The Bullet that Missed is the third installment of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series and continues to provide the expected amusement and diversion.
The Thursday Murder Club is a small group of English retirees who meet to discuss and lend their observations to cold cases. Every now and then, a new murder crops up in their neighborhood, and they get to apply their talents to a new ongoing investigation.
In this novel, they look into a case of a local news reporter who had apparently been killed when her call rolled off a cliff. There was no body, but there are plenty of clues to examine once again.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, a former spy for the British government is placed under duress and tasked with killing an old ally so that she can secure the safety of her one of her closest friends. Of course, Elizabeth has lost none of her guile and hatches a plan of her own to extricate herself from this latest predicament.
Osman does use a lot of humor in this series, but there is something rather touching about the bond that has formed between the four main members of the Thursday Murder Club. There are moments that elicit some laughter.
Elizabeth is married to a man who is in the grip of dementia. Osman does a good job of portraying the heartbreak such a situation brings to the table while peppering it with some lighter moments.
Osman seems to be expanding the pool of allies and associates to the cause.
Although each member of the group is a little eccentric and dealing with various perils brought on by old age, they each contribute something valuable. Elizabeth is probably the one with the most practical experience and is the de facto leader of this merry band of amateur sleuths, but Ibrihim, Ron, and Joyce do not come across as slouches in their roles.
The series itself is a bit preposterous but in the best ways. Thursdays seems as good of day as any to discuss a little murder and dodge a few killers.
I am nest taking a trip back to the Prohibition Era in New York in which I will stay until Last Call at the Nightingale.by Katharine Schellman..
