The Bullet That Missed: (The Thursday Murder Club 3)

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Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. I'm always sad when I get to the end of another book in the Thursday Murder Club series but I know there's more to come from these septuagenarians. It may be a bit longer wait this time around for Book #5 but I'll be here for it when it's published.

Anyway my point is four books in and Richard Osman has the goddamn audacity to keep handing me not just consistently good but consistently BETTER goddamn books each and every goddamn time. The Last Devil to Die audiobook narrator Fiona Shaw does another remarkable job with her voicing skills. She's one of the reasons I've made this format my preference for this series. Be sure to listen to the conversation between Osman and Shaw at the end of the audio for the author's thoughts about why he's planning to do less TV and more writing in the near future.The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot. Harry Bosch and the Lincoln Lawyer team up to exonerate a woman who’s already served five years for killing her ex-husband. You know that the author can write great characters that are humorous, he can certainly write funny, he knows where the jokes can be inserted to make you smile and laugh but what I didn’t anticipate is the writer’s way of dissecting pain and sorrow and put it in wonderful words for us to read. So here’s the anticipated effect, in one chapter you are sobbing and in another you are laughing very hard, you would be looked at as unstable but that’s this book for you. So you are warned, no reading in public places or all the seats next to you will be vacated. With films, of course, you're filming one every two years or so, so filming four [would mean] they're going to be eight years older than they were on film one. So the Hollywood thing, by and large, is that you get people you can age up a little bit. There are some interesting new characters introduced - Mervyn, who is looking for love in all the wrong places; Jill Regan from the NCA; and assorted criminals, some obviously so, others not so obvious. Of all the criminals it was Garth who intrigued me the most, a great big Canadian bear of a man who loved very deeply.

EXCERPT: Mervyn is an unconventional guest, but Elizaeth is learning to float on the tides of life these days. The 4th edition of the Thursday Murder Club series is filled with crimes, philosophy and a short goodbye. With Elizabeth preoccupied with Stephen’s care, Joyce takes the lead. Ron is Ron, while the reader finally learns more about Ibrahim’s past. A new friend comes into the fold, and some new residents of Coopers Chase find themselves in scandalous situations. Also, the criminal characters are entertaining, and I especially enjoyed Garth’s character. Donna, Chris, and Bogdan also play significant roles. This series keeps getting BETTER and BETTER, and this time Richard Osman has combined a cozy mystery with some thoughtfully written sub plots which include the themes of “romance fraud” and “end of life decisions”.

Retailers:

That’s the thing about Coopers Chase. You’d imagine it was quiet and sedate, like a village pond on a summer’s day. But in truth it never stops moving, it’s always in motion. And that motion is aging, and death, and love, and grief, and final snatched moments and opportunities grasped. The urgency of old age. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.” I won’t rehash the plot since it’s been thoroughly reviewed by others at this point, other than to say it involves a stolen box with a valuable stash inside, the darker side of the antiques trade and forgery, a side story about romance fraud and, of course, murder! Usually by the fourth book in a series, my interest starts to wane and I don’t continue on, but I have grown fond of this gang, and look forward to what’s next! And yet, reading about these four friends who take life by the horns when it would've been much easier to just coast and fade out is so inspiring and invigorating. As Richard Osman puts it wisely via Joyce, "The urgency of old age. There's nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death."

I think we're all very aware of how rare it is to find a writer who just never stops delivering. Its like dating in your twenties, you fall for a pretty face across the room and spend a dazzling few weeks or maybe even months being wooed right off your feet with poetry, pretty gifts, and hot sex but then some time goes by and the honeymoon's over and its just the same verse, gifts and positions over and over again. Because of course, there is always more than one mystery to solve in these, and the little reveals at the end are usually even more fun than the BIG REVEAL. Opening the new Osman is like sitting down to dinner with treasured friends you know are going to kill you - deliciously!' PETER JAMES Yes, this group has insanely outlandish adventures. But the friendships ring true and the dialogue is hilarious. <--this is what we're all here for, right?Richard might be the one that provides all of the missing Pointless answers yet he is not involved in writing the questions and claims he isn’t as brainy as some might think. He is good at doing quizzes and words and he has a good memory. Since he cannot see very well, he has had to listen a ton and take in information very well. If you haven't started on your journey with Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, & Ibrahim, then I'd suggest you get a move on. Seriously. Go!

This is a series where the characters have been drawn so deftly they seem real. These are people I wished they lived in my community!I cannot adequately express how desperately I want Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim, the octogenarian wunderkinds and founding members of "The Thursday Murder Club" to be real so that I can hang out with them. The Last Devil to Die is the perfect blend of chaos, intrigue, investigation, manipulation, humor and pain. I laughed. I cried. Stephen's letter is absolutely heart-wrenching. I read it several times, wanting to burn the words into my brain, never to be forgotten.