The senior-citizen sleuths are at it again in the swanky retirement village, Coopers Chase. In Richard Osman’s sequel to 2020’s delightful The Thursday Murder Club , The Man Who Died Twice (Penguin Random House), Elizabeth gets a letter from a former colleague and murder, the mob and missing diamonds follow in quick succession. Elizabeth decides to enlist the help of the other members of the Thursday Murder Club, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron.
The inspiration for the over-70 sleuths, Osman (51) said came after a visit to his mother, who lives in a big retirement community in the South of England. “It is a beautiful village and you have to be over 70 to live there,” says Osman over a call from West London serendipitously on a Thursday. “I saw the rolling green hills, lakes and farm animals and thought this will be the perfect place for a murder. When I spoke to the people who lived there I realised they have all done interesting things. I thought if there was a murder here, they will be able to solve it.”
Murder at the door
In the books, the 70-plus sleuths come from different backgrounds, says Osman. “One was a spy (Elizabeth), one was a nurse (Joyce), there was a psychiatrist (Ibrahim) and a trade union official (Ron) and once a week they meet to look at cold cases. Suddenly there is a real-life murder at their doorstep.”
Though they have so much life experience, Osman says, they are underestimated because they are old. Being overlooked is a good thing, Osman says. “When you see someone over 70 years, you think they are harmless. We know that is not true and are they are up to no good a lot of the time. They have a lot of experience of the world, and are able to recognise liars and frauds.” We root for Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce, Osman says, because they are the underdogs.
Osman, who is also a quiz show host, says he has not thought of a prequel. “Maybe in 10 years-time when I have run out of ideas, I could write a prequel about Elizabeth in the 1970s. That might be a lot of fun.” ( laughs )
Family favourites
His favourite of the fab four changes from day to day, says Osman. “Joyce reminds me of lots of women from my family. She is kind, bright, and quite strong. Ron, the labour activist, is like some of the men in my family, always looking for an argument and trouble, but also the first person on hand if you ever need anything done. They feel like the two sides of my family.”
A fan of whodunits, Osman says while picking Agatha Christie as your favourite because she is the queen of the whodunit, is a bit of a cliché, she does write great crime novels. “She writes about the world, people, greed and kindness. I love her plots, her idea of good versus evil, and the way she structures a book. That is the sort of thing I wanted to do in this book. I wanted there to be a great crime. So you can have fun working out who did it, but I also wanted to present characters you are going to fall in love with. I wanted to write a book about people who are different but get along with each other and use kindness, strength and empathy to get the job done.”
The book cover
Dark and cosy
The books feel cosy, Osman says because of the setting and the characters, who are in the 70s. “However, I feel the books are grittier than they are given credit for. While I am not going to a dark, back alley, I do make good and bad things happen.”
Osman says it never occurred to him to patronise the members of the Thursday Murder Club. “My mum, is 79, though in her head she is 32. When people say, how do you get into the heads of older people? I tell them their heads are like ours. They are around physical pain a lot more, they lose friends and all that kind of stuff, but they think exactly the same as us. The nice thing about it is, it is never too late to make new friends or have a new adventure.
Without a pause
One of the cons of having sleuths over retirement age is they do not have much time. “That is an interesting point,” concedes Osman. “So, the second book literally starts the day after the first book ended. And the third book would be immediately after the second book ends.”
The very interesting handyman Bogdan is an example of Osman’s approach to writing. “I have an idea of how the book is going to end and some of the characters I want to get along the way. I try and write 1,000 words a day and make it up as I go along. Bogdan started off as a minor character, with one scene. He did a couple of things in that scene that made me think ‘oh I want to spend some more time with this guy’.”
Listen up
The Thursday Murder Club audiobooks are beautifully read by Lesley Manville. “My eyesight is very, very bad, so I listen to lots of audiobooks. I was thrilled that Lesley Manville, who is a great actor, did the audiobook.”
Having a trained actor adds to the audiobook experience, says Osman. “When you work with actors, you realise that they give an extra dimension to what you have written.” With a view leaving the professional job to professionals, Osman says he would rather concentrate on his writing. “Film people can make the film and Lesley Manville can read it.”
Talking of film adaptations, Steven Spielberg’s Amblin has bought the rights to the book. About casting ideas, Osman says, “It is funny, everybody who reads the book immediately casts in their head, saying Judi Dench or whatever. To me, they are real people so Judi Dench cannot play Elizabeth because Elizabeth is Elizabeth. I need to let that go and let great actors take those roles and enjoy them.”
