Full Book Review of The Thursday Murder Club Book One
Check out my full book review of the first book in The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. Start this fun murder mystery series that takes place in a retirement community with some unexpected main characters.
Here’s a short synopsis of the book:
“In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; 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 Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it’s too late?“
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Full Book Review Without Spoilers
This is the perfect book if you’re looking for a light read with enjoyable characters that you can read in just a few sittings. It really is the definition of a ‘cosy murder mystery’, so don’t expect anything too heavy or complicated when it comes to solving the actual murders. But even still, it was fun to try to figure out this mystery with the main characters.
If you go into the book knowing and expecting a cozy mystery, then I recommend it. Senior citizens may be the last characters you expect to be entertaining, but these characters are both interesting and amusing. They both make you slightly forget about the real killer (in a good way), and also help you stay engaged in the story.
The pace of the book does move fast for not a lot of action scenes or any high intensity. And you just want to keep reading about the characters even when there’s not much going on with the murders. So, this is a good option for a binge-read on a trip or in a short setting, or if you want a light, fun read with mystery.
Characters
The main characters are really what make this book such an enjoyable read. The members of the Thursday Murder Club each bring their own unique flare to the story and add to the charm of the group even though they’re very different. The mystery part of the book helps the personality and backgrounds of the characters come out.
Plot
This is a very straightforward plot with a low level of intensity, but the mystery part is still good! Parts of the story can get a little slow as there’s a few side tracks and red herrings, but the short chapters really help with the flow of the story. Another part of the enjoyability of the book is that the plot of the mysteries is believable, but unusual enough to make you keep reading.
Writing
Osman really shines at writing his characters and setting up an intriguing, but believable mystery to solve. I liked his light writing style for this type of mystery book, and he makes criminal fiction a fun read.
Full Book Review With Spoilers
You’ve been warned that from here on out there will be spoilers.
While I do also like reading more intense, in-depth crime fiction, I really liked this murder mystery as a pleasant and entertaining read. The unsolved murders are a fun mystery to solve while getting to know these fun characters. You might not think elderly people make good detectives, but these four will prove you wrong.
I definitely thought the conclusion of the second two murders was more satisfying than the answer to Tony’s murder. For the majority of the book, I didn’t care as much about Tony’s murder, but more about character’s stories and the other murders. I liked that while they did mention Penny throughout the book, you never really gave her or John a second thought.
Most of the action and the actual solving of the murders happens at the very end of the book, but the rest is still entertaining to read because of the characters. By the end, I started to even like the police detectives who are more minor characters, but I hope we learn more about them in the later books.
Pros of the Book
One of the major pros for me was that the book didn’t end how you expected, not only with the revealing of the murderers, but also that Bogdan never gets caught. I know some people felt that this left loose ends, but I liked that it wasn’t just the police officers arresting everyone in the end. It made you think what may happen, if something else deserves to happen, or even if any of this is justified.
Another pro is definitely the lot of quirky characters, especially from the retirement home. Each had a personality that really shown through the writing and added to the charm and ‘cosiness’ of the book. And I like that we don’t get the full story on Elizabeth, yet, so you have to keep reading the series.
Cons of the Book
One of the few cons of the book for me (and a lot of people I’ve talked to) is I wasn’t super invested in the actual murder part. The characters were great, but, towards the middle of the book, finding the murderer slowed down. I didn’t feel super invested, especially in the murder of Tony Curran, and the actual resolution of the murder plot didn’t seem like a big part of the story.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a wonderful pick for a light-hearted mystery (if such a thing exists around three murders). The book is well-written to keep you reading throughout the whole with a nice twist at the end that keeps you guessing right into the last chapters. There’s a lot of great characters to like in this one that really make you want to read the next book.
You can find the book here.
I have a full summary of the book here if you need a refresher on any of the main points.
Rating- 4.25 out of 5 stars
This was really an enjoyable book to read, and I had very few complaints knowing that I was reading this type of murder mystery. Even with all the murder happening, the characters were enjoyable to read about, and the pace really kept things moving. It’s a great binge read, for a sitting or two, without being too intense.
Here’s how I rate all my books: My Rating System
Who Would Enjoy Reading?
If you like murder mysteries that aren’t too violent, intense, or heavy, this is a great book for you. This is a cosy murder mystery that’s just an enjoyable read. There’s still plenty of twists in the story, but without the brutal killing or psychological thriller aspects of some crime novels.
What to Read After The Thursday Murder Club
Whether you continue on with The Thursday Murder Club series or try a new book, there’s tons of great murder mysteries out there! These are just a few with the same feel as this book.
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
To continue on in this series with these same main characters, try the second book The Man Who Died Twice. I’m currently reading it, and you can get a copy here.
The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz
If you like a good mystery with well written characters and plot twists, try this series that I really enjoyed. Less cozy than The Thursday Murder Club but more of a traditional detective murder mystery. You can find the book here.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
If you are looking for another cosy murder mystery with a great twist at the end, check out this one from the queen of murder mystery. You can get the book here.
