I read The Thursday Murder Club and enjoyed it as a fun, easy read with generally likeable main characters. When I saw that the sequel was coming I was keen to see how the series would hold up. I preferred this second book to the first. The author has developed the characters of his four main protagonists really well and I felt I got to know them better. He has also given more central parts to a couple of other characters, who were worthy of a bigger role, Bogdan and Stephen. The story was (almost) believable and not too predictable. There is a lot of fun in the book but I also found it poignant and sad at times. I would recommend this book, even to those who weren’t so sure about the first one.

The Thursday Murder Club are back, and what a return it was. I immensely enjoyed this book, maybe more than the first. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way and it keeps you guessing throughout. All in all I would say this is a 5 star read.

One of the best Mysteries I have ever read. I throughly enjoyed this for multiple reasons and am still disappointed I finished it. I will definitely be picking up the next in the series as each book improves on the perfection of the previous.

In the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club the gang are back to solving another crime but with far higher stakes. Elizabeth is contacted by an old friend who has got himself in a bit of bother. The kind MI5 and multi-international mafia organisations are interested in. With the body count racking up by the day it's a race against time to find twenty million pounds in missing diamonds and make sure that a victimless theft doesn't cause more deaths.

Even though books involving the elderly Thursday Murder Club are marketed as quaint cozy mysteries in both books the body count is high. This one even more so than the first with at least five deaths occurring within the books time frame. This keeps the pace fast and would certainly entertain any Thriller reader. You're hitting double figures when considering how many people get shot!

Joyce is by far my favourite character due to her unexpected nature. She comes across as the most 'normal' of the Thursday Murder Club however her reactions and descriptions of events being not only surprising but comedy gold. Reading her passages I was physically laughing out loud at points. The things Joyce comes out with are just as hilarious and relateable as those by any other elderly relative.

That's not to say the book is one big joke. The author manages to hit the perfect balance of serious sombre moments with hints of humour to keep the tone light yet meaningful. Reading becomes bittersweet when amongst all the action and humour the vulnerability and finality of ageing is touched on.

The plot is tightly spun and very cleverly thought out. Plenty of red herrings are thrown out so that you think you've solved it or at least are following the right thought process only to be proven wrong in the coming pages. This isn't annoying as you feel as deceived as the protagonists and in on finding the resolution.

I especially liked the side plot involving Ibrahim. More time was given to him than the first novel and none of it wasted. As well as being the perfect reminder of fragility throughout the book he was also the guiding light of themes such as friendship and hope. This was much the same as Stephen, Elizabeth's husband, who was more frequently featured than previous.

I would recommend this without hesitation and have already got my mum to read it just so I have someone to gush about it with.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review *

Elisabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are back and their adventures are even better the second time!

The Man Who Died Twice gets straight into the action, and what action! Spies, mafia and stolen diamonds invade the quiet and peaceful Cooper Chase Retirement Village. I found the story a lot pacier than The Thursday Murder Club while retaining everything that made the first book so endearing and fun.

As a character, Joyce just keeps getting better, and I am very much looking forward to the next instalment of the series.

I loved Richard Osman’s first book and feared this one wouldn’t be as good. But, I opened the first chapter and there they all were- my old friends. These characters are fab! It was so good to be back in their company. What was even better however, was the additional layers to these characters that Osman created in this sequel, revealing more secrets and depths we didn’t know in The Thursday Murder Club, which elevated them to a whole new level. The mystery was great and his writing style makes the book easy to devour. Osman’s humour is as evident as ever, and I did find myself laughing out loud in parts. Just pure reading escapism - bring on the next one please!

A fantastic sequel to The Thursday Murder club. I just love these characters! Another really good story with many twists and turns and plenty of humour. Can't wait for the third book in the series.

Thank you for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club when I read it, so I was excited to start this one! I'd found the easy reading and charm of the first such a pleasure to read, although the plot was a little chaotic for my liking. However, the characters were so endearing that I was still keen to get my hands on the sequel!

I have to say, The Man Who Died Twice was even better than the first. It has the same lovely characters, the same charm, and it was incredibly funny. I had so many laugh-out-loud moments reading it. I also found the plot to be far more cohesive; it had lots going on but it all felt very natural, and I had no trouble following it.

