Have you ever wondered what exactly goes on in a retirement community? Maybe it’s Yahtzee, shuffle board, or something crafty like knitting. We can’t ignore the trope of the dating scene in a retirement community either, though who’s to say how true that may be.

Richard Osman’s book The Thursday Murder Club was published in September of 2020 and is the first in the series.

Richard Osman’s book The Thursday Murder Club is set in a retirement village, Coopers Chase, where a group of 4 retirees like to “solve” mysteries/crimes together. Their Thursday group knows their ideas will never leave the Jigsaw room (used for more than just jigsaw puzzles), yet one day it does. Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim are all elderly in age, have pretty different backgrounds, and became friends (or not) over their passion for solving unsolved crimes. Wittier than they appear on the outside, they wiggle their way into the murder case of Tony Curran developer and part owner of Coopers Chase.

PC Donna De Freitas (we’re in England here folks) is their way into the case. By making a sort of friend out of De Freitas, they have their in to pass and receive the information they’re looking for. The main detective on the case, Chris Hudson, first underestimates the group because of their age. Yet, slowly he realizes how just how crucial they are as the bigger mystery unfolds. The drama of Coopers Chase isn’t just tied to murder, but also a cemetery, a priest, and unwanted property development by the residents. I promise you all of these are connected which is why this book is so enthralling!

The 4 main elderly characters each have their own distinct personalities and humor that makes them lovable by the reader. For instance, Elizabeth texts 26-year old Donna, and I can assure you it is the classic “old person doesn’t quite understand texting” type of situation. The kind where it’s slightly overly formal and they don’t understand the lingo. I enjoyed how the characters used their age to the advantage. They often put themselves in situations where their ages worked to their advantage in getting information.

I do have 2 qualms with this book (don’t worry it’s still spoiler free). One of these qualms is tied to the texting. This book exaggerates the trope of old people not being in touch with society. Yes, there are people who are like this, but in the book it felt overdone.

My other qualm, and I hate to say it’s a big one, is the ending. Not only is it underwhelming after everything you’d just read, it was confusing. I can sort of tell you who did it and I sort of can’t? The pieces didn’t seem to fit together for me, but I was left with a flat ending wanting more. Overall, I did enjoy reading this book because of the humor and mystery element. Plus, picturing a group of older people in a retirement home trying to solve a murder was definitely entertaining!

Richard Osman’s book The Thursday Murder Club was published in September of 2020 and is the first in the series. So far there are three more books in the series, and the latest one was published in September this year. As a girl who loves covers, I love how they’re cohesive and the fonts/art style that was chosen for the front. All in all, it’s likely I’ll read the next in the series.

Have a Groovy week my friends 🙂

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