The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman.
My Rating: 4/5.
My daughter ordered this book a few months ago, to my pleasant surprise, as she knows how to make me happy by reading a few books a month. And I never say no to books, even after having a huge collection of 500+ at my place, new additions are always welcome. Later, I came to know that this was picked up for a movie adaptation with Pierce Brosnan (Ron), Helen Mirren (Elizabeth) and Ben Kingsley (Ibrahim) & and Jonathan Percy (Stephen Elisabeth’s husband) in the lead, playing the retired folks staying in a plush old age home peacefully. As a hobby, they start a Thursday Murder Club where they discuss and try to solve a few unsolved murders. What was so interesting about this whole book and story is the way it is written, first from the perspective of a Murder Club member, Joyce, who is writing her diary and second from a third-party angle, where we read the goings on of the cat and mouse chase game with the police angle too. I actually didn’t expect it to be this good, being the debut book of the Author, but now I am sure that he is one to be watched out for, as there are two more that he has written after this one. All four members of Murder Club are above 70 or 80 as they claim, but the way they work and especially the way the author discloses their background in bits and pieces, is terrific. Like the way, at one point he discloses that Elisabeth still holds a valid license as a Tank driver, go figure what is she going to do in the story. The story takes a twisty turn as the Owner of the old age home decides to expand his footprint by taking over a cemetery next to his property, by transferring it to some other place. His partner gets killed in the meantime, and all the doubts fall on him as he is the one who would gain more by his death. One murder follows another, and before we know it, dead bodies start cropping up from the past, too. Murder club works in tandem with the cops; you’ve got to read the book to know how they persuade or blackmail each other to help. It was hilarious. The entire book (380+ pages) is so intriguing and unputdownable that I believe I finished it in flat 3 sittings, and now I need to catch the movie at the earliest to see if they have done any justice to the lovely book.
Do let me know if you have read this one or any other works of Richard. I am going to read all his other books now for sure.
Movie: I had to watch the movie as soon as I finished the book, of course, for the amazing casting and especially when it is directed by Chris Columbus, aka Harry Potter fame. If a movie can put a smile on my face, it is worth it, I would say, and this was no exception. Although they did change it a little bit here and there, as 2 hours cannot do justice to a 380-page book, I am super happy that they didn’t take away much from it, and the end product is pretty charming, just like the book and a treat to watch. Although they did change the murderer on the grounds of so much detailing that they couldn’t do, unlike the book, where the writer had all the time in the world to twist and turn. But one good reason to still like it is that we get to watch some of my favourite people in one movie, which was totally amazing, especially the four leads, they were simply terrific, and they were a perfect fit for the characters they were playing. If the book was a four-star for me, the movie is definitely a 3/5, and I am planning to watch it again with wifey tonight, as she loves murder mysteries, so I need to check if she can catch the killer before the movie ends. And now I will have to wait for its sequel to come as and when that happens, and have to order books number two and three at the earliest.
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