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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman. “The quartet of aging amateur sleuths…remain wonderful company,” —the New York Times Book Review
“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front.” —the Wall Street Journal
It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind—leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot. While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again? From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman. “The quartet of aging amateur sleuths…remain wonderful company,” —the New York Times Book Review
“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front.” —the Wall Street Journal
It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind—leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers. Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot. While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again? From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the cover
1.
I don't need makeup," says Ron. He's in a straight-backed chair because Ibrahim told him you mustn't slouch on television.
"Do you not?" replies his makeup artist, Pauline Jenkins, taking brushes and palettes from her bag. She has set up a mirror on a table in the Jigsaw Room. It is framed by lightbulbs, and the glow bounces off her cerise earrings as they bob back and forth.
Ron feels the adrenaline pumping a little. This is the stuff. A bit of TV. Where are the others though? He told them they could come along "if they fancied, no big deal," and he will be gutted if they don't show.
"They can take me as they find me," says Ron. "I've earned this face, it tells a story."
"Horror story, if you don't mind me saying?" says Pauline, looking at a color palette, and then at Ron's face. She blows him a kiss.
"Not everyone has to be beautiful," says Ron. His friends know the interview starts at four. They'll be here soon surely?
"We're agreed there, darling," says Pauline. "I'm not a miracle worker. I remember you back in the day though. Handsome bugger, weren't you, if you like that sort of thing?"
Ron grunts.
"And I do like that sort of thing if I'm honest with you, right up my street. Always fighting for the working man, weren't you, throwing your weight around?" Pauline opens a compact. "You still believe in all that, do you? Up the workers?"
Ron's shoulders go back a touch, like a bull preparing to enter a ring. "Still believe in it? Still believe in equality? Still believe in the power of labor? What's your name?"
"Pauline," says Pauline.
"Still believe in the dignity of a day's work for a fair day's pay, Pauline? More than ever."
Pauline nods. "Good oh. Then shut your mush for five minutes and let me do the job I'm paid to do, which is to remind the viewers of South East Tonight what a looker you are."
Ron's mouth opens, but, unusually for him, no words come out. Pauline starts on his foundation without further ado. "Dignity, my arse. Haven't you got gorgeous eyes? Like Che Guevara if he worked on the docks."
In his mirror, Ron sees the door to the Jigsaw Room open. Joyce walks in. He knew she wouldn't let him down. Not least because she knows Mike Waghorn will be here. This whole thing was her idea, truth be told. She chose the file.
Ron notices that Joyce is wearing a new cardigan. She just can't help herself.
"You told us you weren't going to have makeup, Ron," says Joyce.
"They make you," says Ron. "This is Pauline."
"Hello, Pauline," says Joyce. "You've got your work cut out there."
"I've seen worse," says Pauline. "I used to work on Casualty."
The door opens once again. A camera operator walks in, followed by a sound man, followed by a flash of white hair, the quiet swoosh of an expensive suit and the perfect, masculine yet subtle scent of Mike Waghorn. Ron sees Joyce blush. He would roll his eyes if he wasn't having his concealer applied.
"Well, here we all are, then," says Mike, his smile as white as his hair. "The name's Mike Waghorn. The one, the only, accept no substitutes."
"Ron Ritchie," says Ron.
"The same, the very same," says Mike, grasping Ron's hand. "Haven't changed a bit, have you? This is like being on safari and seeing a lion up close, Mr. Ritchie. He's a lion of a man, isn't he, Pauline?"
"He's certainly something or other," agrees Pauline, powdering Ron's cheeks.
Ron sees Mike turn his head slowly toward Joyce, slipping off her new cardigan with his eyes. "And who, might I ask, are you?"
"I'm Joyce Meadowcroft." She practically curtsies.
"I should say you...
