The Bullet That Missed: (The Thursday Murder Club 3)

The third title in the now-famous and highly-popular Thursday Murder club series is the one I've most enjoyed. I thoroughly appreciated the first two books but The Bullet That Missed shows Richard Osman at his best - he's in his stride and clearly enjoying his writing life.The gang at the retirement village are assembled to investigate the case of Bethany Waites' death many years ago...another cold case for the intrepid retirees under the leadership of ex-MI5 agent Elizabeth Best, her friends Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim - and Alan, Joyce's dog. This time we also have a tv studio, a quiz show, and a few of Elizabeth's old adversaries in the mix. More deaths...more threats...a cast of many new characters. It's all here. And Stephen, Elizabeth's forgetful and less than well husband, also gets involved with surprising results. Bogdan is back and there are love interests for several characters too.Let Richard Osman entertain you with 91 chapters that whizz along taking us from Sussex to Staffordshire and into the heart of London, with in-jokes - not slapstick comedy - all told in Osman's inimitable spare prose, so well-crafted it never gets in the way of the reader's enjoyment or speed.My own hobby of looking up places on an internet map has been well catered for - see the sky pool, the new American Embassy and the nearby publishing house. All these places are referenced in Osman's acknowledgement and his sense of fun is woven throughout this novel. He is a generous author who uses his own intellect and quiz knowledge to keep his readers glued to the pages as the mystery and adventure unfolds.This is more than a cracking good tale - it is a masterclass in making writing look easy - because Richard Osman has truly found his calling. Book Four, due in September 2023, will be much-anticipated.

The third in this fantastic series, sees our group of retirees involved in yet another murder case as well as the complications of someone threatening Elizabeth and those she cares about. To begin with, the Thursday Murder Club have picked a new case to investigate, the disappearance of journalist Bethany Waite; whose car was discovered having driven off a cliff, but no body found. This is a cold case and, although it has been largely forgotten, TV personality, Mike Waghorn, has always wondered what happened to his old friend. This has the advantage that Joyce is a big fan, and we have the delight of her visiting various television studios and getting very involved in her reactions and her brilliant, almost childlike enthusiasm. In addition, we have some romance, as Bogdan and Donna have partnered up and Ron Ritchie meets Pauline, a make-up artist who works with Mike Waghorn and DCI Chris Hudson is still seeing Donna's mum, Patrice. Joyce also has her eye on a fellow resident, so, as she would say, watch this space.While investigating the case, there are some great side stories. Elizabeth has been receiving threatening text messages and Ibrahim becomes involved in visiting Connie Johnson, crime boss from a former book. Of course, what Osman excels in is exploring worlds he knows and using this for his characters. From television studios to self-published authors, there are many sly digs at people and places. There is, also, quite a lot about age, as is to be expected with our characters. The ongoing issues with Elizabeth's beloved Stephen, the difficultly Ron feels when asked to reveal his elderly body in a massage parlour and completely leave his comfort zone, to characters who may be wealthy, powerful or violent, but who also feel lonely, miss playing snooker with friends, or just realise they have no friends. This is intelligent, humorous and moving, as well as being a great crime series. I look forward to the next outing.

Life is never quiet for long with the Thursday Murder Club! They seem to have a knack for trouble! This time they are involved with the death of a newsreader ten years ago & the death in prison of a suspected money launderer. Elizabeth is also involved in a dilemma as her MI5/6 past catches up with her & she has to chose to shoot an old KGB agent or if she doesn't Joyce, her best friend, will die.As usual this was an enjoyable romp with the introduction of new characters & surprises thrown in. There are a lot of very amusing moments, but also the sad ones, where Elizabeth worries about her husband's lessening grip on things. Somehow I didn't find this one quite as good as the previous two in the series, but I'm still looking forward to the next one.

Osman has such an easy-to-read style that it's impossible to spend only a few minutes in the company of The Thursday Murder Club. Beware - you'll miss your bus/train stop. I love the detail in the relationships between the characracters, I love the humour, I love the plot and the twists and turns, and in this one particularly I love the "didn't see that coming" ending. The Bullet That Missed has everything: murder (of course), romance, an internet celebrity, a news anchor with a secret, an ex-KGB colonel, a Scandinavian would-be assassin and a dog called Alan. If you read nothing else this year, read this and thank me later.