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Wednesday, January 22, 2025

WE SOLVE MURDERS: REVIEW

 

Readers of Richard Osman will know that his novels are not to be taken entirely seriously, though he can sometimes touch on important and even dark issues. So, “We Solve Murders” is an improbable romp. (Review by Margaret von Klemperer, courtesy of The Witness - Used 23/12/24)

Richard Osman made the leap from television quiz show host to best-selling author with his Thursday Murder Club series, which has been something of a publishing phenomenon – and a dose of light-hearted fun. But here he is taking a break from Elizabeth and her cronies in the Cooper’s Chase retirement village and branching out with a new cast of characters and a wider of range of locales.

 

The novel starts off with an Internet influencer being shot on a yacht off South Carolina, and then we move quickly – still in South Carolina - to where celebrity guard Amy Wheeler is babysitting Rosie D’Antonio, a best-selling author with more than a passing resemblance to Joan Collins and who has been the target of death threats from a Russian oligarch she has used as the model for a character.

Meanwhile, back in the New Forest, Amy’s father-in-law Steve is living a gentle, retired life. Once a cop, he now does a little private detecting on the side, looking for lost dogs and dealing with bullying kids, just so long as it doesn’t interfere with pub quiz night. But things are about to go very wrong for Amy and Rosie, and Amy knows that Steve is just the person she should turn to.

He is reluctant to leave the New Forest for more glamorous places, but he is very fond of Amy, and if she needs his (considerable) skills, he will obey the call, even though the glamour of flying in private jets and going to America and the Caribbean and dabbling in the murky waters of celebrity guarding doesn’t appeal as much as the local pub.

Readers of Richard Osman will know that his novels are not to be taken entirely seriously, though he can sometimes touch on important and even dark issues. So, We Solve Murders is an improbable romp. There is plenty of mayhem, murder and conspiracy along with likeable main characters – particularly Steve and Rosie – and a good many red herrings and misleading clues scattered along the way. That said, I guessed one of the villains quite early on.

However, Osman does over-egg the pudding somewhat despite his quirky humour which runs through the story. There are a lot of minor characters who are not particularly developed and can get confusing, and the plot becomes so convoluted that keeping things straight in the reader’s mind is a challenge. The ending leaves you thinking that Steve, Rosie and Amy will be back and, if the next outing is a bit shorter and a bit less complex, that won’t be a bad thing. - Margaret von Klemperer

We Solve Murders is published by Penguin Viking.