The Thursday Murder Club

Thursday Murder Club, Book 1

By: Richard Osman

Narrated by: Lesley Manville, Richard Osman, Marian Keyes

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The first book in the number one best-selling, multi-million copy selling series by TV presenter Richard Osman.

Read by Lesley Manville, soon-to-be star of The Crown, and featuring an exclusive Q&A between Richard Osman and Marian Keyes.

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

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 80, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

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

CrimeFest Audible Sounds of Crime winner: Best Audiobook 2021.

©2019 Richard Osman (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The best escapist listen of the year.... [Lesley Manville] skilfully immerses herself in Richard Osman's characters, making the most of his comic flair." (The Times, Audiobook of the Week)

"Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so very funny." (Marian Keyes)

"A great read, I really enjoyed it." (Graham Norton)

"Talks collapsed late last night."

The inhabitants of Cooper's Chase Retirement Village might be elderly but they have !let none of their personality traitts and only some of their faculties. And acting forgetful and helplessly innocent can conceal a multitude of sins. When a murder takes place locally, the four members of the Thurday Murder Club replace the cold case files for the current crime, generously allowing the local police detectives to occasionally assist.
This is a delightful, and convoluted story of misdeeds, friendship, love and death, and very much character led. Written partially in the first person through a quirky diary written by one of the Club as well as being viewed from the perspective of several other protagonists, the reader is gently led through the twists and turns of the lives of all of the characters, good humour oozing generously throughout, to reveal some surprising conclusions. Excellent personality development makes these very varied protagonists real life, living people still very much alive despite, or perhaps because of, their advanced years.
Narration was by Lesley Manville and, had she been restricted to reading the text alone, she would have been magnificent. With obvious interest in, and understanding of, all she read, her delivery was varied, interesting and emphatic in all the right places. Her female voices were also varied. But her abilities, sadly, did not include male conversations and, though this did not prevent enjoyment of the book as a whole, this reader rather wishes it had been the printed, rather than the audible book which has been read.

But print or audible, this is one murder mystery not to be missed. Beautifully written, imaginatively plotted and surprisingly uplifting, I am now really looking forward to the next in Richard Osman's series. which is briefly mentioned in the interesting interview with the author at the end of the book. Great fun, deliciously visual, meet some new friends in Cooper's Close Retirement Village.

Witty, poignant and surprising

I loved, loved, loved this book. More Please!

Wonderful characters, a story which keeps you guessing to the very end, a great performance.

Jess

Great book, with twists and turns. Very entertaining! Can’t wait to go on the next adventure with the gang!

Delightful

Loved all the characters. I will definitely read the whole series. A kind and happy book with multiple murders. Good fun.

Really loved this

After a few months of quite heavy thrillers, this made a refreshing change. The storyline was great but the characters are exceptional, especially the narrator; made me think of my Mum all the time. Such a great book, looking forward to the next one.

Wonderful characters and plot

It took me quite a few chapters to feel comfortable with the writing style and the seemingly superficial and unconnected elements of the story. But I like Richard Osman and wanted to see what he had to offer in terms of fiction. I’m so glad I did because this is one of the best books I’ve read. The writing is crisp and the characters are engaging. The story has so many elements that I thought it would be difficult to follow all the twists and turns but I needn’t have worried. Through some wonderful writing techniques (which are very interestingly discussed in the author interview at the end of the story) everything flows smoothly, there’s no forced conclusions to any situation and everything is brought together at the end.
Leslie Manville’s narration is amazing and adds extra dimensions to this whole experience.
Can’t recommend this enough!

Fabulous

This book absolutely nailed it. Amazingly well drawn characters, plot twists that make total sense in retrospect and a great resolution and the promise of more to come. I’m a fan.

Bravo!

I may be 37, but at times feel like a boomer...The characters are absolutely delightful, even the “bad guys” are admirable, well at least one of them. I cannot wait for the next book to come out, well done Richard.

Reminiscent of Agatha Christie

A lovely easy read with fun characters. It does tend towards dwelling on the fragility of life and relationships at times, so keep a hanky handy. I would be happy to read more in this series if they are as good as this one.

A hug of a book

There’s something deeply comforting in Richard Osman’s writing. This is a hug of a book - it envelops you and makes you feel safe in the author’s hands. Beautifully read and performed, achingly poignant in places and laugh out loud funny. A complete joy.