I went into this book expecting big things, but even then I was not disappointed. The story was fun and fast-paced, and I found it was even better than The Thursday Murder Club. Yet the really special part of this book was the way the characters shone. As we already know a little bit about them, The Man Who Died Twice really built depth into their personalities, and I fund it a real page-turner.

This book is such a great mix of jam-packed action and light humour that I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it. It will be an amazing read for anyone who loved the first, or for those who love charming, cosy mysteries.

A fantastic sequel to the Thursday Murder Club! We’re found yet again in Coopers Chase following Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, Ibrahim and the rest of the gang in solving another incredible mystery. Full of witty twists and turns I loved the latest addition in this series.

As this series continues, it continues to get better and considering this is only the second book and I hope for there to be more, then I am probably hooked to these books for life.

This incredible collection of characters continue to deliver sombre moments, hilarious moments and I know there is a film or show coming of these books, but the characters are so well developed that I already sees this book in film in my head as these characters are built so incredibly well and each characters enables this plot to unfold to perfection.

Did I think sometimes too much was going on at the same time? Sometimes, however Osman really does bring all the ties together in this book brilliantly and even when you think oh, I know what's going on, nope, you do not know what's going on - the curveballs this book delivers are something Babe Ruth would be proud of.

Packed with sentiment and care, but also fantastic plot and thrilling moments, this is a very cosy read that will keep you on the edge of your armchair and I love it for it.

5*

What a scrumptious follow up to the Thursday Murder Club, the prose, characterisation and pace all finely nuanced and this was a book I couldn't put down!
This novel starts with a letter to Elizabeth from a man in her past and the story moves swiftly on from there with Coopers Close seeing a new resident who brings trouble on his heels. Joyce, Ron and Ibrahaim are there to support, aide and abet Elizabeths schemes which remain sceretive and need to know as ever. There are several strands to the novel all expertly weaved together, Chris and Donna trying to arrest a local drug dealer, Ibrahiam seriously injured after a mugging in Fairhaven, an ex-husband, diamonds, spies, mafia, love, justice and a fair few dead bodies.
Bogodan is back and still playing chess with Stephen, who sadly for Elizabeth remains in the grip of dementia. In this story Bogodan shines as the silent, capable and unflappable fixer for the group with the tease that he may yet have found love. In this Bogodan is not alone as Chris's romance with Donnas mum Patrice develops and this provides a backdrop of hope against the mayhem that swirls around the group, with as ever Elizabeth the still eye at the heart of the storm.
It was wonderful to be reacquainted with these complex characters and to discover more of their past. Life is for living whatever your age! A perfect Autumn read which I would thoroughly recommend. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for access to this ARC.

Our favourite septuagenarian detectives are back with a new case to solve.

While I did enjoy The Thursday Murder Club, I actually found I enjoyed The Man Who Died Twice even more.

We already know the characters so there’s no time wasted introducing them all. In the Thursday Murder Club there were that many characters introduced it was a little confusing remembering who everyone was. This wasn’t the case with this sequel and the characterisation was brilliant. I warmed to them all even more than the first story.

The tender moments between characters was done so well, in a lovely unstated way. The unlikely friendships between the four friends made me smile. I love learning more about Elizabeth’s past and seeing her put her skills to good use.

I really enjoyed the subtle humour throughout the book. There are (thankfully!) no slapstick moments as it's the dialogue that provides the majority of the comedic moments. I definitely laughed more during this book than the first.

The murder plot was cleverly done and I enjoyed how they worked through any clues they came across. I did have to suspend belief at times but when the plot is as fun as this one, I can overlook that. There are twists and turns throughout which kept me guessing to the end. However it's the characters that make this book as good as it is.

It's an unapologetically British which is another plus, and I love that the independent bookshop Richard Osman mentions in the book is a real one. "Use it or lose it" is so right. 

To sum up, it's a brilliant sequel, that I personally found to better than the original.

The Thursday Murder Club quickly became one of my favourite reads of all time, and I've gone back to it many times since. Now the original gang of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron are back in the sequel, along with their police chums and assorted family and friends.

It would have been easy for Richard Osman to churn out an identikit story, and it probably would have been amazing. But in The Man Who Died Twice the narrative goes on a different path. Yes there are murders, but there's also some spy action thrown in for good measure. As a reader we get closer to answering the big question from the first book - what exactly is Elizabeth's background? There are some great clues but not the full answer.

