We Solve Murders - Richard Osman - Top Book Pick!

Mystery

Rating: 9.5/10

Yippee!! Osman hits it out of the park with this book, the first in a new series. A savvy departure from the shenanigans of his Thursday Murder Club, sacrificing none of the crisp plotting, razor sharp wit and intimate character portraits that infuse every page of his books.

The plot in a nutshell; Amy, a bodyguard assigned to protect a Jackie Collins-esque novelist being threatened by a Russian oligarch who took offense at a character in one of her books, finds out that her past clients are dropping like flies. And someone seems to be framing her the grisly killings. She reaches out to the only person she trusts, her father-in-law (not her husband, but that’s a question for another day).

And they are off, trying to outrun a killer, find a nefarious adversary intent on Amy paying for their crimes, and maybe finding new friends and new purpose.

Part of Osman’s magic is that he builds a cast of characters that illustrate that of the people you pick up over the course of a lifetime, it’s often the most unexpected ones who stick around. I’m betting these folks are in it for the long haul.

The Main Players:

Steve: a retired cop and still grieving widower to has grown attached to the perfect fit of the groove in his sofa. The best part of his life are his daily calls with his daughter in law Amy and his weekly pub quiz night.

Amy: a dedicated bodyguard with a complicated backstory who loves nothing better than an adrenaline rush. Up for anything and determined to remind Steve of all reasons he needs to get off the couch.

Rosie: is a bestselling author who understands celebrity culture, the reality of the fact that if you have any sort of personality, someone will eventually want to kill you.

Trouble: a cat whose affections are a fickle thing…

Footnote: Loved this observation by one of the characters about AI…

“After writing an e-mail, a text, anything really, you can simply run the whole thing through ChatGTP and it instantly deletes all traces of your personality. It flattens you out, irons your creases, washes you away, quirk by quirk, until you disappear.”

Yikes.

Book Pairing(s): Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell, The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan