Richard Osmon's newest book - We Solve Murders'

I really like Richard Osman but I just cannot get into his books even though I am an enthusiastic reader. Perhaps it's me, but I just don't like them. Sorry Richard.

Netflix obviously saw something in the first book that I missed 🤷‍♀️
These are the main characters.

Not for me. I read half the first one and tried again as I heard good reviews but no it didn’t hold my interest.

Kandinsky

I’ve never really understood the hype with his murder club books. I gave up on the 1st one half way through.

You and me both.

I found it to be quite dreadful. Amazed that Stephen Spielberg thought it worthy enough to be made into a film.

I have just finished listening to We Solve Murders on Audible. Brilliantly read, narrator really made you engage with the characters. Enjoyed the book but not sure I'd have enjoyed it as much if I had just read it. Listened to it in roughly hour long chunks while ironing/cooking/sewing etc. Love my Alexa for this facility. Will get his next one on Audible.

I have read all of the Thursday Murder Club books and enjoyed them. I found I had lost a bit of concentration for reading, but recovered it, reading the Thursday Murder Club.

However, I have started We Solve Murders three times, but do not feel engaged with it. So it’s on my ‘to be read’ pile and has been languishing there for months.

I think I said on an earlier thread that I was driven mad by the audiobook narrator who kept talking about driving on the A three one instead of A thirty-one. (I spent a lot of my working life driving up and down it).
It was almost as bad as writing in the first Thursday Murder club that Tunbridge Wells has a Waitrose.
Apparently he got more complaints about that then anything else when it was published.

Love a good mystery but gave up half way through his first book. When you’ve got the likes of Agatha Christy, Anne Cleve etc he comes right down the list of able authors. As has been said, I’m sure his fame got him published.

Read first because of all the hype. Did not enjoyed it all but persevered. Have his second one a go but abandoned it probably quarter of the way through. Never again. Bland and tedious.

I too gave up early on the very first book and havent bothered with it since and generally agree about celebrity authors. But has anyone read Rev Richard Coles’ short series of Canon Clement mysteries ? Love them and believe being made into a tv series?

I agree Franbern,

Loved the Murder club series, but tried the We solve Murders book and just gave up for the same reasons as you.

I love House of Games and Richard Osman on it . I also love reading a nice murder , but tried to read his first murder book and couldn’t finish it so I’ve not even attempted to read any more .
I won’t be trying any of a new series.

Read his 1st book, and was not impressed. Tried his 2nd, to see if it was an improvement, only got a few chapters in and decided it was just more of the same and abandoned it. I won't be reading any more.

I have read and enjoyed all the books in the series so far. The last one (4th), is sad. He is a good writer, engaging and witty. He can write from multiple viewpoints - always a good thing!
Looking forward to reading the new book "We solve Murders', I wonder if it is similar to 'Only Murders in the Building'? TV programme.

I’m with *Ziplok, Richard Osman’s books are very much not written to be taken seriously. Characters and plots are implausible but cheerful nonsense and in my opinion totally succeed in making one (or me at least) smile!

Hmm. I wouldn’t assume that a
novel will be “rubbish” just because the author’s a celebrity of some sort - by the law of averages a few of them are going to have a bit of talent. The fact is surely just that we all have different tastes in reading, and Richard Osman’s massive sales figures show that a lot of people do enjoy his writing. Nobody was forced at gunpoint to buy his books, but buy them people did. The charity shops being full of any book isn’t a negative either, it just goes to show that an awful lot have been sold!

There are plenty of novels by “proper” authors I’ve given up on, and at least two celebrity authors I’ve thoroughly enjoyed (Rob Rinder and Graham Norton). I just saw the Murder Club books as easy, amiable reads and I’ll try the new offering in 2026 when I get to the start of that massive library queue…

I loved the first 2 books- but as we all know, not everything appeals to everyone!! Must now read the next books.............

Read his first book and was unimpressed with the mundane writing style. Would not read another. RO makes a mockery of all the gifted writers who fail to find a market for their books. Finding a publisher is very difficult and then along comes a famous name and immediately gains publicity and appears on the the best seller list.

Thought you might be interested in my review of his third book in the series, which I think was the best. I was, as I said disappointed in the latest which I have not managed to finish.

The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
There are two central conceits in this the most recent episode in the witty Thursday Murder Club Mysteries series – that a group of respectable pensioners in their retirement village could become sleuths, unfazed by mayhem, drug-dealing and murder – and that the dealers and killers are just everyday respectable folk, steeped in domesticity, moving to areas where there are good schools, proud to have a “son get into the Royal Ballet.”

There is so much more to this novel than a whodunnit. The wry humour is present in every line, and the language is a delight. He is a master of “show don’t tell”, allowing the reader to glean the personalities of the protagonists obliquely – the list of Christmas presents that the group shared tells us all there is to know about both givers and receivers.

But what stands out in this book is Osman’s touching, sensitive and perceptive approach to ageing, and to the sad descent into dementia of the highly intellectual husband of Elizabeth, the nominal group leader and former spy.
“But, however much life teaches you that nothing lasts, it is still a shock when it disappears. When the man you love with every fibre starts returning to the stars, an atom at a time.”

I can do no better than append some quotes from this rich novel in the hope that these will tempt you to partake:

“Days of death are days when we weigh our relationship with love in our bare hands. Days when we remember what has gone, and fear what is to come. The joy love brings, and the price we pay. When we give thanks but also pray for mercy.”

“Mankind finds futility very hard to stomach. People find all sorts of things to give their brief lives meaning. Religion, football, astrology, social media. Valiant efforts all, but everyone knows, deep, deep down, that life is both a random occurrence and a losing battle. None of us will be remembered. These days will all be covered, in time, by the sands.”

“That’s the thing about Coopers Chase. You’d imagine it was quiet and sedate, like a village pond on a summer’s day. But in truth it never stops moving, it’s always in motion. And that motion is ageing, and death, and love, and grief, and final snatched moments and opportunities grasped. The urgency of old age. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.”

“There comes a point when you look at your photograph albums more often than you watch the news. When you opt out of time, and let it carry on doing its thing while you get on with yours. You simply stop dancing to the beat of the drum.”

“There is only so much reading you can do, so many cups of tea you can make, before the loneliness crowds in around you. You breathe it in, you cry it out, and the clock ticks slowly, slowly …….”

I enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club books - pleasant light reading. However, the latest; 'We Solve Murders' has left me stone cold. I have tried several times to read it and given up through lack of interest after a few pages. My SiL agrees, as do several other people I have spoken to, who looked forward to buying it, but could not get into reading.

I enjoyed the Thursday murder club books but couldn’t get into this one. I didn’t finish it.

I enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club but not so sure about We Solve Murders. Persevering with it though

Whilst I like him, find his books unappealing and not well written, don’t understand the hype around them.

Agreed. I have enjoyed the others but this last one is frankly boring. Bit of a shame as I actually bought this one with real money!!

I read Thursday Murder Club and Found it very disappointing. I couldn't warm to any of the characters. I haven't been tempted to read any more of his books