Book Review: The Man Who Died Twice - Richard Osman

It's the following Thursday.

Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He's made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.

As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus?

Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?

The second season of The Thursday Murder Club kicks off! Fresh from winning a BAFTA for best septuagenarian TV series, the gang are back! Staring that one you liked from Downton, and the woman who was in that thing back in the eighties.

This isn't a difficult second novel, it's practically identical to The Thursday Murder Club. But why mess with a winning formula, eh? The plot isn't particularly convoluted and is structured so that you'll guess each twist a couple of paragraphs before the protagonists.

The problem for cynics like me is... that it's all rather jolly fun. Spies and sordid revenge fantasies. Dashing around picturesque locations with an expert mix of whimsy and blood.

Sure, it is suffused with a slightly patronising air of "aren't old people funny!?" and some slightly weird sociological commentary - but it's good knockabout fun.

Look, you're going to buy it anyway. It'll make the flight to a sun-kissed island pass in no time at all.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The book is released later this year.