Thursday Murder Club Book Two

 

The Man Who Died Twice: Thursday Murder Club Mystery Book Two (2021)

By Richard Osman.

Viking, 351 pages.

★★★ ½

 

 

 

The old gang–in both senses of the word–is back: Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, Bogdan…. So too are their law enforcement allies, PC Donna DeFrietas and DCI Chris Hudson. Book Two of the Thursday Murder Club series is not as much fun as the first book, in part because learning more about the characters removes some of the intrigue that made the first book so special. In particular, we find out a lot more about Elizabeth Best and why she is often able to gain favors and access to things we would not imagine a person residing in a retirement home to acquire. We also meet her first husband Douglas Middlemas, an exasperating rogue who has also been in the spy business.

The new caper involves stolen diamonds from the home of Martin Lomax, a middleman in organized crime dirty dealings. About £20 million worth of jewels have been removed when Martin’s home is burgled, and Douglas is probably the one who stole them. In a parallel story, gentle Ibrahim is badly beaten by a group of muggers on BMX bicycles. The assault has all the earmarks of local punk Ryan Baird. The Thursday Murder Club first mobilizes to find out who put poor Ibrahim in the hospital. Elizabeth, though, can't help but think that somehow the hot diamonds and the attack on Ibrahim are linked.

Maybe, maybe not; Elizabeth is not infallible. This time around our elderly sleuths are engaged in some seriously dangerous business. Martin has Mafia connections and it’s their diamonds that are missing. If they don't show up Martin will end up a corpse, as will anyone else who gets in the way. Quite a few bodies appear in this book, but will all of them stay dead? Elizabeth and Douglas recall a past case about the man who died twice, hence the novel’s title.

There are new subplots, including the fact that Chris is having a hot affair with Donna's mother, Patrice. This is rather refreshing because Donna and Patrice are Afro-British, and Chris is White. We also meet a clueless MI5 agent named Poppy who’d rather be a poet.  But rest assured, Joyce is still keeping a quirky diary that’s a mix of British deadpan and cavalier commentary on violence. When one murder victim is shot in the noggin at close range, Joyce muses upon the experience of blowing someone’s head off: “It probably doesn't suit everyone. It wouldn't suit me... Perhaps it would suit me? You don’t know until you try, do you? I never thought I would like dark chocolate, for example.”

Book Two is darker than the first novel. A lot of things come into play, including knitted friendship bracelets, delicious revenge against Ibrahim’s attacker, Elizabeth’s inquiries into obtaining £10,000 worth of cocaine, a woman named Connie Johnson who makes Martin seem like a pussycat, a bus station locker, a suspicious parent, and a deadly game that sends Elizabeth seeking answers to cryptic clues left by Douglas. Bogdan has more to do in this novel and Ron's character is softened. Who would expect gruff old Ron to be a doting grandfather? His grandson Kendrick even manages to get in on the act.

Many readers may find that the mystery in The Man Who Died Twice is more sophisticated, others that the book is too sanguinary and not as much fun. In my estimation, Osman interjects enough humanity to temper matters. There is, for instance, an interesting take on Elizabeth's husband Stephen, who is in the grasp of dementia. Yet there are times in which he is lucid, plays chess, and helps the Thursday Murder Club make sense of the rising body count. Osman also knows when to press the comic relief button, like jokes about the receding hairline of an MI5 agent and Donna’s unsuccessful efforts to ignore the details of her mother's relationship with Chris.

Given that Book Three is due out this fall, you may rest assured that the Murder Club will remain intact. Speaking for myself, I hope that the new book will return to the good-natured tone of Book One and save the swashbuckling for James Bond.

 

Rob Weir