In the sleepy English village of Fairhaven, all is well until a most perplexing cold case lands in the laps of our favorite septuagenarian sleuths – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. A decade-old mystery involving the suspicious death of a local news legend sends the Thursday Murder Club on a merry chase for clues, only to be waylaid by a menacing new foe known only as “Viking.” This shadowy nemesis threatens Elizabeth with an impossible ultimatum: assassinate a former KGB chief, or see her beloved best friend Joyce murdered in retribution.
As activist Ron and psychiatrist Ibrahim dig for leads to unmask Viking’s identity, they find themselves unearthing secrets involving an imprisoned mob-queen from their previous escapades. In this rip-roaring third installment “The Bullet That Missed”, Osman’s charming pensioner posse must navigate a tangled web stretching from a cappuccino-equipped prison cell to a posh penthouse, relying only on their wits, moxie, and unshakeable bond to emerge triumphant. Osman delivers yet another cozy, cleverly-crafted mystery that affirms the Thursday Murder Club’s status as the most engaging geriatric crime-fighters in modern fiction.
The Backdrop:
“The Bullet That Missed” marks the hotly-anticipated third entry in Richard Osman’s blockbuster Thursday Murder Club series, following his acclaimed debut smash “The Thursday Murder Club” (2020) and equally winning sequel “The Man Who Died Twice” (2021). With its droll British wit, endearing found family of crime-solvers, and fiendish mysteries couched in the cozy confines of a bucolic retirement village, Osman’s series has become a global phenomenon, selling over 4 million copies worldwide and securing the top spot as the UK’s fastest-selling adult crime debut.
In this third outing, Osman continues his winning formula of setting an ingenious murder puzzle against the snug backdrop of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village, then letting his eccentric cast of aged amateur detectives loose to untangle the knotty plot. It’s an irresistible premise: a cadre of clever pensioners with too much time on their hands deciding to put their considerable life experience and moxie to use catching killers – like Enid Blyton’s Famous Five aged 50 years and pitted against far deadlier foes than smugglers. By blending the cozy village mystery with a healthy dollop of cheeky humor, suspense, and surprisingly high body count, Osman has concocted an intoxicating formula that’s equal parts comfort read and page-turner.
The Cracking Plot:
When the Thursday Murder Club convenes in the Coopers Chase cafe to dig through old case files for a lark, they chance upon a perplexing ten-year-old tragedy: the apparent cliffside suicide of beloved local news presenter Bethany Waites, found dead in her wrecked car at the base of a jagged seaside crag. Her estranged husband, dashing news co-anchor Mike Waghorn, has been haunted by her loss for the past decade, never quite believing it was suicide but lacking evidence to reopen the case.
Enter our aged heroes, who approach Mike with an offer to shed fresh eyes on this cold case mystery pro bono (after all, they’re pensioners with plenty of time and insatiable curiosity). By parsing the sparse original case file with their formidable deductive reasoning, the Thursday Club unearths a web of suspicious inconsistencies in Bethany’s purported final hours. How could Bethany, a notoriously nervous driver, navigate the perilous cliffside roads alone at night? Why was her car’s fuel tank nearly full, with no petrol stations for miles around? Most baffling of all, where is her body—supposedly lost at sea but never recovered?
Meanwhile, Elizabeth faces a crisis of her own: a menacing message from a mysterious foe known as Viking demanding she assassinate Victor Illyich, a notorious ex-KGB official from her past, or see her cherished friend Joyce murdered in retaliation. Between unearthing clues in Bethany’s mystery and pursuing leads to unmask the nefarious Viking, Elizabeth finds little time for rest, especially once activist Ron and criminal profiler Ibrahim get roped into the hunt.
As the Thursday Murder Club closes in on the bombshell truth of what really happened to Bethany Waites, Viking’s threats escalate to a fever pitch, forcing Elizabeth into a desperate gambit to neutralize them once and for all. All the while, loose ends from their previous cases come back to haunt them, from a vengeful mob queen’s jailhouse machinations to an incriminating memento resurfacing at the worst possible moment. In juggling these myriad threads, Osman keeps the plot of “The Bullet That Missed” clipping along at a brisk pace, doling out red herrings and shocking reveals with aplomb.
