Review: The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman

Title: The Bullet that Missed

Author: Richard Osman

Year published: 2022

Category: Adult fiction (mystery)

Pages: 352 pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location: (my 2023 Google Reading map): United Kingdom

Summary: It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind--leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.

Review: After finishing Nadine Gordimer's The Pickup, I knew I needed a fast fun read and that a Thursday Murder Club book would do the trick. Yay!

This third installment in the series is just as fun as the first two. I love the main group of four characters, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, and in this book feel like a number of the secondary characters (Bogdan, Stephen, Donna, and Chris) are permanently being brought into the inner circle, which is great. I also liked the addition of Viktor and hope he is a permanent fixture. Perhaps he will help Elizabeth through the transition of Stephen's spiral into dementia?

And the story is good as always. There's murder, intrigue, humor (so much humor), and plot twists that make sense and keep the suspense building as the reader tries to figure out "who dunnit." I do hope there will be more novels in this series as I think Osman has hit on a successful concept. And, I won't be surprised to hear if it has been picked up for BBC television. Ok. I just Googled this and apparently there is a 4th book in the series and it is being made into a movie with filming beginning later this year. Such fun!

Challenges for which this counts: 

• Alphabet (author)--O