Name: Doug Belshaw's review of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Item: The Thursday Murder Club
Rating: 3.5
Author: Doug Belshaw

Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when 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.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Thursday Murder Club #1

The Thursday Murder Club

Aistė

'Some people love their children more than they love their partner,' says Ibrahim, 'and some people love their partner more than their children. And no one can ever admit to either thing.'

In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you. So I'm putting today in my pocket and I'm off to bed.

Last time I had been in London was for Jersey Boys with the gang, which was a while ago now. We used to go three or four times a year if we could. There were four of us. We would do a matinee and be back on the train before rush hour. In Marks they do a gin and tonic in a can, if you've ever had it? We would drink them on the train home and giggle ourselves silly. The gang has all gone now. Two cancers and a stroke. We hadn't known that Jersey Boys would be our last trip. You always know when it's your first time, don't you? But you rarely know when it's your final time. Anyway, I wish I had kept the programme.

Cassidy Nolan

In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you.

You always know when it’s your first time, don’t you? But you rarely know when it’s your final time.

After a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children.

 is the word. We wouldn’t choose to socialize; we have very different interests. I like Ron, I suppose, but he can be very difficult.”

“And Elizabeth’s manner is off-putting.”

Elizabeth nods as well. “There it is, I’m afraid. I’ve always been an acquired taste. Since school.”

“I’ve got cataracts. You could show me a library card and I’d let you in.”

Fenômeno editorial que o mundo não via desde o lançamento de Harry Potter, O Clube do Crime das Quintas-Feiras é um exemplo concreto de como uma história de mistério e assassinato pode ser extremamente engraçada. Toda quinta, em um retiro para aposentados no sudeste da Inglaterra, quatro idosos se reúnem para — segundo consta na agenda da sala de reunião — discutir ópera japonesa. Mas não é bem isso que acontece ali dentro. Elizabeth, Ibrahim, Joyce e Ron usam o horário para debater casos policiais antigos sem solução, confiantes de que podem trazer justiça às vítimas e encontrar os responsáveis por algumas daquelas atrocidades do passado. Com todos os integrantes acima dos setenta anos, o Clube do Crime das Quintas-Feiras não é a equipe de detetives mais convencional em que se conseguiria pensar, mas com certeza está mais do que acostumada a fortes emoções. Afinal, Joyce foi enfermeira por décadas, Ibrahim ajudou pacientes psiquiátricos em situações dificílimas, Ron era um reconhecido líder sindical e Elizabeth... bom, digamos que assassinatos e redes de contatos sigilosas não eram nenhuma novidade para ela. Quando um empreiteiro local com projetos bastante questionáveis na cidade aparece morto, o grupo tem a oportunidade de seguir as pistas de um caso atual. Apostando em seus semblantes inocentes e habilidades investigativas estranhamente eficazes — além de trocas de favores clandestinas com a polícia, que, apesar de todos os esforços, parece estar sempre um passo atrás de seus colegas amadores —, os quatro amigos embarcam em uma aventura na qual as mortes do presente se entrelaçam com antigos segredos, e em que saber demais pode trazer consequências perigosas.

O Clube do Crime das Quintas-Feiras

Catarina

Eu daria as boas-vindas a um ladrão. Não me importava nada de ter visitas 

Liv Gliese Johnsen

There is a large oil painting in a huge gold frame above the fireplace. It is a painting of lan, carrying a sword. There is a stufed eagle in front of it. Wings outstretched.

Grace

Ron has stopped speaking, and Ibrahim can see he has gone somewhere very deep inside himself, lost to memories. Ibrahim knows to keep quiet, to let Ron go where he needs to go, think what he needs to think. Something Ibrahim has Seen so many timnes over the years, with people in that very armchair. It is his favorite thing about his job. Seeing someone go deep inside themselves to access things they never knew were there. Ron tilts his head up; he is ready to talk again. Ibrahim leans forward, just a touch. Where has Ron just been?

Ariel Correa

Chris takes a swig of Diet Coke. He sometimes worries he is addicted to it. He had once read a headline about Diet Coke that was so worrying he had chosen not to read the article.

Faith Wright

You always know when it's your first time, don’t you? But you rarely know when its your final time. 

All of the small comments like these throughout the book had my jaw on the floor with how much this book could break my heart and make me laugh at the same time.

Lyndsy Argento

‘It all rather depends, doesn’t it? On whether you can hear me or not? If you can hear, Penny, you’ll know that the man you love has just walked off into the night to die. All because he wanted to protect you. And that all comes down to the choice you made all those years ago. And I think that’s punishment enough, Penny.’

‘And if you can’t hear me, then you got away with it, dear. Bravo!’

Amanda Shameem

"He's all the things that can go wrong with a man if you leave him to his own devices."

Franzi

Mine was the risk of a young man and hers was the risk of a young woman, and that was a greater risk in those days, wasn't it?

Elizabeth can see Chris Hudson now, fresh off the plane she guessed, running as best as he can. She gives him a friendly wave and sees the relief on his face. Both that she's still alive and that he can now stop running. 

