So I read the newest book by Richard Osman because as I've said previously, my mum really likes them and wants me to read them so I got to it quickly just for her. I did actually like the mystery and found the book compelling, but I still think it has a lot of issues and I'm not sure if 'cosy' mysteries are really my kind of thing or not. But I read it!
To recap, the Thursday Murder Club are four people that all live in a retirement village and have become friends through events in previous books. There's Elizabeth, who is formidable, and who is an ex MI5 spy or whatever. Her husband Stephen is suffering from dementia, a storyline which comes to a head in this book in what I thought was a brilliant and compassionate way. There's Joyce, who lives alone and misses her husband Gerry, and finds her daughter absolutely baffling. Part of the book is told through Joyce's journal which I do like. There's Roy, a Cockney who's always there for his friends and ready to pitch in when needed, although we didn't get as much of him in this book as previous. Then there's Ibrahim, who is a clinical psychologist although now retired except for Connie Johnson, a drug dealer who the four helped catch and who is now living a cushy life in prison. There's stuff about Ibrahim's personal life in this book which I really liked and thought really fitted in as well as giving us more insight into Ibrahim's life.
Peripheral characters are Donna and Chris, two local police officers who have both helped and been helped by the foursome in previous books. Chris is seeing Donna's mum Patrice; Donna's boyfriend is Bogdan, who works at the retirement village. He's Polish and has a lot of tattoos and plays chess with Stephen. I love Bogdan and I would have liked more of him in this book but maybe next time. There's also a new character, Computer Bob, who is new in the village.
The main story is about two drug dealers who have smuggled a hundred grand's worth of heroin in to the country and who are using a man called Kuldesh as a go between. Kuldesh is an antiques dealer and he knows Stephen. He turns up dead, shot through the head. The heroin and the box it came in are nowhere to be found. The Thursday Murder Club is on the case, but there are plenty of other people who would like to get their hands on the goods.
As I said, I did like the story and the mystery, and I feel like I need to spell that out before I get into my criticisms. I had a lot of criticisms of the writing of previous books and I do think a lot of those things have been ironed it - maybe Richard's just got a better editor now or maybe he's just improved as a writer. However, my main issue in this book was the stuff between the drug dealers and other bad guys. They just don't ring as true - those people speak to each other in a twee cosy way that really grates on me. I wish this was just a bit more realistic. Plus there's stuff when the foursome get bunches of bad guys together and just.... bad things don't happen. It's not real! I wish it was. For that reason I can only give this book three out of five... but you know I'll read the next thing Richard writes too!
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