The Thursday Murder Club was a hotly contested ‘secret Santa’ gift at HAAG’s end of year party, and it was easy to see why. The Thursday Murder Club is ‘cosy crime’ at its best, set in Cooper’s Chase, an upmarket retirement village in England. The Thursday Murder Club is a group of residents – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim – who get together each Thursday in the jigsaw room, ‘between Art History and Conversational French’, to investigate unsolved murder cases.
When the village’s builder is found dead in his home, the group have a current crime on their doorstep to investigate. When the village’s repellent owner also drops dead – surrounded by residents, all suspects and witnesses – the Thursday Murder Club cannot get enough of the action.
The plot moves along at a good pace, but it is the characters who really stand out and engage the reader. There are no stereotypes of older people whiling away their days. The residents-come-sleuths are whip smart, funny, compassionate, open minded and involved and interested in the world around them, both inside and outside the home. The communal setting provides fertile ground for observation of idiosyncrasies, which Osman does with a light and compassionate touch.
The exception is the Retirement Village owner, a brash, money hungry, opportunist – a description that will resonate all too well with too many residents of the more modest retirement villages, residential parks and caravan parks that HAAG members and clients live in.
A lovely, light-hearted read.