The sun may be up and the skies blue, but “murder is in the air” at Coopers Chase Retirement Village where a coterie of residents lend their help to police in solving crimes, the main protagonists being former intelligence officer with MI5, Elizabeth; one-time nurse, Joyce; former union official, Ron, and occasionally still-practising psychiatrist, Ibrahim. This group’s work ensures their constant busyness so they could be on their second bottle of wine by 12.15 pm. So it’s just as well that the Waitrose delivery vans into the Village clink not only with repeat prescriptions but with wine also as they make their way over the cattle grid. Perhaps best known as a television presenter, producer and comedian, English author Richard Osman, has written a very clever series of Whodunnits, starting with The Thursday Murder Club. When not looking for clues, Joyce is likely to be reminiscing about her late husband, Gerry, or cooking delicious morsels for the team, while Elizabeth also has her hands full caring for her current husband, Stephen. While DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna DeFreitas feature often, myriad other characters appear from time to time, some as suspects. Villagers know that it’s important to wake up early as “there is a lot to do and only so many days left” [and] “life goes on, until it doesn’t”. So, the Thursday Murder Club continues to meet and explore leads. Other books in the series: The Man Who Died Twice; The Bullet That Missed; and The Last Devil to Die, are also very entertaining and interesting, keeping readers guessing until the end.
