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rorikae's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
'The Thursday Murder Club' by Richard Osman is an endearing mystery about a group of residents at a retirement community in Britain who work together to solve a local murder.
Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim are the Thursday Murder Club, a group of residents at a retirement community who are fascinated by crimes that they hear about on the news. When a local man is found dead, they decide to try their hand at solving a murder themselves. They get wrapped up in the case, crossing paths with the local police who are working hard to solve the murder. As they delve deeper into what happened, they begin to learn more about the town and the people they live amidst.
I am relatively late to the party on "The Thursday Murder Club" but I completely agree that this is a really wonderful mystery book. The shining stars of this book are the characters. The four members of The Thursday Murder Club are complicated, endearing characters that I came to care for quickly. Their banter, complicated relationships, and persistent desire to solve the case all work together to make them characters I'm excited to return to in the future. The story balances an engaging mystery with an exploration of the characters as we come to know them better. The slow but steady character development paired with tender moments of human connection are what make this story really stand out. I'm excited to continue this series and see what these characters get up to next.
Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim are the Thursday Murder Club, a group of residents at a retirement community who are fascinated by crimes that they hear about on the news. When a local man is found dead, they decide to try their hand at solving a murder themselves. They get wrapped up in the case, crossing paths with the local police who are working hard to solve the murder. As they delve deeper into what happened, they begin to learn more about the town and the people they live amidst.
I am relatively late to the party on "The Thursday Murder Club" but I completely agree that this is a really wonderful mystery book. The shining stars of this book are the characters. The four members of The Thursday Murder Club are complicated, endearing characters that I came to care for quickly. Their banter, complicated relationships, and persistent desire to solve the case all work together to make them characters I'm excited to return to in the future. The story balances an engaging mystery with an exploration of the characters as we come to know them better. The slow but steady character development paired with tender moments of human connection are what make this story really stand out. I'm excited to continue this series and see what these characters get up to next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, and Murder
Minor: Animal death and Pregnancy
sprudoodle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide and Murder
Minor: Pregnancy
sarahbsews's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, and Pregnancy
huntress's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Dementia, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
britt_zey's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Pregnancy
heresyourletter's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I was excited to read this book as an avid cozy mystery reader. It had a great cast of characters and funny, well-written dialogue, but I found the pacing slow and hated the overuse of unnecessary suicides/“mercy killings” as a way for characters to get out of their problems. Their suicides didn’t really contribute to the overall plot and almost trivialized the horror of suicide and its impact on surviving loved ones. The suicide of a devout Catholic nun in front of a church altar is particularly horrifying and unrealistic given her faith background. I feel other methods could have been used to write characters out of the main story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Terminal illness, Dementia, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Pregnancy
One character mourns the death of her husband throughout the book. One character mentions cheating on his wife through online dating with younger women. Another character mentions leaving her partner finding texts on his phone. One character is non-responsive after a stroke for the majority of the book. One minor character has dementia. One character tells a fake story about killing a man who tried to sexually assault her. Occasional drinking of wine and beer. Brief disparaging comment about the Nigerian Prince scam.kimberlyswalters's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
The humor sprinkled throughout this book made it an absolute pleasure to read. The characters, their wit, and the balance of seriousness & light-heartedness had me laughing and tearing up. I highly recommend this to anyone of any age. I'm 26, but the perspective of life from an older person was refreshing and makes me want to appreciate my life more. My favorite bits are Joyce's journal entries. I'm not sure if I have a favorite character, but she had me smiling the most. I'm excited to read the other installments.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Suicide, Terminal illness, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Sexism, Blood, and Pregnancy
divine529's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This was a bit of an odd book for me. I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but if I was away, I never really felt compelled to pick it up.
The setting was different and I really enjoyed the characters overall and their friendship, but the plot was a bit more complicated than it needed to be. There was so much going on and it often pulled me out of the story. So many murders and pieces at play and somehow everything was connected and wrapped up nicely at the end (for the most part).
I figured out the killer for the first murder as soon as they walked on page because there's a stereotype with specific kinds of characters and it was disappointing that they fell into that same thing over and over again. The thing about knowing that though, it didn't explain anything and there really weren't many clues along the way to lead you there unless you squinted. Elizabeth just seemed to know everything from the start and pretended she didn't for the benefit of everyone else. Given her background that makes some sense, but still, it should be more of a group effort than one being a puppetmaster and everyone else the puppets to the point where several of the characters just kind of notice it and roll with it. The writing and pacing also had a lot of issues too.
The relationships are truly where this book was in its element and some of the sleuthing was fun to read, but overall it was fun and I will probably continue just to see if they improve a bit, but slightly disappointing.
The setting was different and I really enjoyed the characters overall and their friendship, but the plot was a bit more complicated than it needed to be. There was so much going on and it often pulled me out of the story. So many murders and pieces at play and somehow everything was connected and wrapped up nicely at the end (for the most part).
I figured out the killer for the first murder as soon as they walked on page because there's a stereotype with specific kinds of characters and it was disappointing that they fell into that same thing over and over again. The thing about knowing that though, it didn't explain anything and there really weren't many clues along the way to lead you there unless you squinted. Elizabeth just seemed to know everything from the start and pretended she didn't for the benefit of everyone else. Given her background that makes some sense, but still, it should be more of a group effort than one being a puppetmaster and everyone else the puppets to the point where several of the characters just kind of notice it and roll with it. The writing and pacing also had a lot of issues too.
The relationships are truly where this book was in its element and some of the sleuthing was fun to read, but overall it was fun and I will probably continue just to see if they improve a bit, but slightly disappointing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Gun violence, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Violence, Dementia, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Pregnancy
sophiestbr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was a quaint and cosy book, that's the best way I can describe it, despite it being a murder mystery. The idea of it taking place at a retirement home with a cast of characters overwhelmingly over the age of 75 was a surprisingly intriguing and easy to get into.
It is written in a really accessible and straightforward way, the mystery is set up early and in a way that made me want to read on and get to the bottom of it. The characters are rich and interesting, easy to connect to in one way or another.
Where the book fell down for me and soured the experience is a spoiler that comes with a trigger warning, so read on at your own risk:the author used suicide as a way out of storylines or as a scandalous side note far too many times that ultimately left a bad taste in my mouth. I think there were at least 4 characters that committed suicide or whose stories featured it.
Overall, with the above and the fact that I felt too many of the 'red herrings' were resolved too quickly made it less gripping and suspenseful than other crime/mystery novels. That said, I will read at least the next book in this series at some point to give another mystery with this fabulous cast of characters a shot, they were really the highlight for me.
It is written in a really accessible and straightforward way, the mystery is set up early and in a way that made me want to read on and get to the bottom of it. The characters are rich and interesting, easy to connect to in one way or another.
Where the book fell down for me and soured the experience is a spoiler that comes with a trigger warning, so read on at your own risk:
Overall, with the above and the fact that I felt too many of the 'red herrings' were resolved too quickly made it less gripping and suspenseful than other crime/mystery novels. That said, I will read at least the next book in this series at some point to give another mystery with this fabulous cast of characters a shot, they were really the highlight for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Cursing and Pregnancy
paradoxchild's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Took me a bit to get into it. I don’t know why everyone is calling this light hearted it made me cry more than laugh. Also I think the audiobook would have benefited from a full cast, it was hard to tell people apart and whose POV we were in sometimes, especially with the diary entries.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Dementia
Moderate: Body shaming and Terminal illness
Minor: Pregnancy