I am a huge fan of The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman. I’ve read three of them so far, and each one has been just as good as the last. I love that the main characters are seniors, but they’re not doddering or sedentary. They’re cunningly smart, have amazing skills and knowledge and their dynamic is wonderful to experience. The plots are tight and have great twists and involve some surprising elements (with hints at past lives for the characters thrown in as well). They’re some of the best mystery novels I’ve read in recent years, and they set a very high bar. So while I was excited to try a new novel by Richard Osman, I was also a little apprehensive – could this book live up to The Thursday Murder Club series?
The answer is… kind of? Taken on its own merit, it’s a great thriller. It had me on the edge of my seat, I loved that it is a great caper that travels the world and brings lots of suspects and interesting theories into the mix. But let’s back up a bit. This story is that of Amy Wheeler, a bodyguard who works for a private agency that provides protection for high profile individuals – often those who have received some kind of threat. When we meet her, she has just begun a new assignment protecting a famous and prolific novelist, Rosie D’Antonio, who has received some recent threats from very serious people. She’s not crazy about having a bodyguard, though, as it somewhat cramps her impulsive and adventurous lifestyle.
As if this isn’t enough to contend with, it soon surfaces that clients from Amy’s company have begun dying under mysterious circumstances, and she is under suspicion. Soon she has recruited her ex-cop father-in-law, Steve Wheeler, with whom she has a very close relationship, and some of his fellow retirees to investigate. And Rosie becomes her accomplice (quite happily, as it turns out, to add some excitement back into her life) as they begin chasing clues to try and both figure out what is going on, and stay ahead of whoever seems to be targeting Amy’s company – and possibly Amy herself.
This is a great thriller, and it definitely brings the suspense. There are lots of moving parts, lots of characters with mysterious backstories, suspicious behaviours and potential reason to be hiding something. The characters are good, too, and they’re all different from one another. There are some surprises from what you’d expect from each of them, which I always appreciate. That said… it just didn’t hit the same as The Thursday Murder Club for me. I didn’t feel very attached to these characters – particularly Amy. She was a bit cold, a bit two dimensional. There just wasn’t much there to grab onto, other than her obvious devotion to her father-in-law. I also liked Steve and Rosie, they’re completely opposite characters, but both really fun to hang out with. But again, I didn’t feel a particularly strong attachment to either of them.
I don’t know if I was just a little disappointed in this in comparison to Osman’s previous work – maybe I went into it with unrealistic expectations – or if it just wasn’t quite as well executed. The plot had plenty of suspense, but also felt a bit repetitive – they found another bit of info that took them to a new country, they did some stuff there, had some tricky encounters, and then the same thing repeated with a new destination. It wasn’t exactly repeating, but felt a little bit like it when I was reading. And I was ever so slightly disappointed in the conclusion too – I think I expected a more shocking reveal. It’s hard to know for sure if I would have felt the same if this were my first Osman or if this is mostly just a problem of comparison. But either way, I would say that this book is a good read, worth the time, but not as good as The Thursday Murder Club series in my opinion.
I’ve heard a lot of glowing reviews of this from other bloggers, so I suspect that this is mostly just me who felt this way. I’d be interested to hear from those of you who read this without having read any of his previous books – did you find it to be a great read? Any parts you weren’t so crazy about?
A brand new series. An iconic new detective duo. And a puzzling new murder to solve…
Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.
Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job…
Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy? – Goodreads
Book Title: We Solve Murders
Author: Richard Osman
Series: Yes – We Solve Murders #1
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: Pamela Dorman Books/Audible and Penguin Audio
Released: August 28, 2020
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 400
Date Read: January 20-24, 2025
Rating: 7/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.14/5 (88,605 ratings)