Review: We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders, #1)
Gaby Meares
Osman has bravely ventured away from our beloved residents of Coopers Chase Retirement Village, and introduces us to his new team of sleuths: Amy, Steve and Rosie. Amy works in private security, and lives for danger and adventure. Steve is her father-in-law, a retired policeman who has settled into village life, loves his weekly quiz nights at the local pub and is grieving for his wife Debbie. Rosie is a famous crime novelist (of a certain age), who was indiscreet about a dangerous Russian mobster in her latest novel and has been receiving death threats. As Rosie points out, ‘if you have any sort of personality, someone will eventually want to kill you’!
The plot revolves around Instagram influencers, money laundering and hitmen/women. It moves at a very fast pace, with a lot of characters introduced in the first chapters, which I found a little confusing until I sorted them all out in my head! There are double crosses, and then counter-double crosses, and the body count is high! Many of the support characters, who are career criminals, have no qualms about killing anyone who causes them grief; it may be regrettable, but such is life! Life is cheap to these guys.
As in the beloved [b:The Thursday Murder Club|46000520|The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1)|Richard Osman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1582287822l/46000520.SY75.jpg|70861405] series, the dialogue is snappy and there are many laugh-out-loud moments, which are tempered by some truisms, particularly about ageing and loneliness. Rosie thinks, ‘It’s funny, across a lifetime, the people you pick up. It’s often the most unexpected ones who stick around. There are friendships forged in fire, which end up disappearing like smoke, and other casual, nodding friendships, which will stay with you for the rest of your life’.
Osman has served us another cracker of a book: fast paced with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing until the final reveal. We Solve Murders is a perfect first book, introducing strong characters that we will all want to spend more time with in future books.
Highly recommended.