The Thursday Murder Club

Book Talk #19

This book is delightful.

Set in the Cooper’s Chase Retirement Village in Kent, England, it recounts the activities of the four members of the Thursday Murder Club, who meet in a room and review old murder cases seeking a solution. Elizabeth, the driving force behind the club, has a mysterious past that allows her to call “friends” who can access private financial records and criminal background checks. She also seems to have a skill set not typical of a seventy-something-year-old middle-class British lady. She lies and intimidates with abandon in her gentle old lady way. Joyce is an ex-nurse with a distant daughter. She is still mourning the death of her beloved husband, but this does not prevent her from being flirty with every man she encounters. Ron Richie is the group's firebrand, former agitator, union organizer, and protester of just about anything. He has a former boxer (among other things) for a son and is always up for a confrontation. Finally, there is Ibrahim, a retired psychiatrist who is soft spoken, measured, and the voice of reason in the group. He is Ron’s best friend, and together they make an excellent team.

The story is told from the point of view of all of the protagonists, with some chapters being dedicated to Joyce’s diary. I listened to an interview with Richard Osman, and he said that Joyce was based a great deal upon his mother.

The novel centers around two murders, the owners of the retirement village. Both shady characters in different ways, and their deaths result in Ron’s son being suspected. DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna de Frietas are assigned the case and are at first annoyed by the interference of the elderly residents and then amazed when Elizabeth can help them gather information they would not otherwise be able to access. The chemistry between the two police officers gets better as the novel progresses, and their working together is the result of Elizabeth’s machinations.

These four characters are such unlikely friends, and the plot is so tightly woven that each twist, each detail of the past revealed, is a surprise. It is also very funny. I laughed out loud in a few places. The elderly people are likable and charming. I was reminded a little bit of my beloved Southern Sisters series in that the protagonists are all past retirement and generally dismissed as being too old to be of any use in any way. Never underestimate the elderly is one of the themes here.

I was so happy with this novel that I dove right into the second one in the series, The Man Who Died Twice. In this book, Elizabeth’s past is explained and comes back to haunt her in a very unexpected way.

This book has been made into a movie, which will first be released in theatres (this year) and then stream on Netflix. I am looking forward to it, but I sincerely hope they don’t ruin it. I waited a long time for Towards Zero, a favorite Agatha Christie novel, to be released here in the U.S., and it was awful. Honestly, I feel as though all of these Christie movies have screenplays written by people who hated her work.

On the bright side, Netflix’s series The Residence was great fun. A traditional murder mystery, set in the White House, with lots of twists and humor. Very much in the style of Knives Out. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What have you been reading lately?