Note: This review contains light spoilers for The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.
The Thursday Murder Club, coming off the high of solving the cold case of Angela Hughes, the murders of Ian Ventham, Peter Mercer, and Tony Curran, have been looking for another opportunity to put their sleuthing skills to the test. They soon get the chance when a figure from Elizabeth’s old MI5 life comes knocking, asking for help dealing with some mafiosi who believe he stole a cache of diamonds from them. Elizabeth doesn’t trust her old connection, but the case intrigues her enough that she enlists the help of Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim in catching the would-be murderer…and perhaps finding those diamonds along the way.
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman continues the story of Coopers Chase Retirement Community’s Thursday Murder Club by expanding on Elizabeth’s history by introducing her ex-husband and giving some insight into the kinds of roles she played in her career at MI5. This expansion of Elizabeth’s character adds more depth and heft to an already interesting character than readers got to see in The Thursday Murder Club, because up until this point, she had largely been a character designed to play coy while also offering strong, practical guidance to the other characters. Osman’s switch from straight evocation to offering more explicit presentations of Elizabeth felt good to see, because while it’s unnecessary for every individual character of a group to be given equal weight — not to mention difficult to manage as a writer — it was clear in the first novel Elizabeth had quite a bit to offer the series and hadn’t been given enough attention to fully get a sense of how dangerous and capable she was and remains.
For Casual Readers
Anyone who enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club will likely enjoy The Man Who Died Twice; it was a treat to return to Osman’s world of Coopers Chase, and with the same balance of humor and seriousness that he brought to the first novel, because it offered a feel-good escape from the Thursday Murder Club universe. If you haven’t already read the first novel and are just being introduced, this novel would still appeal to those who enjoy feel-good stories crossed with murder mysteries, similar to Jesse Q. Sutanto’s Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murders.
The Man Who Died Twice would also be a good novel to read for anyone who has some level of anxiety about aging and what it means for one’s identity; Osman’s story may express a certain degree of privilege from the perspective of a U.S. audience given the luxury of Cooper’s Chase, but it also offers a significantly more optimistic take on aging where it’s not simply a slow decline into irrelevance.
For Writers
Osman’s book offers a useful lesson in characterization and world-building for stories set in a world close to reality. While most stories that fit into this category — usually a traditional thriller, contemporary fiction, or literary fiction — have to abide by the accepted laws of physics, there’s always some flexibility with this when telling an interesting story which Osman does well, especially with his blend of humor and absurdity. Further, the novel creates a plausible justification for every absurd situation that Osman’s characters encounter, which makes it more enjoyable and engaging as a reader.
It’s also worth noting that alongside the humor, world-building, and characterization that Osman showcases in his novel, writers can also find lessons about how to generate empathy for characters that appear distant at first glance. Elizabeth is by no means an unlikeable character in The Thursday Murder Club, and there are several moments when she is seen being tender in the first book, but The Man Who Died Twice presents a clear opportunity for readers to understand a bit more about her as an individual as opposed to a key piece of a larger group.
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Next Up: The Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft
A Final Note
The Coffeehouse Creative is a place to flex creative muscle while working on other projects. That means that alongside book reviews, you’re likely to find:
Travel pieces that have brought joy the writer’s life
Reflections on writing and the life that it brings with it
Recommendations on marketing and management practices
Notes from a graduate student looking to survive the studies
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