Review: "We Solve Murders," Richard Osman

By Liz Soares

I love the “Thursday Murder Club” series featuring the intrepid and quirky residents of a senior living complex—Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce.

So when I heard that author Richard Osman was starting another series, my reaction was “Oh, no!”

I didn’t want him taking any time away from my septuagenarian friends.

But fellow “Murder Club” fans can rest assured. Osman’s winning combination of comedy and compassion, wild capers and rapid-fire one liners is on full display in this new series—along with a fun cast of characters.

Steve Wheeler, retired policeman, appreciates his quiet life in a village on the edge of the New Forest, where wild ponies sometimes wander down the high street and munch on the floral displays. He enjoys trivia night at the pub, and spending time with his cat, Trouble. But all is not well. Steve lost his wife in a tragic accident, and carries around a Dictaphone in which he records his “conversations” with her.

Luckily, he has daughter-in-law Amy to keep tabs on him. Amy has demons of her own—a traumatic childhood—and likes to literally keep herself on her toes. She works in private security, which takes her around the world on sometimes dangerous assignments. Amy always has time for a chat with Steve, though, and calls him in to help when her current placement, guarding famous actress Rosie D’Antonio in South Carolina, goes sideways.

Big time. Amy’s on a perilous tightrope and doesn’t know whom to trust. She’s being framed in the murders of three clients of Maximum Impact, her company. Clearly someone in the business is involved. But who?

Steve reluctantly joins Amy and Rosie, and the three flee to St. Lucia. Their adventure takes them from there to Dubai and Dublin, meeting a variety of good folks and thugs along the way. Steve puts his professional skills to good use, but he’s also adept at reading people and disarming them; for example, he makes an ally of a burly TSA agent through a shared love of Van Halen.

In true Osman fashion, friends and lovers are made, bonds are forged and the bad guys get what’s coming to them.

This was a fun romp and I’m looking forward to the next installment.

But first, another "Thursday Murder Club" book is in the works, and (drum roll) a Netflix movie featuring Helen Mirren, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie and Pierce Brosnan as the wily quartet I hold so dear to my heart.