We Solve Murders - Richard Osman
Audiobook by Penguin Audio, 2024.
Uploaded to Audible 12-09-2024.
Narrated by Nicola Walker.
As regular readers of the blog (if there are any!) will know, this year I have discovered and read my way through the Thursday Murder Club series. Having recently finished The Impossible Fortune, which is the final (for now) in that series, I thought I'd give this book a go, as the only non-Thursday Murder Club book Richard Osman has yet written.
The big adjustment for me in listening to We Solve Murders is that, of course, the characters and settings of Thursday Murder Club are missing. It's always hard for a successful author of a successful series to launch another one, and I do think that We Solve Murders is not as 'tight' as Thursday Murder Club was - particularly the first in the series.
This, however, is somewhat unfair. We Solve Murders needs to stand or fall on its own merits.
So...
The mildly convoluted set-up of the story is that a number of influencers have been murdered, and the evidence is beginning to point to Amy Wheeler, a bodyguard who is currently guarding the rich American novelist Rosie D'Antonio. Amy doesn't know who she can trust, so calls in the help of her father-in-law, a retired police officer named Steve. Steve hates travelling, loves his weekly pub quiz, and is a surprisingly good detective; Rosie flirts outrageously with everyone and has the money and moxie to help the group traverse the world; Amy is a bit quieter but shares Steve's insights and also has the fighting abilities to support the group. The three combined make a great core trio, and this is among the book's strengths.
In order to try and prove Amy's innocence, the trio travel the world, visiting the sites of each killing and trying to learn the identity of the true perpetrators. This allows for the book to introduce a number of locations and some fun supporting characters - in true Osman fashion, many of whom have easy-going natures despite their criminal leanings - but also means that many of the characters only appear for a short while. In order to keep the book moving, Osman also checks in periodically with other characters who, particularly to begin with, have little impact on what is happening with our core heroes, and whose chapters can therefore seem a little bit irrelevant - even though they do have some purpose.
Because of all this, the number of 'real' suspects for the killings does narrow down considerably as the book continues. In fact, I had begun to suspect a particular character simply because they were not yet 'significant' and yet kept turning up... and it turns out I was right. This is not necessarily a criticism of the book, as Osman doesn't always make the mysteries the 'most important' part of his plots, but it did lessen the 'wow' factor of the final revelation.
Overall, a decent book with a decent cast and a decent mystery. Not a series I am as drawn to as Osman's other series, but one that would be okay to revisit should the opportunity arise.
Completed 9 November 2025.
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