I love how they constantly use their old age for their advantage

"And with four subjects, all of whom are quite happy to go to court, smile happily and pretend to mistake the judge for their granddaughter and ask why she doesn't visit often enough. The whole process is difficult, costly and time-consuming, and archives nothing . No one is going to prison, no one is getting a fine, no one's even going to be picking litter from the road side." 

Ron is insisting on macking everyone out of ten and the more whisky hear drinks, the higher the scores are climbing. Maureen from Larkin had just got a seven, largely because she had once pushed in front of Ron at dinner, which "spoke a thousand words". 

Though not a quick exodus because you know that getting out of a garden chair at our age is a military operation. Once you are in one, you can be in it for the day. 

Like three pages ago Ian boasted about not paying taxes btw

Ian Ventham didn't want to join in the fun and told Donna and DCI Hudson that he paid their wages. Donna said in that case could she ask him about a pay rise [...]

Sit-in strike but make it old British people 

"Radio Kent says it's going to be lovely all morning, if some of you would like to join us? We could make a day out of it if anyone's got a picnic table they're not using?" 

Ron turns to the crowd. "Who's up for a nice sit down and a cup of tea?"

"Crawling in at six thirty in the morning to dig up our nuns."

[...] the news spread by landline alone - Ibrahim had tried to set up a WhatsApp group in February, but it hadn't caught on. 

Doug Belshaw

taylor

I was very surprised by how touched I was by this book. Yes it’s a murder mystery but it is also so heartfelt and emotional all at once 

Abbi Brown 

An easy read with short chapters and some humour - which was exactly what I needed. Disappointing, rushed ending, but I'll try another in the series.

Rob Deakin

Was going to set this aside as a DNF after the first 100 or so pages but it picks up and turns into what happened to be a really good book, that in the end I thoroughly enjoyed.

I enjoyed reading this. Some mysteries tend to draw out the drama for so long that the reader gets lost in figuring out who dunnit. This book had the right pace -- fast-paced but done in a way that felt like a camera panning from one character's pov to another. I like that it didn't focus on one mystery. The more that the murder club got involved with the murder mystery, the more secrets they uncovered, and the more that they realized how connected they all were. How the events connected didn't feel forced. Am excited to read the second book!

Naomi P

Kath

3.8 ⭐️
Well, I'm adding a point eight star for the funny antics of the characters—like I can imagine these seniors throwing banters to each other. But when it comes to the plot or the whole story, I feel like it is something that I find really hard to immerse myself in. There is nothing notable twist for me, or maybe because I was kinda expecting a story that will put me on the edge of my seat. But unfortunately for me, it's not that kind of story. A lot of things happened, and I was waiting for a conclusion that would leave me in awe, but then the ending for me was such a meh moment. Overall, I think this is going to be one of the books that I'd definitely forget what the story is about.

I'm still thankful for that one redditor who recommended this book to me.

Patrick Book

A solid 3.75, charming and lightly humorous old people solving mysteries will never go out of style.

Absolutely loved it. So well written, had me laughing and sobbing and then laughing again all within a few pages. A heartbreaking story of loneliness but also a heartwarming story on friendship and humanity. 

Alyssa deRaad

This was delightful. Basically a murder mystery being investigated by a bunch of oldies in a retirement home. They were witty, stubborn, funny, resourceful, charming and extremely lovable. It's the perfect book if you're looking for an escape. 

Saffia

loveable characters in a really vibrant setting. actually kept me guessing until the end. BUT could’ve done with way less fat jokes.

this felt like a “book” .. all loose ends wrapped up and cute but, kinda dragged a bit and took too many liberties and exactly what you expect to happen

Chit

Caroline

I took a long time to finish this one coz i got caught up on some personal life issues and now I'm glad I finally finished it. 

The book have a simple plot. As the name suggest, there is a murder club which meets every Thursday in a jigsaw room in a retirement home and the club consist of four 80th year old retired friends, who meet to discuss unsolved murder cases for fun till one (or for that matter two) really murders take place. The murder club is all set to solve the murder cases (even before the police) and catch the murderers, while they reveal other dark secrets buried in their lives. 

The Thursday murder club is definitely a very slow paced book but the murders and mystery did keep me hooked till the very end. There is also a huge cast of characters but the author has connected each one so well, you won't be getting confused. The four main members of the club are also very likeable. However the story is mainly told to us by Joyce through her personal diary which she writes regularly. 

The Thursday murder club is surely not your regular murder mystery kind of book, it was funny as well as intense at times. Do I recommend this book? 100% yes.

Luke Harkness

What a fun and unique mystery book

Richard Osman's personality is oozing out of this book and you can sense his wit, intelligence and personality in all of the characters and the well-crafted plot.

