loved older people, even as a teenager. I love their quirkiness, their wisdom, their experiences, and their distance from trends, fads, and things that just don't matter that much. These four have all of those qualities, and each is endearing and lovable- Elizabeth's cleverness, Joyce's sweetness, Ibrahim's thoughtful intellect, and Ron's abrasive passion for everything. The funnest part of the story is watching these four in action as they use their past experiences, wit, and senior citizen status to take charge and solve the mystery. 

• Older people. What a perfect setting for a murder mystery: a retirement community. As I said, I've always loved older people, and another reason why is because many of them are so predictable in their quirky habits and ineptitude with technology. I laughed out loud many times at the little nods to older people and their universally predictable habits and views. While much of it is quite funny, this story also addresses the pain and loneliness of getting older- losing spouses, becoming ill, and being overlooked by society. I think we forget many times that getting older can be very lonely and painful, and this was a sweet reminder of those challenges.

• The sweetness. While much of this story was detective work and funny old people moments, it is also quite tender and moving. Mothers and daughters reconciling, unconditional love for a spouse whose mind is failing, comforting a friend as they grieve, etc. The relationships of the gang with each other and everyone they interact with are filled with empathy and understanding, and even some tenderness and affection, which was a nice padding for the murders and deaths happening.

• Other things to love:

• Intriguing mystery with lots of unexpected twists
• Two lovable police officers who are just as endearing as the gang itself
• The English countryside setting complete with dry British humor and reserve
• Seamless writing that moves the story along quickly
• Multiple POVs to give us more pieces to the mystery puzzle

Didn't Love

• The mystery. Everyone told me going into this to read it for the characters, not the mystery, and I totally agree with that. The mystery's resolution was a little strange to me, and I didn't really connect with it. However, the mystery was much more interesting than I thought it would be after so many people said it wasn't good. It is well written and definitely entertaining. But I would say read the book for the characters and their relationships instead of the mystery itself.

Content

• Language: 
• Some uses of "damn" and "hell."

• Sexual content: 
• Two older men have a short conversation about whether they are still able to have sex, and reminisce how it used to be for them.

• Violence
• Two on-page murders happen, one from being bludgeoned and one from a Fentanyl syringe. 
• Lots of violence referenced to that happened in the past- people shooting/stabbing each other. Not gory or bloody, just facts stated.
• Lots of talk about murders, death, suicide, etc.


• Other themes: 
• Suicide. Two secondary characters commit suicide in the story.
• Drugs talked about in some of the story.

Overall Thoughts

This is such a little gem. Richard Osman is a wonderful human for thinking to write a murder mystery set in a retirement community- it's perfect! I went into this expecting it to be funny and quirky with a little mystery. That definitely delivered with its dry British humor and friendly pokes at older people. The mystery is entertaining with plenty of twists and turns throughout. What I didn't expect was the sweetness and deeper themes of friends supporting each other through pain and grief, and the empathy and tenderness that comes from those relationships. I definitely laughed outloud, but did not expect to get teary! If you love older people, this is not to be missed. Don't read it for the mystery because you can find better mysteries other places, but read this for its hilarity, cleverness, wit, pluck, and surprising sweetness. I can't wait for more adventures with the Thursday Murder Club!