So here we are again on a book by Richard Osman, but a new series this time. This is the first book in the series and for a few reasons I don't think it works as well as the Thursday Murder Club. I swear I only read these books so that I can talk to my mum about them, and it turned out we were reading this at the same time. We went swimming in early October and she was about 70% of the way through it. I was about 74% through so we were close, and I actually finished it when we got home from swimming. Surprisingly, my mum wasn't enjoying it as much as she thought she might do! I can't wait to see what she says when she's finished it, because I think it did redeem itself a little bit at the end.
The heroes of the book are Amy and Steve. Let's start with Amy. She's married to Steve's son, Adam, but the two of them lead very different lives currently. He is some kind of investment banker or something and he's in Singapore. She is a professional bodyguard/hitwoman, and currently she is working on a private island off South Carolina, looking after a very famous author called Rosie D'Antonio. A Russian baddie has put out a hit on Rosie so Amy is there to protect her.
Steve is a widow living in the New Forest. His wife Debbie (who I don't think is Adam's mum) died fairly recently and he spends a lot of time talking to her and walking the streets late at night. He is an ex cop and he now has a small little life that he is kidding himself he is happy with. He goes to the pub quiz, he investigates lost cats and such as the like, he eats the same thing in the same pub every week, and he has his quiz team members as friends. That's it.
Meanwhile, three influencers have been killed while on trips, and money left near their bodies. A man called Francois Loubet is behind it, but no one knows who he is or why he wanted them dead. But all were killed pretty near to where Amy was at any given time. Someone is trying to frame her, but why?
Then there's Felicity, who runs a talent agency that is now being used as a front for money laundering and other nefarious business. She 'represented' the influencers that are now dead, but she completely doesn't understand what it is that her business is doing. To be honest, this felt a lot like Richard not understanding what influencers do and being disparaging towards them, but whatever. Fine. I did quite like this part of the story.
I also did like Amy and Steve. I didn't like Amy's relationship with Adam, but I suppose it was an easy way to get him out of the way. At the end of the book Amy and Steve decide to set up an agency together, which will of course lead to more books in the series.
There are way too many characters and the book is needlessly complicated. I wish a good editor would just tell Richard to cut at least two threads and just leave it be. It's just too much. My mum's criticisms were that it wasn't always obvious who was speaking, which I do agree with - just put more 'he says' in, for goodness sake! - and that she didn't believe that Richard actually knows a lot about the world of organised crime and stuff like that. She thought he should write what he knows more!
I will also say that it is just so TWEE. I get that Richard's entire thing is cosy crime, and that works when it's the Thursday Murder Club and they live in a retirement village and find themselves mixed up in things that they don't fully understand, but when it's Amy - a professional bodyguard who knows what's up - it just doesn't work properly. It's annoying.
Anyway, I read it, as my mum wanted me to. I'm giving it three out of five.
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