But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?
Comment: I brought this book from the library. I kept seeing it mentioned by many readers and I was intrigued but not to the point of rushing out to buy it. Thankfully, it was available the last time I went there and I thought, why not...
In this book, four retired citizens who live in a retirement home decide to investigate the murder of a man who had been involved in the construction of the retirement complex. The four of them call themselves the Thursday Murder Club since that is the day they have a room available to meet. At first this is simply a way to pass the time and they investigate old cases, but now they have a real murder in their hands. The more they connect the dots the more secondary issues come their way and it all seems to become confusing, at least until a second murder happens. Can the foursome prove age is just a number and their skills aren't lost at all?
I see this has been liked by many readers and now that I have finished, I understand the appeal. The characters aren't the usual protagonists of cozy mysteries and the plot develops at a constant pace, always something happening. In fact, I would say that for me perhaps there were too many things ongoing and while I appreciate the author's attempt at red herrings, everything feels too busy for me to really relish the reading experience.
This is the first book I try by the author and his writing isn't bad, actually it's quite easy and fluid for the most part, but I've also noticed that many details or situations are inferred or are casually mentioned and sometimes if feels as if it should not matter, and it does at some point. There are also many things which seem to come out of nowhere that have a lot more importance after all and all this shifting between key aspects and red herrings isn't always very likable, to me it was a bit jarring. It's only my opinion, but perhaps the plot could have been edited differently.
The actual plot feels cozy and based on much more emotional factors than one would suspect. I think there was an intention of highlighting the age of the main characters and some of the actions seem to be suggested to not be as dire because of this. I suppose there's a goal in having the protagonists in their 60s or 70s, don't we all judge base on looks?, but it feels a little too simplistic as well to excuse certain things because of age. When some "secrets" are finally explained or revealed, I confess some things feel a little childish - how ironic - but while it was good to have closure, I was not completely sold on the reasons behind some situations.
I suppose the protagonist' age is the factor to bear in mind here. A huge part of the book's charm is set on this and I did enjoy the idea as any other reader, but I also felt that by trying to push this a little into a comedy/cozy level made certain things feel exaggerated and silly. The four protagonists are retired but all had interesting and active careers, and not really usual or the most traditional. I can certainly accept this but when they accomplish things on their own just through old contacts, and the police is made to look a bit, well, like the clowns of the party, I was a bit disappointed.
When we do learn who killed the victims and why, of course it all makes sense somehow, but despite this, I still think the author could have done a better job. Many things are left up in the air, which I assume might be loose threads to pick up in the future books somehow.
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