Snappy dialogue, wry observations, and a surfeit of quirky suspects keep the proceedings fizzy and fun, even as the stakes rise to a properly pulse-pounding level. Osman possesses a rare talent for fusing cozy village charm with almost Hitchcockian tension and intrigue, populating his picturesque postcard England with killers, gangsters, and shady geopolitical forces. A lesser writer would struggle to slot such dark doings into the chintzy, tea-cozy world of the English village mystery, but Osman wields his premise’s inherent contradictions like a scalpel, to deliciously comic and suspenseful ends.
Vividly Sketched Characters:
Of course, the real draw here is Osman’s sparkling septuagenarian sleuths, and his knack for rendering them in all their liver-spotted, yet lethally sharp glory. By this third outing, The Bullet That Missed, the key players have come into warm and familiar focus, their personalities and peccadilloes sketched with economy and wit.
There’s Elizabeth, the steely ex-MI5 chief whose James Bond sangfroid belies a surprising tenderness and moral conflictedness. Joyce, the deceptively dotty and sensitive soul of the group, whose twittering naïveté masks profound emotional intelligence. Ibrahim, the dapper criminal psychiatrist whose suave intellect both anchors and enables the Club’s wilder flights of detection. And Ron, the pugnacious political firebrand whose rabble-rousing energy brings a welcome spice to the cozy proceedings.
Supporting players PC Donna de Freitas and DCI Chris Hudson return to offer a welcome bridge between the Coopers Chase crew and officialdom, alternately bemused and bowled over by their aged allies’ deductive genius. And in Mike Waghorn, the grieving news anchor still pining for his lost love, Osman introduces a touching new presence who adds a streak of melancholy amidst the mirth.
While following the characters’ individual arcs proves as diverting as the mystery itself, the real magic lies in the chemistry and camaraderie Osman has conjured between his central foursome. Their dialogue snaps and zings, whether parsing clues or just geeing each other up on during trying times. A particularly delightful subplot sees Joyce utilizing her famed people skills to wheedle her way into the good graces of a prickly suspect, armed only with tea cakes and unflappable good cheer.
Indeed, it’s in these grace notes Osman reminds us of his series’ true appeal: the chance to see a found family of lonely, oft-underestimated elders assert their vitality and worth through their shared love of solving puzzles and righting wrongs. In an ageist culture that often dismisses the elderly, there’s something genuinely radical and life-affirming in how Osman centers his pensioners’ inner lives in all their complexity: their veiled heartbreaks and secret histories, their fears for the future and delight in fleeting pleasures. Through their courage, loyalty and dogged commitment to the truth, the Thursday Murder Club stands as a testament to the power of connection to give even creaky-jointed lives a second wind.
A Rewarding Read:
In an entertainment landscape glutted with gritty true crime and sadistic serial killer fare, Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series feels like a true tonic, even a quietly revolutionary act. By fusing the mannerly charms of the cozy mystery with the propulsive intrigue of the thriller (and leavening the whole enterprise with generous measures of drollery), Osman has concocted a whodunit formula so winning, one almost resents that he makes it look so effortless.
“The Bullet That Missed” finds Osman’s talents at their most finely-honed, his authorial voice now as snug-fitting as a weathered cardigan. The plot is a masterpiece of intricacy and misdirection that still manages to make perfect sense on resolution. The tone strikes that affecting sweet spot between cuddly and caustic. And in the Thursday Murder Club themselves, Osman has created a crime-solving crew so winning, you’d happily read a dozen more mysteries in their good company.
Indeed, as the series progresses, it’s become increasingly clear Osman sees his cozy capers as a stealth delivery mechanism for some quietly profound insights into aging, friendship, morality and how we find meaning in the final act of our lives. That he manages to do so without sacrificing an iota of page-turning propulsion is a testament to his skill at cloaking depth and heart beneath a beguilingly light-hearted surface.
More than just a charming diversion to be savored and set aside, “The Bullet That Missed” lingers in the mind and heart like an overheard snippet of haunting melody. In its gentle prodding to find adventure at any age, to fight for justice where we can, and above all to cherish the souls who see us for who we really are beneath our wrinkles and foibles, it leaves the reader moved as well as masterfully entertained. As the Thursday Murder Club would say, there’s no retirement from living life to its fullest – especially when there’s killers to be caught.
Next Book to Read: The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman
