Review
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
For those who seldom watch television, Richard Osman is a TV Producer who somehow came to co-present the quiz show “Pointless”, and was so good at it that he went on to have a show of his own and now regularly appears on all kinds of panel shows. His latest venture has been to write this book, which has been vigorously promoted and hyped as an excellent read. I was unsure how good it would be, but being a fan of crime novels and liking the presenter himself, was happy to try it. I have to confess I am now wondering if there is anything Richard Osman can’t do, because what he has written is a complete delight. The book is a very gentle read – closer to TV’s Midsomer Murders or Death in Paradise than Line of Duty, so not for those who prefer tense, gripping thrillers. No one is put in jeopardy, only thoroughly nasty people are murdered and the writing is witty and fun. The drawing of the main characters is splendid, and their actions and dialogue are entirely believable and entertaining. These are people the reader enjoys spending time with. The Thursday Murder Club has 4 members, all of them residents in a retirement village. One has a mysterious past but seems to have been a secret agent, another is a retired psychiatrist, the third is an ex-nurse and the fourth is a former Trade Union leader and rabble rouser. One of the original founder members, now too ill to participate, was a retired Detective Chief Inspector. The group amuse themselves by researching unsolved murders and trying to come up with a solution. Their prior occupations give them relevant skills and some very useful connections, helping to make the concept plausible. (A revelation that the former Trade Union leader’s son was at one time a criminal adds something further to the mix.) Things change when a real murder happens right in front of them, and they set out to help the police solve it. Like all good novels of this type, the solving of the murder involves numerous red herrings and there are some satisfying twists along the way. There is so
42
www.melbourncambridge.co.uk
much more to it than just a puzzle, however. Life in the retirement community is conjured so well and reading the book so enjoyable that I was in no rush to get to the end and so, for once, was able to resist the temptation to sneak a look at the ending when half way through. The eventual answers, too, are believable giving a very satisfying ending to the book. Thoroughly recommended, and I am looking forward to the next one in the series. Christine Orchard
Best of Blue, Continuum by Lionel Blue
For this lifelong Radio Four listener, the BBC – although underfunded, undermined, and under attack by our government for many years – remains a deeply respected institution. Even today it is still revered across the world. When founded, the BBC – in concept and practice much like our NHS, which has also been subject to government attack for years – was a beacon in very dark times. Both institutions now struggle valiantly to remain the standard bearers of our finest values, which was the role allocated by their then more enlightened founding governments. I was reminded of those fast disappearing democratic values of equality, tolerance and justice when, listening to Radio Four recently, I was transported across several decades to the seismic event of 1993. Against all odds, after lengthy tortuous negotiations brokered by many governments and international bodies, all led by US President Bill Clinton, a Middle East peace deal was agreed. Signatories Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, stood on
