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  • The Thursday Murder Club

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Richard Osman
  • Narrated by: Lesley Manville
  • Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (471 ratings)

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The Thursday Murder Club

Written by: Richard Osman
Narrated by: Lesley Manville
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Publisher's Summary

A New York Times best seller!

Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment

“Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining.” (Wall Street Journal)

“Don’t trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman’s own laugh-out-loud whodunit.” (Parade)

Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves.

A female cop with her first big case.

A brutal murder.

Welcome to...

The Thursday Murder Club

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together, they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

©2020 Richard Osman (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

“An amusing debut that finds gold in getting older.”—People

“If you like a good mystery but also want to laugh and go 'aw,' the Thursday Murder Club books by Richard Osman are definitely for you.”Daisy Rosario, NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour

“[A] jaunty mystery. . . What's delightful is that there are no stereotypes here—the senior citizens solve the murder with wit, style and ferocious intelligence. The puzzle is intricate and involving, but there's a breeziness about it that makes it an ideal hammock read.”NPR

What listeners love about The Thursday Murder Club

Average Customer Ratings
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An original delight!

This was very entertaining and surprisingly optimistic for a crime novel. The reader did justice to the diverse cast of characters. Very much looking forward to the next book.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Love love love this audio book

What a fun experience to listen to this book. Loveable characters, lots of twists. First Class narration. Fantastic. I will definitely be listening to this book lots of times.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Underwhelmed

A bit contrived, in my opinion. Characters too stereotypical, plot lines too convenient and suspense completely lacking. If all you want is a simple read, I guess this could work but I'm sure there are many others more satisfying.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slowwwww

I had very high hopes for this book, but I'm nine chapters in, and it is meandering along at a snail's pace. I understand that this is a cozy mystery, whoch I usually enjoy, but I didn't expect it to be so slow. I'm also not sure when the humour that people have talked about is going to kick in. I'm going to give it a few chapters, but if it keeps going on like this I might abandon it.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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One of the Best

An absolutely brilliant first novel, but honestly, no one else could have done the job that Lesley Manville does in narrating it. She makes each and every character come alive with their very own voice and mannerisms.
Highly recommended--can’t wait for the sequel, The Man Who Died Twice. Kudos, Richard Osman!

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realistic without being gory

Found it hard to get into at first - wasn’t a style I was used to but once I got a sense of the storytelling I loved it - multiple layers of storytelling that keeps you guessing - enjoyed the author interview at the end

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    5 out of 5 stars
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In the best tradition of cosy murder mysteries

Fantastic writing, characters you'll fall in love with, and the best possible narrator in Lesley Manville! Perfection all 'round

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Lots of Twists

We had many chuckles with this book. I love the spry old guys and their meddling. It was a long listen but made the car ride fun. Definitely will look into book 2.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Review of Thursday murder Club

It was overall a good listen. I must admit I found the readers voice a bit too soothing and fell asleep while listening.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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New favorite author!

Such a great book. Funny, sweet, relatable, and also tackles the raw realities of aging. Poignant. I prefer to listen to this book rather than read it because of Lesley’s narration! Bravo! Wish she had read the third installment, as well. Reading that one with my eyes. 😉

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  • Bill
  • 2021-01-14

Social Justice with your Crimes

I liked the characters very much.
The plot was overwrought but clever. Maybe too clever.
But the “woke” social justice droppings were so blatant they spoiled what would have been an enjoyable read.
I go to church to hear a sermon.

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132 people found this helpful

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  • Anne Rivers
  • 2020-10-29

Loved the book but needed better audio production

This book was very well written and very well read by the narrator. However each chapter was a different sound level. That got to be a bit annoying as there were over 100 chapters. I had to reset the sound level for each one.

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114 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • A. Kiss
  • 2020-10-07

Very entertaining, endless plot twists

I'm a big reader of murder mysteries, and this one quickly became one of my favorites. It's so well plotted, with so many twists and red herrings, but also enough clues scattered along the way that you can pick up on if you read very carefully (or, like me, not pick them up until later when they're pointed out to you...). The characters are great, multidimensional, funny and smart and tender and flawed in endearing ways. It's a great setting for a murder mystery too. I just wish Cooper's Chase were real so I could move there.

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61 people found this helpful

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  • Sabrina
  • 2021-04-24

I tried.

I could not finish this book. I am a huge fan of cozy mysteries, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Rex Stout, MC Beaton, etc. Yet I could not get through this droning book. It was so tediously boring that I had restarted it 4 times because I caught myself not paying attention. I made it to chapter 34 out of 115. Yes, you read that correctly, 115 chapters! I do not understand why so many reviews said this book was so fantastic. The characters were boring and not fun as the reviews had stated. Rambling a lot about other nonsense that had no connection to the murder. I would not call this a murder mystery. It is like a weird soap opera mixed with nonsensical thoughts from the point of view of several characters and a murder thrown in. If you love hearing people's (some people you find completely unlikable) thoughts, page after page, then this is the book for you.

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59 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Heidi
  • 2020-10-16

If you like Alexander McCall Smith you will love The Thursday Murder Club

New author. First novel. Home run out of the park. This book came to my notice on my audible feed and while I usually ignore such prompts am so glad I gave the TMC a try. Great narration, fabulous characters— a fun cozy mystery with both laughs and soul. Two thumbs way up.

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  • Keenan
  • 2020-10-14

A pancea for these times

The club consists of four retired individuals living in a Kent, England, retirement community. They meet weekly to discuss cold cases purloined from the files of a past member, a detective. Meanwhile the developer of the retirement community wants to add additional housing by removing a convent's burial ground and building on that space he now owns. Everyone else is opposed to it. As the conflict develops, his contractor is murdered. So the Thursday Murder Club are now investigating an open case.

The characters are delightful. The plot progresses logically yet with surprises. It ends satisfyingly. This book would be attractive to lovers of Golden Age mystery and traditional mystery.

The narrator is very talented but the recording quality is uneven. Still, if you aren't British, I'd recommend listening to the audio because the performance brings out the British sense of humor you would otherwise miss.

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38 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Jane McDonald
  • 2020-12-21

I hope this isn’t another Pulitzer

Don’t know how many Stars to rate this. Stuck with it , am currently at chapter 119. Have a couple of more to go., Can’t always follow which is necessary to liking it, don’t know what to blame writer or reader or me. I am guilty of doing hand work while listening. Was considering a redo but it’s over 12 hrs and at 80 and don’t want to waste time. So maybe a sample try ? which I need to do before I click on buy

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37 people found this helpful

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  • M. Wilson
  • 2020-09-29

I want join The Thursday Murder Club

This book was such a delight! The plot has many twists and the characters are so well written. You will want to be friends with most of them. Please make a movie or TV show of this!

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  • Prime Shopper
  • 2020-12-13

Not a real mystery - just very silly

The writing is good, the performance is okay, but the story just drags on and on through a lot of silliness. If you like actual mysteries, you will not like this book.

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34 people found this helpful

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  • Kira W
  • 2020-09-30

Definite twists

The author kept me second guessing who the real killer was the entire time. Highly recommend 👌

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31 people found this helpful