Book Review: The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman

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 still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?

Fluff. Charming, unpretentious, and uncomplicated - but fluff none the less. Written with more than an eye on a future TV series. You can practically hear the "Could we get Dame Judi for this role?" echoing from the pages. The cast of characters is a little unweildly and broadly-drawn. Occasionally it gets itself lost through a few tangents which seem like they want to be red herrings.

For all that, it's a good murder mystery. It is a little upsetting, and a has a twisted sense of morality which saves it from being too twee. It's a fine beach read and, no doubt, a pleasant iPlayer boxset.