This was incredibly enjoyable to read and I'd recommend to almost anyone.

ah i love this book. the characters are great, and the most enjoyable part of the whole story. though it also makes me feel really depressed, like i loved reading about older characters still living their best lives in their 70s-80s. but also some of the chapters where they discuss their age, or diseases, or their friends dying im like damn.

i will also say this is not really a typical murder mystery, id say its more cozy mystery or like only murders in the building mystery. i also forgot it was a mystery towards like the middle of the book and was just enjoying the banter between the characters lol. which is fine by me, because i don't like mystery mystery all too much, but if you go in expecting that i can see how you might not like this book. 

also i did almost dnf this book because the structure of how its written can be kind of confusing at first, the chapters are short and there is a lot of pov switching. but once i made it to 100 pages i got the flow and couldn't put the book down. 

alice l

ah i love this book. the characters are great, and the most enjoyable part of the whole story. though it also makes me feel really depressed, like i loved reading about older characters still living their best lives in their 70s-80s. but also some of the chapters where they discuss their age, or diseases, or their friends dying im like damn.

i will also say this is not really a typical murder mystery, id say its more cozy mystery or like only murders in the building mystery. i also forgot it was a mystery towards like the middle of the book and was just enjoying the banter between the characters lol. which is fine by me, because i don't like mystery mystery all too much, but if you go in expecting that i can see how you might not like this book. 

also i did almost dnf this book because the structure of how its written can be kind of confusing at first, the chapters are short and there is a lot of pov switching. but once i made it to 100 pages i got the flow and couldn't put the book down. 

Sandrin

When a colorful bunch of charming pensioners invite you to tea and some murder solving how can you say no?

I loved everything about it. The story just naturally pulls you in with one mystery after another, but the characters are what makes you stay. They are funny, resourceful, quirky, brave, warm, clever, and sooooo down-to-earth, so utterly and unapologetically human that it breaks your heart. 

Very bittersweet and incredibly well written.

Ana Luiza

Não tinha muitas expectativas pra esse livro, não esperava um graaande mistério, então acabei não me decepcionando. Se eu estivesse esperando encontrar um suspensezao a nota teria sido mais baixa. Nesse livro, o foco não é quem matou quem. Durante todo o livro não consegui me importar com a resolução do mistério. Mas mesmo assim, continuei interessada na leitura porque acompanhar esse grupo de amigos idosos interagindo foi sensacional. Li em inglês o que deixa o humor britânico ácido bem mais acentuado, não sei como colocaram isso na tradução. O final foi uma coisa muito louca, um plot twist atrás do outro que não fazia sentido nenhum mas pelo menos foi bem engraçado.
3 estrelas bem gostosinho, os personagens são muito legais. Pretendo ler o próximo só pra saber mais sobre eles :)

ash b

Sonia Grgas

I liked this a lot. The characters were interesting and likable, even the criminals! The one drawback was that there was too much of everything: plot, characters etc. I’m looking forward to reading the next one.

Bethany s. 

** spoiler alert **
           2.5 stars. Not terrible but I’m not at all moved. There was so much potential with this premise. But gosh…the more I think about this book, the more irritated I become with it. 

I kinda feel like the author wanted to keep me hostage in the sweet little world he created. I’d love to live there and now plan for a retirement community to be in my future. 

However charming the characters are supposed to be, I think the plot just falls apart in the postmortem. I marched onward through a very long-winded story that was set up as a journey to find out who murdered Tony Curran…. Only to arrive at the end and essentially be told that it didn’t really matter who murdered Tony Curran? Because they like the person who murdered Tony Curran, and they’re content with having him fix their windows. 

I’m usually okay with characters finding their own versions of morality, as this is typically reflective of society. But it doesn’t work well when you sabotage the value of your own plot like that. It makes me feel like I wasted my time. 

I enjoyed the story but I won’t be reading the second. I really wish the first book had just focused on one murder instead of convoluting the storyline the way it did. I wouldn’t necessarily say it was confusing but each subplot really only served to detract from the other. The author fell into what I have deemed “the Christie trap” - one may think a good helping of red herring (or in this case, five) will keep the reader on the edge of their seat, but Christie mastered the art because she integrated the red herring into the characters that already existed. This book failed because it introduced SO many things just to throw off the reader. Red herrings only work when your reader cares about the outcome.

So, I shall leave the Chase behind, pleased I read it but glad it is done :)

This story is great but I was a little disappointed ! The 5 main characters are very funny and well written. Every one was different and kinda de opposite sometimes, but they individually give something to offer to the group. The plot of the crime and investigation was normal . Not something out of the box or very intense . It was normal but catching and light for those who likes soft crime. The plot twists in the end were some chocking others predicable but gave the hype that this book have . I still think the hype isn’t deserved, but other than that the book is great for a light read with a little mind puzzle for who is the killer

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders. But when 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. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Archiell

3.5✩

Percebo a hype mas não é uma masterpiece.

Os plot twists salvaram o livro

Regan Martin

Brandy

For some of us reading a 115 chapter of murder mystery book may sound intimidating but trust me you will enjoy reading The Thursday Murder Club.

The story is about 4 retired people who live in a retirement village enjoying their murder-solving club every Thursday until one day a real murder case happened in their beloved Coopers Chase Retirement Village.

What make this book interesting is that the narrating is viewed from regular people, not a police or a detective. This way you will get a new insight on how these regular people trying to solve a murder case.

Doug Belshaw &
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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Doug Belshaw &The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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Join the club

Doug Belshaw &
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman