The Bullet That Missed

The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club, 3) Richard Osman. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9780593299418) 2022.

Summary: The Thursday Murder Club investigates the murder of a TV journalist while Elizabeth must kill an old spy friend.

Once again, the Thursday Murder Club are in deeper than they expected, and loving every minute of it. The four have decided to investigate the unsolved murder of Bethany Waites. Waite was a TV journalist investigating a VAT avoidance scheme and was about to break the story. The same night she had called Mike Waghorn, the news host, her car was found at the bottom of a cliff, with bloodstains that matched hers. Investigators find clothes but no body. It was assumed she had washed out to sea. The one woman who went to prison for the scheme said nothing.

Meanwhile, a man who calls himself the Viking abducts Stephen and Elizabeth. He gives Elizabeth a stark choice. Either kill an old KGB spy, Viktor Illyich, or the Viking will kill Joyce. As it turns out, Elizabeth and Viktor had gone from rivals to lovers, long before Stephen. Yet she takes Joyce along to Viktor’s suite to kill him, not having told Joyce about the Viking’s threat. But in reality, they feign his death and he joins the Club, both to catch the Viking and to work on the other murder.

The question is, why does the Viking want Viktor Illych dead? And who is he? It turns out Stephen supplies a key clue, in a moment of mental awareness, even as he gently and sadly declines into dementia, a decline that will hit Bogdan as hard as anyone.

Meanwhile, the Club is meeting all the people associated with Bethany Waites from Mike Waghorn, who wants her killer found, to Pauline, the make-up person, who falls in love with Ron, to a rival, Fiona Clemence, now a famous TV personality. They work with Chief Constable, Andrew Everton, and even enlist Connie, the drug dealer’s help, despite the fact that she intends to kill Ron and Bogdan.

Before they wrap things up, two more murders take place while Joyce faces a murderous Viking. And I will leave things there so you can have the same fun I did reading to the end!

The Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club, Number 2) Richard Osman. Penguin Books (ISBN: 9781984881014) 2022.

Summary: Ibrahim is badly assaulted by a teenage thug and Elizabeth’s ex-husband shows up, suspected of stealing diamonds.

Ibrahim was enjoying his jaunt to a local bookstore–until assaulted by a group of young thugs–including vicious kicks that landed him in the hospital from one of them. One of the side plots is how the Thursday Murder Club figures out a way to get even with with Ibrahim’s assailant. Interestingly, Ibrahim does not want revenge–he just wants to hide out at the Villages. Psychologist though he is, he is suffering both physical and emotional trauma.

Meanwhile, the main plot begins when Elizabeth receives a letter from a former “associate.” Closer than that, Douglas Middlemiss was once married to Elizabeth. Now he is on the run, suspected of stealing diamonds worth £20 million from a shady banker who needs them to pay off the New York mob. And he wants to hide out in the Villages. Also, it turns out that a new girl working there, Poppy, is actually an agent there to protect him. It turns out he needs it. Poppy kills a hit man attempting to kill Douglas. They are removed to a safe house. But it is not very safe. Elizabeth finds both of them dead, when she responds to a message from Douglas.

Now the Thursday Murder Club kicks into high gear, minus Ibrahim for a time. But Joyce pulls him into action eventually. Bogdan joins them, resourceful and not afraid to deal with a female drug dealer. Chris and Donna are pursuing that drug dealer as well. Meanwhile, Elizabeth, with Joyce as an increasingly useful sidekick, follows a trail of clues both to find Douglas killer and the diamonds. But the trail raises a disturbing possibility. Did Douglas fake his own death at the safe house and is still about? And if not, who found the safe house and killed Douglas and Poppy?

One thing for sure, is that this ends in an exciting climax involving all these actors. But I won’t spoil the fun, and fun it is. We discover more in this book how good Elizabeth was at her tradecraft, as well as being the one Douglas allowed to get away to his wistful regret. Joyce comes increasingly into her own. Seemingly sentimental, taken up with making and giving out friendship bracelets, she doesn’t bat an eyelash at dead bodies, or mafia hit men. She offers insights that Elizabeth misses. And her friendship bracelets even provide a crucial clue! All in all, everything came together to make this an enjoyable book, beginning to end.