Osman’s long career in TV has helped him understand the value of giving people what they want and in no way looking down on that. To him, what they so often want is warmth and kindness. “I can’t write about mutilated bodies and serial killers. It’s not in me, it’s not in my heart. I have to write these characters. There was a period where everything had to be very dark and everything had to be very gritty, and everything had to be very sort of ambiguous,” he says. “The cultural conversation in both our countries centers on a very small amount of TV programs or books, which are not really the ones that people actually watch or that people turn to when they’re looking to be entertained. It’s nice to be right in the middle of popular culture with a product which I love and which I’m proud of, which I hope has messages of hope for what the world might be and how we might treat each other. It’s not fashionable, but I’m very glad that it’s popular.”

Kuldesh thinks about his friend Stephen. How he looks now. How lost, how quiet, how reduced. Is that the future for him too? What fun they used to have, the whole lot of them. The noise they would make. The strands of the plot multiply entertainingly and get tied together in the usual satisfying way… Osman serves up another delightful mystery.”

This book managed to do something that only 1 or 2 others have ever managed before in my lifetime of reading (50+ yrs) - it made me cry - and more than once. Having said that, I also laughed out loud through it as well (a few more have managed that). While author Richard Osman will be moving on to write a second series, he assured me (and the many other readers who are similarly invested) that he’ll return to the funny, sweet stories of my favorite retirement home sleuths. The Last Devil to Die is a beautiful send-off that will get us through the wait.”

It’s taken a mere two books for Richard Osman to vault into the upper leagues of crime writers . . . The Man Who Died Twice. . . dives right into joyous fun." An unexpected visitor—an old pal of Elizabeth’s (or perhaps more than just a pal?)—arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam. In "The Last Devil to Die," the major mystery is who killed Elizabeth's husband Stephen's good friend Kuldesh Sharma, an antiques dealer. Other sublots swirl around "romance fraud," the world of forged paintings and fake antiques, a heroin ring, why the local police are thrown off the murder case by the British Feds, and how Elizabeth will handle Stephen's deeper decline into dementia.

With this novel, there is an aching poignancy about it. Particularly as we lose a beloved character. This is written beautifully, movingly and with dignity, I did shed a tear myself and would defy you not to do the same. The main four though are brilliant characters; ex-spy Elizabeth, Union firebrand Ron, thoughtful Ibrahim and Joyce, who is probably the heart of the group. The dynamic between the four completely work and it was wonderful to learn more about gentle Ibrahim's past.

Osman follows The Bullet That Missed with a bittersweet mystery about the problems facing many older people: dementia, computer fraud, death. Humor does, however, alleviate the poignancy in this strongest, most emotional book in the best-selling series.” Ibrahim wonders what they should do about Mervyn. He was a difficult man, that much was certain, and he had come into their orbit only because Joyce couldn’t resist a deep voice and a sense of mystery. But he was a lonely man, and he was being taken advantage of. And, besides, it might be nice for the Thursday Murder Club to have a new project that moved at a gentler pace than usual. Something a bit less murdery would be quite a novelty. The world is becoming a whisper to Kuldesh now. Wife gone, friends falling. He misses the roar of life. The residents of Coopers Chase have seen a lot, but the impact has rarely been felt so close to home. Drawn into the world of international smugglers and scam artists Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron are on the case.What is truly special in the books are the characters, whose age allows for a beautiful kind of interaction… For all the fizz of jokes and romance, the books carry with them a sense of grief and sadness which becomes much stronger in The Last Devil to Die … The kindness is his books comes out of something greater for Osman. It’s how he wants the world to be and it’s how he thinks the world is, if only we could realize it.” Delivers the same kind of clever dialogue, colorful characters and corkscrew plotting that made the other books so much fun… As you reach the last chapters of this book, you’ll think you’ve figured out the mystery. You’ll think so several times. ButOsmanand the Thursday Murder Club will keep the surprises coming.” In this “timeless and original” sci-fi thriller (New York Times), a hardboiled baseball scout must solve the murder of his brother in a world transformed by body modification, perfect for readers of William Gibson and Max Barry.

The Bullet That Missed hits on every front. Its quandaries stymie, its solutions thrill, its banter is worth reciting and its characters exemplify an admirable camaraderie. One can only hope that the Thursday Murder Club’s next outing appears before long.”Kuldesh doesn’t have the box with him but he’s sure he can explain that away. He hopes to be “ on his way before the snow turns to ice .” Sadly, that’s not to be. The club makes a triumphant return… The Man Who Died Twice, like its series predecessor, is an unalloyed delight, full of sharp writing, sudden surprises, heart, comedy, sorrow and great banter.” And yet, just as visits to ­Coopers Chase are becoming an annual tradition, Osman has announced that he is to ­abandon the Club for a while to write a new series “about a father-in-law/daughter-in-law detective duo”. Thank goodness that in an afterword to this book, he promises to reassemble Joyce and co soon. It will take a lot more of the ­painful reality of old age to intrude on Coopers Chase before it stops being, for hundreds of thousands of readers, an essential refuge from the cares of real life.