The Man Who Died Twice

I adore the characters in the "Thursday Murder Club" series. They are so well defined that by the second book I felt as if I was getting to meet some old friends again. The plots are complicated, but Osman plays fair. And the books are truly witty! Absolutely great pleasure reading!

This book is full of great characters and surprising twists, and most importantly, it made me laugh. Out loud. I could visualize this as a movie set in a retirement village with Helen Mirren playing one of the lead characters.

As a person who is familiar with retirement communities and the people in them, I particularly liked that the author viewed his characters with empathy, portraying them as the vibrant and interesting people that they can be. But also dealing with the serious themes of aging and mortality.

I laughed out loud at this cozy, heartfelt romp of a murder mystery set in an idyllic English retirement community. The gin flows, human nature is revealed, mysteries are untangled, and yes, a mutt of a dog named Alan is adopted. Despite the murderous subject matter, Osman paints an aspirational vision of growing older where the most important element of life (and the story) is the friendships forged.

This book is all about companionship.

Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series is set in a retirement home, with retirees from various backgrounds coming together to solve crimes. It’s a concept that could easily have been saccharine or patronizing, but Osman delivers characters we care about and relationships that are fully believable.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron are, simply put, brilliantly realized. They have all the complex thoughts and conflicting emotions to feel real and the basic human decency to make readers care about them.

Their friendships with one another and their relationships with the wider world all come together beautifully… show more.

With everything going on in the world these days, I find that more and more, I not only need a break from reality, but I need to laugh more.

The Thursday Murder Club series has become a go-to for my three must-haves: an escape from the world, a page-turning whodunit, and lots of laughs along the way.

A good mystery should keep the reader guessing whodunit, but I find that too often, I’ve figured out whodunit very early into a book. This was not the case with The Man Who Died Twice. It’s a page-turning mystery that not only kept… show more.