"The Bullet That Missed" by Richard Osman (re-read)

Discovering Richard Osman's "Thursday Murder Club" series has been one of my biggest reading pleasures of the past few years, and a welcome escape from the pandemic! Book #4, "The Last Devil to Die," is due on Sept. 14th.  

It's been a loonnnggggg wait since the last volume -- "The Bullet That Missed" -- came out last fall (2022). I immediately scooped  up an e-copy of that book then, read it and reviewed it (here). And I just had a chance to revisit it, since it's the July pick for my Lighthouse Women (formerly Gateway Women) NoMo Book Club. We've already read & discussed (and enjoyed) the first two books in the series together, and we figured it was a good pick right now, as the book club recently reorganized with two new co-hosts (one being yours truly...!).  

The books take place in an upscale retirement village in rural Kent (in Britain), where -- instead of knitting or playing golf -- a foursome of amateur detectives try to solve cold cases (with a little help from a couple of friendly officers from the local police department).  They include former union leader/tough guy Ron; gentle, by-the-book psychiatrist Ibrahim; tough-as-nails retired MI5 agent Elizabeth; and slightly batty nurse and diarist Joyce (and her new puppy, Alan!). 

In this volume, the group is investigating the disappearance of a local TV anchor whose car went off a cliff 10 years ago and whose body was never found. At the same time, Elizabeth is being threatened by a mysterious new adversary (nicknamed "the Viking"),  who is blackmailing her to commit a murder of her own. Like the previous books in the series, this one's a whole huge lot of fun:  there's wit, humour, plot twists and red herrings galore -- along with some thoughtful observations about aging, friendship and more. 

Once again, I'm rating this one 5 stars on Goodreads -- the re-read did not change my opinion (I've rated the previous two books 5 stars each too). I love them all, but as I said in my original review, in some ways, I think this one is my favourite so far. :)  

Ideally, the books should be read in order:  each book revolves around a self-contained mystery, but there are certain storylines that continue from one volume to the next, and each one picks up where the last one left off. (And I'm betting that if you read one, you'll want to read the others!)  

This was Book #25 read to date in 2023 (and Book #3 finished in June), bringing me to 56% of my 2023 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books. I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 4 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2023 tagged as "2023 books."