The Man Who Died Twice: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery
The second installment in the beloved and New York Times bestselling series from Richard Osman, also author of We Solve Murders "It's taken a mere two books for Richard Osman to vault into the upper leagues of crime writers. . . The Man Who Died Twice. . . dives right into joyous fun."
--The New York Times Book Review Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim--the Thursday Murder Club--are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper's Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor--an old pal of Elizabeth's (or perhaps more than just a pal?)--arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he's seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club. Richard Osman is back with everyone's favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first--an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.
--The New York Times Book Review Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim--the Thursday Murder Club--are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper's Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor--an old pal of Elizabeth's (or perhaps more than just a pal?)--arrives, desperate for her help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he's seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can our four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them? And if they find the diamonds, too? Well, wouldn't that be a bonus? You should never put anything beyond the Thursday Murder Club. Richard Osman is back with everyone's favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first--an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.
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Community Reviews
The second novel in The Thursday Murder Club series by mister Osman - The Man Who Died Twiceâ kicks off when Elizabeth is reunited with her ex-husband, Douglas, who admits to stealing twenty million pounds worth of diamonds.
Elizabethâs friends set out to find twenty million pounds. Joyce would support a dementia charity, because of Elizabethâs husband - really kind of her. I liked the sections dedicated to Joyce and the funny stories about her Instagram. More of Joyce in future sequels, pleaseâ¦
Ibrahimâs accosted by teenagers while out on the town by himself, a traumatic event that lands him in the hospital and results in him withdrawing from outings. As he recovers, Ibrahim thinks to himself: âThey say a man who desires revenge should dig two graves, and this is surely right.â Despite him thinking revenge will eat you up inside, the rest enact revenge on the offenders, which leads to being integral to the plot. I did enjoy the plot.
Once more, Elizabeth somehow seems to be ten steps ahead of everyone else. However, I doubted her instincts, as I felt there were a few inaccuracies. Firstly, I thought it was odd how her friends seemed to know nearly everything about her MI5 days. Would she be breaking an official secret act? - MI5 isn't bothered, as sheâs respected and smart. Although not smart enough to know that ultraviolet light detects invisible ink, not infrared. Iâm smarter than a (fictional) ex-MI5 agent - sign me up! However, Elizabeth knew who was behind the murders.
The Club have a friendly relationship with Donna and Chris - police officers who treat members as friends and informants on cases they are working on.
I learnt about dead-letter drops. a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., cIose officer+agent/2 agents) using a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can maintain operational security.
A character takes a taxi from the Antwerp train station to the diamond district in the next street (however, there are two stations, so slightly forgivable).
I'd like to read the sequel by Wednesday 31 May as I'm seeing Matt and Richard Osman in conversation at Hay Festival.
Elizabethâs friends set out to find twenty million pounds. Joyce would support a dementia charity, because of Elizabethâs husband - really kind of her. I liked the sections dedicated to Joyce and the funny stories about her Instagram. More of Joyce in future sequels, pleaseâ¦
Ibrahimâs accosted by teenagers while out on the town by himself, a traumatic event that lands him in the hospital and results in him withdrawing from outings. As he recovers, Ibrahim thinks to himself: âThey say a man who desires revenge should dig two graves, and this is surely right.â Despite him thinking revenge will eat you up inside, the rest enact revenge on the offenders, which leads to being integral to the plot. I did enjoy the plot.
Once more, Elizabeth somehow seems to be ten steps ahead of everyone else. However, I doubted her instincts, as I felt there were a few inaccuracies. Firstly, I thought it was odd how her friends seemed to know nearly everything about her MI5 days. Would she be breaking an official secret act? - MI5 isn't bothered, as sheâs respected and smart. Although not smart enough to know that ultraviolet light detects invisible ink, not infrared. Iâm smarter than a (fictional) ex-MI5 agent - sign me up! However, Elizabeth knew who was behind the murders.
The Club have a friendly relationship with Donna and Chris - police officers who treat members as friends and informants on cases they are working on.
I learnt about dead-letter drops. a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals (e.g., cIose officer+agent/2 agents) using a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can maintain operational security.
A character takes a taxi from the Antwerp train station to the diamond district in the next street (however, there are two stations, so slightly forgivable).
I'd like to read the sequel by Wednesday 31 May as I'm seeing Matt and Richard Osman in conversation at Hay Festival.
Joyce, Ron, Ibrahim and Elizabeth are lunching at Coopers Chase Restaurant enjoying the comradery, and exchanging witty banter as they discuss what their next case might be, Joyceâs new dog, their previous solved case, and their usual witty tête-à -tête. They all enjoy each ohterâs company tremendously and you can tell, they are actually close.
Elizabeth receives a letter from someone and later, we find yet another layer of the onion has been peeled back. It is from her ex-husband, yet he penned the letter as Marcus Carmichael who is a make-believe person when they were in the service together. His real name is Douglas Middlemiss and heâs being âbabysatâ by Poppy, a new addition to the MI15. It seems Douglas, the handsome but cheating ex, got himself into sticky trouble. He stole diamonds from Martin Lomax. Martin Lomax will kill Douglas Middlemiss if Martin doesnât get them back.
The fun begins as everyone is trying to give each other hidden clues and Elizabeth and her gang try to solve this unfortunate mess.
Ibraham in this novel gets very hurt. He was physically attacked, and I suddenly found myself screaming at my book, âDonât you Effin hurt my Ibraham!â Not only did he get hurt physically but mentally, he is now very afraid. That assault did so much damage to him, it was heartbreaking.
While this novel starts right where we last left off from the previous book, I felt as if I was revisiting some very good friends. I would not mind joining that circle of friends.
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Intrigue: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Elizabeth receives a letter from someone and later, we find yet another layer of the onion has been peeled back. It is from her ex-husband, yet he penned the letter as Marcus Carmichael who is a make-believe person when they were in the service together. His real name is Douglas Middlemiss and heâs being âbabysatâ by Poppy, a new addition to the MI15. It seems Douglas, the handsome but cheating ex, got himself into sticky trouble. He stole diamonds from Martin Lomax. Martin Lomax will kill Douglas Middlemiss if Martin doesnât get them back.
The fun begins as everyone is trying to give each other hidden clues and Elizabeth and her gang try to solve this unfortunate mess.
Ibraham in this novel gets very hurt. He was physically attacked, and I suddenly found myself screaming at my book, âDonât you Effin hurt my Ibraham!â Not only did he get hurt physically but mentally, he is now very afraid. That assault did so much damage to him, it was heartbreaking.
While this novel starts right where we last left off from the previous book, I felt as if I was revisiting some very good friends. I would not mind joining that circle of friends.
Writing Style: 4/5
Plot: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Intrigue: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Listened to this on audiobook with a friend when we'd drive together. Loved it just as much as the first book. Neither of us figured out the culprit, but the book is so fun and engaging I'm not sure how hard we were trying.
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