Reviews-
July 11, 2022 Bestseller Osman’s diverting third Thursday Murder Club mystery (after 2021’s The Man Who Lived Twice) delivers laughs along with a nicely woven plot involving fraud, murder, and life in the Kent retirement village of Coopers Chase. At the club’s regular meeting in the Jigsaw Room, the four members—Elizabeth, a retired but still well-connected British spy; Ibrahim, a well-meaning psychiatrist; Ron, a still-feisty activist for workers’ rights; and the unexpectedly shrewd Joyce, whose diary entries enliven the narrative—decide to tackle the cold case of Bethany Waites, a journalist for the local TV station whose wrecked car was found at the bottom of a cliff 10 years earlier. The police declared it a murder, surmising that Bethany’s body had been washed out to sea. The group’s investigation stirs up a hornet’s nest and leads to another death, a kidnapping, and blackmail. The pace is breezy, the characters are intelligent and varied in their interests and backgrounds, and the humor is often pitched to readers who understand the vagaries of getting older. Osman reliably entertains. Agent: Jenny Bent, Bent Agency.
September 1, 2022
The four retirees of the Thursday Murder Club--Ron, Joyce, Elizabeth, and Ibrahim--are back to investigate the cold case of a TV reporter, Bethany Waites, who disappeared 10 years earlier. Bethany had been reporting on a big fraud case the night her car went over a cliff; her body has never been found. Heather Garbutt went to prison for the fraud Bethany was investigating, but she refuses to confess to murder. As the Thursday Murder Club digs into the case, former MI6 spy Elizabeth harbors private worries about text messages she's been receiving, that order her to kill an aging KGB agent to save Joyce's life. Osman's novel is a convoluted story with investigations into fraud, murder, and threats in a case that takes the group into prisons, TV studios, and danger; romance, humor, and a clever trap to catch a villain fill out the plot. VERDICT Although the third in Osman's series (after The Man Who Died Twice) is confusing at times, it's a character-rich mystery that will be eagerly received by fans of the Thursday Murder Club.--Lesa Holstine
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2022 British TV personality Osman has hit the bullseye with his best-selling Thursday Murder Club series, which is set in an upscale English retirement community. The four septuagenarian members of the club--former MI6 agent Elizabeth, chatty Joyce, psychiatrist Ibrahim, and everyman Ron--try to defrost cold cases that have confounded police. Their third adventure, which centers on the long-ago disappearance of a television journalist who was investigating a money-laundering scheme, comes with a bit of glamour and some well-known media personalities, who impact the investigation. But old dangers also resurface, as Viktor, Elizabeth's onetime KGB adversary who still dabbles in money laundering, becomes a suspect, and a new kid on the crime block, known only as the Viking, attempts to blackmail Elizabeth into shooting Viktor to get the Russian off his turf. Osman writes with a very light touch. There's almost a madcap feel to the action at times, yet he doesn't shy away from issues affecting the elderly: diminishing mental and physical capabilities, loss of image, and the feeling of time running out. Plenty of layers, but plenty of laughs, too.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from August 1, 2022 The Thursday Murder Club gets into another spot of bother, this time involving some British television celebrities, a Russian former spy, and an international money launderer--among others. This is the third book in real-life British TV celebrity Osman's delightful series of mysteries set at Coopers Chase, a bucolic English retirement community. The first two have been bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic, and Steven Spielberg has bought the movie rights; if you haven't read the earlier books, The Thursday Murder Club (2020) and The Man Who Died Twice (2021), it would be a good idea to go back and start at the beginning. As this installment opens, the four septuagenarian members of the club--former MI6 agent Elizabeth Best, retired nurse Joyce Meadowcroft, psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif, and longtime union organizer Ron Ritchie--are investigating another murder from their cold-case files. It seems that Bethany Waites, a local TV journalist, was about to crack a huge tax avoidance scheme when her car went over a cliff 10 years ago. Who was she going to meet late at night? Why wasn't her car caught on more surveillance cameras between her home and the cliff? Of course, the friends aren't content to do their research online; they inveigle their way into a variety of situations that enable them to question Bethany's friends and colleagues, the chief constable in charge of the case, the drug dealer they put in jail in the last volume (who's determined to kill Ron as soon as she gets out), and many other more or less savory characters. And that's not even to mention the mysterious Viking who's threatening to kill Joyce if Elizabeth doesn't kill Viktor Illyich, a competitor-turned-friend who, when he worked for the KGB, was known as the Bullet. All of this enables Osman to engineer scenes such as "three old men...the gangster, the KGB colonel and the trades union official" playing snooker, drinking whiskey, and thinking maybe this is all they really need in life. The mysteries are complex, the characters vivid, and the whole thing is laced with warm humor and--remarkably, considering the body count--good feeling. Your next must-read mystery series.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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