We also get to experience another of the great draws from the first book - the reminder that the characters are real, and living through some of the downsides of getting older. This gives both books a real grounding, and you can empathise with the characters; they could be your mum, your grandma, your next door neighbour.

The Man Who Died Twice is an excellent addition to The Thursday Murder Club series, let's have more quickly please!

A really good story with many, many twists and turns, culminating in a really funny reckoning for nearly all the bad guys in one fell swoop. The Thursday Murder Club triumph again! They are disparate group of ‘crime investigators’ you wouldn’t think it would work. There is their revered leader Elizabeth, who worked as a senior operative in MI5 and has friends, and influence in both high and low places! Joyce is a chatterbox who seems a bit dotty and eccentric, but is a dependable sidekick for Elizabeth. She worked as a nurse so is not phased by any gruesome discoveries. Ibrahim is a very quiet man, excellent at logistics. He is a psychiatrist from Egypt. He suffers an awful mishap at the start of the book which is the cause of some of the club’s ‘adventure’ but Ibrahim is mostly an onlooker of the events. Then there is Ron, a very left wing, retired Union man. They have a friend who is almost an honorary member of the group - Bogdan. He regularly plays chess with Elizabeth’s husband Stephen, who has Alzheimer’s, and is slowly in decline. Bogdan is Polish and works on the building site that is extending the Kent retirement village where they all live. Bogdan will carry out any task they ask of him, at any time of the day or night, I rather think he is a bit of a mystery that they will find out about at some point in the series.

There is another honorary member of the group in this story, Ron’s young grandson Kendrick comes to stay, and discovers a vital clue the rest of the gang totally missed, when he helps Uncle Ibrahim check through several days of CCTV footage. Plus two local police detectives, Chris and Donna, who will always do what they can to help.

This story has it all, MI5 chasing rogue colleagues, master criminals, and young thugs who deserve everything that is coming to them, and the way our intrepid heroes gather them together is nothing short of masterful, and extremely funny! There is then only one small matter to clear up, almost as an afterthought, but Elizabeth probably knew about it long before the reader caught up!

A story very much worth reading. It has a lot of dry and whimsical humour, and is very well thought through with all its twists and turns.

Enjoyable and funny although I did find the number of people involved and the numerous plots a bit confusing - probably age related

The follow up to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice is more Godfather 2 than Exorcist 2 I’m glad to report.

Again we have our 4 protagonists in their retirement home along with some new and very interesting characters. It’s a story of murder, diamonds, double crossing, love, reflection, friendship, all wrapped up in a dark comedy style thriller.

Osman here has really improved on the first book(which I did enjoy). This one is perfectly structured, every little thing that happens, happens for a reason. He has many plates spinning at once here but he manages not to get bogged down and makes even the most complicated storylines easy to follow.

There are some very dark elements to the book but the humour is sprinkled in abundance throughout.

Told from different perspectives, including Joyce’s hilarious diary entries , you will find yourself smiling throughout the book. The characters are just so likeable.

There’s also a really good story and mystery here, which is wrapped up really well at the end and if anything helped make this one feel more cohesive than the first in the series.

A third book is on the cards and I hope it can live up to this joyous read. Mr Osman really has penned the perfect novel here. It knows what it is and it reads with its chest out, confident in what it is trying to do and delivering in spades.

Get your hands on a copy if you can. You won’t regret it.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

I loved the first book in the series but this surpasses that book. All of the main characters in this series of books are delightful. It is so good to read books about Septuagenarians in such a positive, funny and endearing light and Richard Osman is clearly expert at this

Each of the characters are so well developed that you cannot fail to have a mental picture them. I particularly love the way the character of Joyce, written in the first person constantly makes me smile with her comments and insights and the close friendships she has, in particular with Elizabeth and Ibrahim.

This story largely revolves around the return of Elizabeth's ex-husband and fellow agent Douglas, who turns up to hide out at "Cooper's Chase" having stolen 20 million pounds worth of diamonds from a local crooked businessman who is holding it for the mafia.

A second event involves the senseless mugging of Ibrahim by a group of young men. Both of these events merge together seamlessly whilst the Thursday murder group members Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron find a way to punish the main perpetrators of both crimes in the final act (so to speak).

