When I began my year of reading dangerously™ I had no idea what would result from a mystery-novel-a-month habit, having never given the genre much attention. Now that I’ve worked my way through the twelfth such book this year, I can honestly say that the final installment may have been the biggest surprise of all.

Who knew there was such a thing as a light, witty, and — most surprising of all — big-hearted mystery novel? Well, I do now.

The Thursday Murder Club (2020) by Richard Osman is centered around Coopers Chase, a high-end peaceful British retirement village on the grounds of a former convent. We soon discover that Coopers Chase was built with drug money by the “loathsome” Ian Ventham and maintained by his dangerous associate, Tony Curran. Only the chapel and cemetery still suggest their original use, as the rest of the facility has been repurposed into living spaces, a restaurant, and meeting facilities, including the Jigsaw Room. There four residents turned septuagenarian sleuths meet weekly to discuss unsolved crimes in “a two-hour slot free between Art History and Conversational French. They book the room under the name ‘Japanese Opera: A Discussion’, which ensures they were always left in peace.” Together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

The four club members could not be more different. The leader, Elizabeth Best, is secretive about her background as an ex-spy. Very no-nonsense, Elizabeth can always call-in favors from around the world when needed. Joyce Meadowcroft, the most recent member, is a widow who was a career nurse. She was asked to join the club after accurately estimating how long it would take someone to bleed to death from a particular type of stab wound. Ron Ritchie is the tattooed former union organizer who is not afraid to mix-it-up with anyone, and who doesn’t believe a single word anyone ever tells him. It is a surprisingly good skill to have when reading police reports. Ron’s son Jason is a well-known former boxer now resigned to working on celebrity ice-skating shows. Ibrahim Arif, an Egyptian-born semi-retired psychiatrist, is the fourth member, bringing very useful organizational and observational skills to the club.

The four are discussing old murder cases culled from the files of Elizabeth’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who’s now comatose in the village’s nursing home. But that routine’s about to be disrupted. First, we learn that Ventham has big plans for the future just as soon as he’s removed the nuns’ bodies from the cemetery. Ventham also fires the combustible Tony Curren and replaces him with Bogdan Jankowski, who is a willing but wary associate for Ventham.

When Curren turns up murdered in the kitchen of his nearby home with a strange photo that includes Jason Ritchie lying beside his head, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly has a very real murder mystery with real-life consequences on their hands.

About this time Elizabeth spots a new member of the local police force who, having just moved to the area from South London, meets the group after giving a home security talk that Ron and Elizabeth immediately disrupt. They all like the ambitious officer, who in turn recognizes their sharp mental and observational skills, so Elizabeth pulls strings to get PC Donna De Freitas placed on the local murder team. She is partnered with team leader Detective Chief Inspector Chris Hudson, and although they differ in age (she is 26 and he’s 51) and background, they hit it off and soon trust each other and — more importantly — see the value the Thursday Murder Club can bring to the case.

Soon more bodies begin to turn up, including Ventham who is poisoned while arguing with the residents as they try to save the cemetery. Not all the deaths are murders, and there are poignant moments as the retirees navigate aging and end-of-life decisions. Osman is a very good writer with clear affection for these retirees who maintain their spark for life. There are twists and turns throughout that are as surprising as the final outcome. The Thursday Murder Club is a book that will lead you to laugh, tear up, think, and ultimately compel you to turn page-after-page until you’ve reached the satisfying conclusion.

Recommended by my friend and former colleague, Barbara O’Reilly, The Thursday Murder Club was a very rewarding end to my year of reading mystery novels. I’m now hooked but won’t be so rigorous as to include one each month. However . . . I suspect we’ll be seeing many more in the coming months.

More to come . . .

DJB

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The Weekly Reader links to the works of other writers I’ve enjoyed. I hope you find something that makes you laugh, think, or cry. 

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Image by Angelo Giordano from Pixabay