Review of 'The Thursday Murder Club' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A good, light, easy to read murder mystery.
400 pages
English language
Published Nov. 22, 2020 by Penguin Books, Limited.
Welcome to... THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves The Thursday Murder Club.
When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.
As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?
A good, light, easy to read murder mystery.
1) "Killing someone is easy. Hiding the body, now, that's usually the hard part. That's how you get caught. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the right place, though. The perfect place, really. I come back from time to time, just to make sure everything is still safe and sound. It always is, and I suppose it always will be. Sometimes I'll have a cigarette, which I know I shouldn't, but it's my only vice."
2) "He takes an envelope out of his pocket. 'All right, Bogdan, fair's fair. Here's three grand. That do you?' Bogdan looks weary. 'Three grand, sure.' Ian hands it over. 'It's actually £2,800, but that's near enough between friends. Now, I wanted to ask you about something.' 'Sure,' says Bogdan, pocketing the money. 'You seem a bright lad, Bogdan.' Bogdan shrugs. 'Well, I speak fluent Polish.'"
3) "Elizabeth and Joyce settle into conversation. They …
1) "Killing someone is easy. Hiding the body, now, that's usually the hard part. That's how you get caught. I was lucky enough to stumble upon the right place, though. The perfect place, really. I come back from time to time, just to make sure everything is still safe and sound. It always is, and I suppose it always will be. Sometimes I'll have a cigarette, which I know I shouldn't, but it's my only vice."
2) "He takes an envelope out of his pocket. 'All right, Bogdan, fair's fair. Here's three grand. That do you?' Bogdan looks weary. 'Three grand, sure.' Ian hands it over. 'It's actually £2,800, but that's near enough between friends. Now, I wanted to ask you about something.' 'Sure,' says Bogdan, pocketing the money. 'You seem a bright lad, Bogdan.' Bogdan shrugs. 'Well, I speak fluent Polish.'"
3) "Elizabeth and Joyce settle into conversation. They are very careful not to talk about the Tony Curran case. One of the first things you learn at Coopers Chase is that some people can still actually hear."
4) "We arrived at Charing Cross fourteen minutes late due to 'the slow running of this service,' which Elizabeth had a good mutter about. I didn't need the loo on the train, which was a blessing. Last time I had been in London was Jersey Boys with the gang, which was a while ago now. We used to go three or four times a year if we could. There were four of us. We would do a matinee and be back on the train before rush hour. In Marks they do a gin and tonic in a can, if you've ever had it? We would drink them on the train home and giggle ourselves silly. The gang has all gone now. Two cancers and a stroke. We hadn't known that Jersey Boys would be our last trip. You always know when it's your first time, don't you? But you rarely know when it's your final time. Anyway, I wish I had kept the program."
5) "The village is nearly dark now. In life you have to learn to count the good days. You have to tuck them in your pocket and carry them around with you. So I'm putting today in my pocket and I'm off to bed."
6) "'He hasn't played chess in a long time, Bogdan. That was nice to see.' 'He is good. He was a tough player for me.' They have reached the iron gates of the Garden of Eternal Rest. Bogdan pushes one of them open and guides Elizabeth through into the cemetery. 'You must be quite the player yourself?' 'Chess is easy,' says Bogdan, continuing the walk between the lines of graves and now flicking on a torch. 'Just always make the best move.'"
7) "For Ibrahim one of the beauties of Coopers Chase was that it was so alive. So full of ridiculous committees and ridiculous politics, so full of arguments, of fun, and of gossip. All the new arrivals, each one subtly shifting the dynamic. All the farewells too, reminding you that this was a place that could never stay the same. It was a community, and in Ibrahim's opinion that was how human beings were designed to live. At Coopers Chase, anytime you wanted to be alone, you would simply close your front door, and anytime you wanted to be with people, you would open it up again. If there was a better recipe for happiness than that, then Ibrahim was yet to hear it."
8) "Right on cue, Ron Ritchie walks in with a nice bottle of white and three glasses. Jason sits down next to her and takes the glasses from his dad. He really has been charm itself since he accused her of murder."