Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
You only notice that every traffic light is red when you are late for something. I think I hadn’t noticed all of the books with senior citizens as main characters until after I read the first book in Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. Surely, books like this existed before?
In a recent interview in The Guardian (available to you every morning through PressReader) he spoke about the wild success of his series and mentioned that he was a little peeved about how many publishers were trying to copy the art style of his book covers—but didn’t mention anything about character age. So, perhaps there were just as many before and it’s just that theory of noticing red lights: you only see them when you are looking for them.
If you are a fan of those amateur sleuths who live at the retirement home called Coopers Chase (and surely you’ve already read our earlier blog post about them here), I have a few excellent titles to suggest if you’ve finished all four, are waiting for your hold on the next one, or just want to dip your toe into this subgenre of mystery fiction.
I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson & Will Ferguson
Starting with one from Canadian authors Ian and Will Ferguson (although they set their novel in Oregon!) is I Only Read Murder. This book has a fading television star, Miranda Abbot, returning to a small town where she and her ex-husband used to live together, is hoping to rekindle her career and possibly find romance.
Miranda had played a karate-chopping pastor – Pastor Fran – who solved crimes, finds herself in the middle of one, after she takes a room in a b&b run by a woman who turns out to be her superfan. There are excellent red herrings in this story and the Fergusons put their Leacock award-winning humour skills to excellent use. The town is filled with quirky characters and its excellent news that the authors already have their second novel ready to go.
Killers Of A Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Last year’s Killers Of A Certain Age, by American author Deanna Raybourn, seemed to most closely connect with the flavour of Osman’s series. She also features four very different people working together, using their disparate skills to solve a mystery, but in her case all four are assassins and they had previously worked for an organization known as the Museum.
Mary Alice, Natalie, Helen and Billie were recruited in the late 70s to hunt down criminals and though they should be enjoying their retirement they find that they have become targets! Written by a woman, this novel uses humour to describe the impact of aging and balances it with the strength of their long friendship. It’s less cozy than the Ferguson novel but not an out and out thriller. It’s a sensational read.
The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann
A translated mystery is set in the fictional British town of Duck End begins with the story told through the eyes of a pet tortoise. This is always a good start. In The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp we have a group of retirees who have chosen to live together in a co-housing style.
Their eccentric personalities are instantly on display when a police officer comes knocking and they struggle to find ways to hide the body in their garden (it’s their roommate Lilith) but seem calm at the same time. They are all shocked to learn that the officer wants to warn them of a totally different death in the neighbourhood, setting an investigation in motion for them to find the killer. They want to prevent themselves from becoming the next victim, and well, it’s not worth spoiling anything more. Whether this was meant to be a copy of the work of Osman or not, it’s just a delight. There is no doubt that I’ll be returning to this novel again on a blustery day this winter so I can spend time with these friends and this tortoise again.
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
I would also suggest The Marlow Murder Club (the second book has just come out) by Robert Thorogood which has a 77-year-old former crossword creator solving local crimes. She has a feisty personality and the unlikely companions who join her in the investigations make a perfectly balanced trio. Jonathan Whitelaw’s Lake district series features a recently laid off journalist who reluctantly follows the directions of his mother-in-law Anita throughout Bingo Hall Detectives and Village Hall Vendetta.
The setting is so soothing and the banter between these two reads like it is lifted from real life. I’m sure that the author’s mother-in-law must be uncomfortable when she reads the novels. Like Osman’s Thursday murder club series all of these murders are solved by people who are old enough to have moved on to thoughts of retirement but use their experience and wit, rather than their muscle, to solve murder. A few, like Osman’s Ron Ritchie, don’t mind throwing a few punches.
Check it out 