It is also great to see the Police characters Donna and Chris still feature in this second book along with more than just a handyman Bogdan. It features a lot more of Elizabeth's husband Stephen who suffers from dementia in this book. although not active in the resolution of the crime it adds to the human side of the story.

This could be described as a cozy mystery but it rask isn't. It really is a cracking read and at the end it references that there is a third book in the series in the pipeline. CAN'T WAIT.

Highly recommend this book and if you haven't read it already, do read the first book as it too is a cracking read.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Viking for an advanced arc copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review

I absolutely loved The Man Who Died Twice, which is just as good as the utterly brilliant The Thursday Murder Club.

There have been some condescending reviews of Richard Osman’s novels by intellectual elitists who think that books that appeal to so many people can’t possibly be good. They think that Richard Osman is wasting his intellect devising game shows and writing novels that give pleasure to millions of ordinary people. I know book group members who won’t read these novels because they’re too popular. They won’t watch Strictly for the same reason. Well more fool them because they’re missing out on a great deal of fun. And these books are in any case written by someone who is highly intelligent but who wears his knowledge lightly, writing books that are easy to read, well plotted, but which deal at the same time with serious matters such as bereavement, dementia and infirmity with Dickensian humanity and deceptive simplicity.

Here is an author who believes that ‘the brain of a 75-year old is identical to the brain of a 50-year-old … What changes is more grief, more experience, more insight’. So is it a surprise that The Thursday Murder Club was the fastest-selling crime debut of all time, when Richard Osman portrays us as we want to be portrayed: as people with ‘talent, wit, wisdom and sense of mischief’? And would it be too much to expect that younger readers might also enjoy his subversion of society’s expectations of older people? This could be a game-changer for the representation of older people; TV might even consider re-employing the older women it has got rid of. Authors might think twice about depicting anyone over the age of 70 as a senile dodderer.

Osman’s four main characters are developed further in the second novel and I like them so much I play a kind of ‘fantasy football team’ game of who should play them on screen. I would love to see Dennis Waterman as the tattooed trades unionist Ron, Joanna Lumley as the highly intelligent but slightly too straight-laced Elizabeth, Celia Imrie as naughty romantic Joyce, Timothy Spall as Gerry (in flashbacks), Sanjeev Bhaskar as the pensive and humane Ibrahim, Bill Nighy as Elizabeth’s devoted but increasingly, tragically, confused partner Stephen, Toby Jones as the lovelorn Chris, Kate Henshaw as the lovely Patrice, Wunmi Mosaku as lonely Donna, and Rad Kaim as the mysterious Bogdan. With guest appearances from Pierce Brosnan as Douglas Middlemiss, Joanna Scanlan as the local drug dealer Connie Johnson and Daisy Haggard as Poppy. Apparently the film is already in production so I look forward to seeing which lucky mature actors have secured these (rare) plum roles.

Osman’s tongue-in-cheek combination of authentic, believable characters and the unbelievable plots they become involved in will make a great film. He combines the dramatic and the mundane throughout: Elizabeth: ‘Could you buy me ten thousand pounds’ worth of cocaine? … I’ll flick the kettle on’; ‘Elizabeth will use the stairs while she still can. Stairs are good for hip and knee flexibility. Also, it is very easy to kill someone in a lift when the doors open’.

I also like Osman’s technique of giving us access to each of his characters’ thoughts in turn, so the reader can enjoy both empathetic and humorous insights into the way the character sees the world. The first book showed us DCI Chris Hudson’s struggles to eat healthily; in this book, a loving relationship makes him into a man who shops with his girlfriend for bean sprouts ‘like they were a couple from an advert’. When he and his girlfriend cook a stir-fry together, he cries: ‘Chris hadn’t looked after anyone in a long time, and that included himself. He let the tears run down through the steam and into the pan’.

Richard Osman writes women as well as he writes men. I love PC Donna de Freitas’s futile search for a decent man. She looks at a solicitor’s tide mark on his collar and his dirty suit, thinking: ‘He even has a wedding ring. How did that happen? Being a man was such an easy gig. The work Donna puts into herself and she’s still single’. Donna approves of DCI Chris’s improved appearance since he started dating: ‘There were certain men you could allow to dress themselves and certain men you couldn’t. Chris was on the cusp. Soon he would be able to run free’.

