The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman is an amusing and effective second outing for the retirees Cooper Chase who have formed the Thursday Murder Club.
Elizabeth’s ex-husband emerges from her mysterious past on the run after being accused of stealing diamonds. Ibraham gets mugged. Ron and Joyce are there to lend their support as these two troubling events are the precursor to more murder and duplicity. The Thursday Murder Club, who meet once a week to discuss unsolved cases, get a crack at their second active case.
Elizabeth’s past kicks off the latest caper. Her charming, roguish ex-husband has turned up asking for her help to protect him from an irate mobster who believes him to have stolen a lot of diamonds worth an obscene amount of riches. The club’s police officer allies are after a vexing drug dealer, and an awkward romantic relationship is brewing.
Ibraham is understandably shaken by his attack, but he is still able to be of some help even if he is hesitant to leave the safety of his apartment.
Three bodies have turned up which galvanizes the club into searching for the purloined diamonds as a clever killer lurks within the retirement village.
Osman does another fine job of undermining any expectations or prejudices when it comes to the elderly. The four friends remain as quick-witted as ever. The friendship and support they offer each other is rather charming, even if they express some mild exasperation.
The reader gets a better idea of how efficient Elizabeth likely was in her prior occupation as a spy. The banter between her and Joyce often gets quite hilarious.
Ibraham is a former psychologist, so it’s interesting to find him struggling with fears and insecurities that were likely afflicting many of patients.
Elizabeth being a former spy does open up some interesting doors when it comes to plot. A series like this does lend itself to predictability, but Osman effectively avoids that criticism by delving into Elizabeth’s past a bit.
Osman has created a rather distinctive, charming series in which he challenges preconceptions of the elderly. This group of old people would be fun to hang out with.
In spite of the loads of humor throughout the novel, Osman does explore the tendency for many to underestimate older people who may still quite a bit of grit left in them. The friendship between the four main characters is at times a bit moving as well as amusing.
The case itself turns out to be pretty cleverly plotted with some pretty good twists. Elizabeth at some point realizes that the solution is simpler than she first thought. Although she is basically the leader of the club, all of the members get to shine a bit.
The strange choice of having some of the chapters presented as diary entries written by Joyce adds to the quirkiness of the series. It does work that the whole novel isn’t written entirely from her perspective, but the occasional account from her sort of adds to the charm.
Osman continues a rather implausible yet fun, so I am looking forward to catching up with the Thursday Murder Club when another case is added to the agenda.
Robert Galbraith is going to reveal a bit more of Cormoran Strike’s past in Career of Evil.
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