The Thursday Murder Club
As Thomas Jefferson famously said, “I can’t live without books.” I love evenings spent reading, and I love sharing books with friends near and far. Four years ago, three books by British author Richard Osman arrived from our dear friends Suzanne and Don Dunaway who live in a small town in SW France. At the time, I hadn’t heard of the book series but knew that if they loved them, we would too. That is how Kit and I were introduced to The Thursday Murder Club mysteries. If you haven’t yet discovered Osman’s enormously popular mystery series, here is a brief introduction (found at the end of book four, along with an interview with the author)—
“Every Thursday, four unlikely friends meet in the Jigsaw Room at the luxurious Coopers Chase Retirement Village in the rolling hills of Kent, England—the peaceful setting that becomes the backdrop to a ruthless murder that nobody saw coming. Once a week, they meet and solve cold cases that have been languishing on the books for years. There’s Red Ron, the infamous former socialist firebrand, still causing trouble wherever he can; gentle Joyce, widowed, pining for another resident, but surely not as innocent as she seems; Ibrahim, a former therapist who understands the darker side of human nature; and Elizabeth? Well, no one is quite sure who she really is, but she’s definitely not a woman to underestimate. When a local property developer winds up dead, the TMC finds themselves in the middle of their first live case.”
There are currently four books in Osman’s internationally bestselling book series as well as a Netflix show that aired August 28 that is based on the first book, The Thursday Murder Club. For months now, my neighbors have been feverishly reading the four books in the series, passing around copies from my library, the Nevada County Library, and whatever sources they could get their hands on. And when the Netflix show aired, we were ready.
A gathering was planned and everyone arrived that Thursday (of course it was a Thursday) with food and an assortment of libations. Osman’s character Joyce, a retired nurse, loves to bake and always brings a bodacious, boozy cake to TMC’s gatherings where the four friends discuss the newest twist-and-turn in the murder investigations that kept them busier than they’d ever imagined possible.
I decided to make a classic British Lemon Drizzle Cake, then made two instead. One followed the recipe of the wonderful British baker Mary Berry and one had gluten free almond flour with a healthy dose of Grand Marnier in the drizzle. Our group enjoyed the shared food and lively conversation, then gathered with slices of lemon drizzle in the living room to watch the much- anticipated show.
The four septuagenarian sleuths who reside at Coopers Chase Retirement Village in the books have become our local TMC book group’s friends as well, and now we can’t imagine living without them. So it is with great excitement that we’ve learned of the September 30 publication date of Osman’s latest book in the TMC series, The Impossible Fortune. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy and am wondering if Netflix is planning to film season two based on the author’s second book in the series ? Let’s hope so!
