The Thursday Murder Club

Thursday Murder Club, Book 1

By: Richard Osman

Narrated by: Lesley Manville, Richard Osman, Marian Keyes

Brought to you by Penguin.

The first book in the number one best-selling, multi-million copy selling series by TV presenter Richard Osman.

Read by Lesley Manville, soon-to-be star of The Crown, and featuring an exclusive Q&A between Richard Osman and Marian Keyes.

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved killings.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron, might be pushing 80, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

CrimeFest Audible Sounds of Crime winner: Best Audiobook 2021.

©2019 Richard Osman (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The best escapist listen of the year.... [Lesley Manville] skilfully immerses herself in Richard Osman's characters, making the most of his comic flair." (The Times, Audiobook of the Week)

"Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so very funny." (Marian Keyes)

"A great read, I really enjoyed it." (Graham Norton)

Fabulous

This book absolutely nailed it. Amazingly well drawn characters, plot twists that make total sense in retrospect and a great resolution and the promise of more to come. I’m a fan.

Bravo!

I may be 37, but at times feel like a boomer...The characters are absolutely delightful, even the “bad guys” are admirable, well at least one of them. I cannot wait for the next book to come out, well done Richard.

Reminiscent of Agatha Christie

A lovely easy read with fun characters. It does tend towards dwelling on the fragility of life and relationships at times, so keep a hanky handy. I would be happy to read more in this series if they are as good as this one.

Fantastic book with amazing characters and observations

The tenderness of the characterisation of all the characters in his book is next level. The story is a rattlingly great whodunit and nothing disappoints. For me I particularly enjoyed the way in which the elderly were represented, their observations, things like their lack of technical ability and their use of teamwork to solve little things like accessing a laptop (that moves!). One of the best and most enjoyable reads in have had in a very long time.

A hug of a book

There’s something deeply comforting in Richard Osman’s writing. This is a hug of a book - it envelops you and makes you feel safe in the author’s hands. Beautifully read and performed, achingly poignant in places and laugh out loud funny. A complete joy.

Outstanding

A bunch of oldies, solving a crime. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Beautiful Book

There is nothing about this book that I didn’t love - and the narration was out of this world!!
The characters feel alive, the language is beautiful, the descriptions are exquisite.
And it’s funny in an unforced, natural, very British way that I adore.

Astonishing debut and superb voice performance

Osman’s debut is astonishing insofar as voice, characterization and the sheer tenderness involved in the dynamic is concerned. Think famous five in a deluxe elderly home. The plot is also deeply satisfying- the only flaw is that there is that one line of investigation 2/3 of the way through where you think ‘why aren’t these clever sleuths following that?’ - but it is forgivable and not enough to detract from a five star review. As for Leslie Manville’s performance : Wow. At one point I was honestly confused as to whether there was a three person voice cast.

Best book ever

This story has everything - great plot, unforgettable characters, laugh out loud humour, all brilliantly narrated. I can see this as a hit TV series.

I was hooked!

Fantastic book!
The story is not different than others, but the plot and the motivation of it was so unique. Osman didn't use manipulation on my emotions just to get me hooked, he wrote it with great care. It's a feel-good book with well written characters and a great story.