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.

Our favourite retirement-village sleuths find themselves personally invested in finding out who murdered their dear friend Kuldesh Sharma, and why. Did he accidentally cross the wrong people; heroin dealers to be precise? Joyce, Ron, Ibrahim and Elizabeth are recovering from the festive season when they hear the terrible news. The ever-reliable Bogdan is on hand to provide assistance where needed and play chess with Elizabeth’s husband, Stephen.

Osman alternates his chapters between different character’s perspectives (in the third person) and Joyce’s diary entries (in the first). This works incredibly well, and is never confusing, which just goes to show how talented a writer he is.

Elizabeth is distracted from the investigation, the others can see she doesn’t have her heart in it. And they have also noticed Stephen isn’t out and about much lately. It’s not a plot spoiler to say that his alzheimers has gotten worse since the previous book, and Elizabeth is faced with making some heartbreaking decisions.

Elizabeth can fool herself no more, can keep Stephen to herself no longer. The day she knew must arrive is here. She has been losing him a paragraph at a time, but the chapter is done. And the book is close to its end.

‘Spys are like dogs. They cannot stand a closed door.’

What a delight to be back in the company of Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim as they investigate the murder of a brilliant young journalist, Bethany Waites ten years ago. She was investigating a massive VAT fraud before she was murdered.

Elizabeth and her husband Stephen are kidnapped and she’s given an ultimatum that she can’t refuse….or can she? Osman has created a wonderful mix of new characters, some of whom become unexpected allies to our intrepid investigators. I challenge you not to fall in love with ex-KGB operative, Viktor Illyich!

This is a cosy crime novel, and is not ashamed to wear that label loud and proud. There is a gentle humour throughout, and a tinge of melancholy as our characters face old man time and question some of their past decisions. As Jack Mason, a professional crook realises, he’s made a lot of money in his life, but not many friends. After a lifetime in crime, he realises that ‘your henchmen are not real friends’. Elizabeth struggles to come to terms with Stephen’s worsening alzheimers’ symptoms and tries to hide his condition from the rest of the gang.

However, there are a number of laugh out loud moments. A favourite is Joyce asking Elizabeth if she’s ever been on television, to which Elizabeth replies, ‘I was once called to give evidence to the Defence Selection Committee, but, legally, they had to blur my face. And I was once in a hostage video’.

The secret to the success of this series is the obvious affection that our gang all feel for each other. As Ron, who was involved in militant union demonstrations in his younger days, says about them, last time he had ‘a gang of friends like these, they were being hospitalised by police riot shields at the Wapping print-workers’ strike. Happy days’.

Happy days indeed. The Bullet that Missed (very clever title which has two meanings that will become clear as you read) is utterly entertaining.

What a delight to again spend time with the indomitable Septuagenarians Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron who reside in Coopers Chase Retirement village, and just love to spend their days solving crime. They make the perfect team: Elizabeth is an ex-spook, Joyce a retired nurse, Ibrahim a psychiatrist and Ron has a background in the union movement. They may be struggling with sore knees and creaking hips, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with their ‘little grey cells’.

Elizabeth receives a letter from a former colleague, asking for her help. He’s in a spot of bother; bother which involves the mafia and stolen diamonds worth 20 million dollars. This story may involve people ‘of an age’, but there is nothing slow about the pace and in the blink of an eye, dead bodies start piling up!

I love the camaraderie, affection and respect our gang of four share. This warmth extends to their friend and accomplice, Bogdan, a Polish man who can always be relied on when a bit of muscle is required and the local police officers, Chris and Donna, who they invariably assist. Many a chapter finishes with one of the characters reflecting on how lucky they are to have such friends.

The conversations are often quite hilarious and made me laugh out loud. But there is, as in the first book, an underlying sense of pathos and sadness, as all these people have experienced loss. As Joyce records in her diary, “When I woke up, and realised Gerry [her deceased husband] had gone, my heart broke once again, and I sobbed and sobbed. I imagine if you could hear all the morning tears in this place it would sound like birdsong.” Death is never far from their thoughts, but as Bogdan thinks, ‘people love to sleep, and yet they are so frightened of death. He has never understood it.’

But don’t be deterred by these musings - as this book is full of life and love and laughter. After Ibrahim is injured badly in a mugging, Ron considers how he wants to deal with the perpetrator when he’s caught: ‘perhaps he’ll get his chance to smack Ryan Baird right in that gaping mouth before this is all over. Ron hopes so. He has a lot of respect for Gandhi and his ilk, but sometimes you have to cross the line.’ In fact, there is a lot of line-crossing before the end of this book!

I read this book in two sittings and now feel deflated that I’ve finished it - it’s that sort of book. So, do yourself a favour, and, if you haven’t read it already, read The Thursday Murder Club first, then The Man Who Died Twice - I guarantee you won’t regret it.

This was my final book for 2020, and although no literary masterpiece, it was an enjoyable book with which to finish a very challenging year!

Set in an idyllic retirement village, four friends prove that age is no barrier to solving crime. This is a gentle crime novel, almost cosy, which not only involves several murders, both recent and historic, but also explores the pitfalls, and sometimes advantages, of growing old. As Elizabeth, the leader of the Club, realises, ‘after a certain age, you can pretty much do whatever takes your fancy. No one tells you off, except for your doctors and your children’.

A sense of melancholy imbues The Thursday Murder Club, as the characters face grief, loss and loneliness. But there are also moments of humour. As Joyce notes in her diary, she ‘would never have therapy, because who wants to unravel all that knitting?’ Good point, Joyce! In fact, Joyce has a lot of fun being involved with The Murder Club, and finds herself feeling as though she has a purpose again, and is becoming ‘someone who has to keep their mobile on’.

This is not a novel that will appeal to younger readers; there is no sex, very little violence and no exotic locations, but for those of us ‘of a certain age’, it contains characters that we can relate to, who are not only solving crime, but facing the challenge of growing old with grace and determination.