THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB was an enjoyable mystery. I loved the cast of characters in the club. A retired psychiatrist, a retired union organizer, a retired spy and a retired nurse make up the membership.

Their activities switch from looking at old cases to a very current murder when the partner of the developer who built their retirement village on the site of an old convent is found bludgeoned to death in his own home with an interesting picture left by the body.

Each of the amateur detectives brings their own skills to solving the case and a few other mysteries along the way including the death of the developer of the village and a cold case they had looked at during a club meeting.

I liked the description of the retirement village with its endless assortment of committees. I also liked the local police who were brought in to work with the amateurs. I liked that that viewpoints switched as the story progressed because it let me learn more about the characters.

I enjoyed that the characters were older people with a lifetime of experiences and problems. ( )

I've given this book three stars, because I can't deny it's well-constructed and well written, often humorous. Four residents in a retirement village have the hobby of returning to unsolved crimes to see if they can make any headway in solving them. And then a real crime comes their way, in their very own community, and they find themselves aiding and abetting the police and often beating them at their own game. It's a clever conceit which somehow failed to engage me, and I shan't be following up this sortie into cosy crime. ( )

Synopsis: 'In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they have a few tricks up their sleeves.' From the book cover
Review: While the first couple of chapters began rather slowly, the rest of the book was delightful. It's been reviewed as 'hysterically funny'; amusing, yes but hysterical, no. It is a twisted tale which leaves the reader thinking he/she know 'who done it' at several spots, but the ending is surprising. The question that remains is just who is Elizabeth. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it's a crime novel,its a "feel good" book. That's because of the 4 main characters... Septuagenarians whose hobby is looking over cold cases until a murder happens in their retirement community. My favorite character was Joyce, a retired nurse. Her diary entries fill the reader in on the inner workings and adventures of the gang. I can't wait to read the next book. ( )

This is the first story in the Thursday Murder Club series by English author Richard Osman, featuring four septuagenarians intent on solving murders. The four are residents in a retirement village in Fairhaven, Kent. In between jigsaw sessions and Pilates classes they manage to create a weekly group cracking old unsolved mysteries.

All of a sudden a real life murder occurs on their doorstep and the four are gainfully employed showing DCI Chris Hudson and Donna De Freitas how to do their job. The plot is muddied by the discovery of a 50 year old skeleton. The group is now working overtime to see if or how the murders may be connected.

I loved this quirky group, especially the razor-sharp Elizabeth, with hints at a mysterious former life in espionage, and the cake-baking Joyce. This was a highly entertaining book, wonderfully engaging and good fun. 4.5 stars for me. ( )