Joyce’s diary continues to give the reader a humorous commentary on the action and the characters she meets, such as the ruthless killer Martin Lomax, a middleman for arms dealers and terrorists, to whom she tries to sell a friendship bracelet for charity. Joyce often thinks about her deceased husband, Gerry, whom she compares favourably to the handsome killer Lomax: ‘This is my point about boring men and exciting men. Gerry would never be driven out to sea and shot, but he was a hundred times more exciting than this Lomax… Gerry didn’t look like Blake Carrington, but … in certain lights he looked like Richard Briers’. Joyce is dealing with bereavement, but she also has a sense of the ridiculous - ‘people seem to get allergic to all sorts as soon as they move to London’ - and an eye for handsome men.

Even after two novels, I’m still interested to find out more about the amateur detectives and their lives in the third. There’s definitely more to discover about naughty ex-nurse Joyce and the gorgeous insomniac, Bogdan. And will Ibrahim and Elizabeth learn how to have fun? Will kind-hearted Ron find a left-wing lady friend who still supports the miners’ strike?

I love all the references to popular culture which place the novel in a recognisable Britain of today: the Netflix series Succession, Instagram, McDonald’s, the Tetris app, Call of Duty, Domino’s pizza, The Psychopath Test (read by a psychopath who wants to avoid looking like one). Some of Osman’s older characters embrace technology; others don’t, but Osman never patronises them.

So Osman’s novels aren’t just ‘crime capers’ featuring The Famous Four (soon to be joined by Alan the dog). The title ‘The Man Who Died Twice’ is extremely poignant and I defy anyone not to be moved when the significance of the title is revealed at the end. There is comedy, but there are also moving discussions about death and the best way to live your life. Are you weather, or a weather forecaster? Read, contemplate, and, if you aren’t an intellectual snob, enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Richard Osman has successfully avoided the curse of the boyfriend sweater, the saga of the second sock and the dreaded second novel.
This is a great read! Probably better than the first, as now we are in the comfortable company of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim, in the Coopers Chase retirement community.
Elizabeth is still busy being clever, and worrying about her husband Stephen, who has Dementia. Joyce continues to waffle about, but has the occasional burst of clarity, Ron is Ron, but he now introduces his grandson, Kendrick, new blood always welcomed!! Ibrahim is somewhat incapacitated in this novel, after being attacked by a local thug. Donna and Chris, have a continuing Police presence, I thoroughly expect a police box to be set up in the next book.
This is a lovely tale of cheating husbands, missing jewellery, drugs, friendships and loyalty all coming together in a satisfying way. The next book may well include a dog, no doubt he will excavate a few bones, guns or whatever else springs into the author’s fertile mind.
Only one concern, if you set novels with characters in their seventies, how many books or murders do we get before people fall off their perches?! Give me the average please, or is that a different venture from Richard Osman?!!
I was given a copy of the first book as a Mother’s Day present, it has gone around the family and even those who haven’t read fiction for years, have all begged to borrow that book, so I expect the same results again. I am already looking forward to book three, if all else fails, we have an excellent ambassador for Retirement Homes in development with this so clever brain box.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers Penguin UK and Viking publishers for my ARC in return for my honest and unbiased review, freely given. A five star read. I will leave reviews to other outlets later. This book will fly, I have no doubts of that.

Loved the first one so really pleased to get the opportunity to review this one. Once again the pensioners of the Thursday Murder Club are investigating a case involving murder, missing jewels and betrayal in their own way. The characters are more developed this time round and they are really supported by a great range of characters (everyone needs a Bogdan in their life). Still lots of humour and action but this time there’s more poignancy in the frailties of the main characters, especially Ismail. Really enjoyed this one more than the first and can hardly wait for the third instalment.

An absolute joy! Getting another visit to the Thursday Murder Club is like meeting up with old friends.
I loved the first book in this series by Richard Osman, and this second one is just as good, if not better. This time, missing diamonds are at the heart of the story and there are some new characters. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim & Ron are on form just like last time. Happily Bogdan is back as well.
This book made me laugh out loud several times, there's a wonderfully British sense of humour about it - Victoria Wood would be proud of some of the observations.
Put it on your reading list, settle back with tea and cake and immerse yourself in the Thursday Murder Club once again.