Book: The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club Book 3)
Author: Richard Osman
Pages: 400
Read on: Kindle
Read in: ~3 hours
Plot Summary:
It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal.
Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A local news legend is on the hunt for a sensational headline, and soon the gang are hot on the trail of two murders, ten years apart.
To make matters worse, a new nemesis pays Elizabeth a visit, presenting her with a deadly mission: kill or be killed...
While Elizabeth grapples with her conscience (and a gun), the gang and their unlikely new friends (including TV stars, money launderers and ex-KGB colonels) unravel a new mystery. But can they catch the culprit and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?
General Thoughts: I have really enjoyed the previous two books in the Thursday Murder Club Series, They've been reviewed on the blog and so, click HERE- The Thursday Murder Club and HERE- The Man Who Died Twice to go see what they're all about because this book's events are, to a great extent, linked to that of the previous book in the series.
Things I Liked:
1. Goes without saying that I already really like all the septuagenarian characters in the book. If you are new to the series, these books are set in a "luxury" retirement village in England and our four protagonists are men and women in their 70s living in this village. So, we have Elizabeth Best (retired MI6 agent), Ibrahmin Arif, a psychiatrist, Joyce Meadowcraft, a housewife and Ron Ritchie, an ex-union leader and fighter for workers' rights. Each of these characters are kooky and fun and smart and you'll grow to love them with each book. I was so happy to spend time with all of them again in this book.
2. These books also add new characters to the OG gang in each instalment. So, we have the local cops- Donna and Chris- as well as the Bogdan, a Polish immigrant, who works in construction and helps the gang with a lot of the (literal) heavy lifting during their investigation. All of these characters are very well etched out and you grow to like them as much as the main cast. I certainly have!
3. This particular book has two cases going on in tandem. First, as per the norm with these books, is a cold case. The Thursday Murder Club, started with these 4 oldies meeting up every Thursday to go through cold cases and pick one to investigate. This time it is a 10-year-old case, which involves an up-and-coming local journalist being killed (body not found) when her car was shoved over a cliff. Bethany Waite was working on a tax evasion case and she had stumbled upon something huge when she was killed by someone. So, the gang start investigating this case, going through all her documents, speaking to the woman currently in prison who was indicted for this crime- all the good stuff. The investigation in these books is very nicely and realistically depicted. It is the kind of stuff four septuagenarians can do on their own and nothing very outlandish!
4. The second case/ dilemma that Elizabeth has to deal with involves a mysterious adversary asking her to kill an old KGB colonel she used to know back in the day, else he will murder Joyce! So, now, Elizabeth has to make the difficult choice of killing an old friend or letting a new one die whilst she works to figure out the identity of this new, mysterious, adversary! This particular plot was also nicely done.
5. The book is fast-paced and there is never a dull moment plus it is full of cheeky humour and cheekier characters, which makes reading it really fun!
6. The resolution for both the cases- Bethany Waite's murder and Elizabeth's new adversary- are very satisfactory and nicely done! Not spoiling it for anyone by spilling more details!
Rating: 4.5/5
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