Richard Osman writes exciting mysteries. The Thursday Murder Club details the lives of four senior citizens living in a retirement community. The book’s emotions range from laughter to tears. This latest book, We Solve Murders, begins a new series of murder and mayhew. The three main characters, Steve Wheeler, Amy Wheeler, and Rosie D’Antonio fly here and there in an attempt to find why all these individuals are being killed. Such a cast of unlikely people, and of course, a cat named Trouble. England stands as the main setting, but exotic places enter the picture quickly. The main problem rests with money laundering and the innocent “handlers” moving the money. My opinion rests with the other series. ( )

I have loved the work of Richard Osman since I first read “The Thursday Murder Club” in early 2021, and so was both delighted when he announced a new series and saddened that this new series meant a longer wait for the return of Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim. Not to be outdone by his own earlier work, however, Mr. Osman has created yet another fantastic group of people with very specialized skills (a mega-selling author, a retired police officer, a highly focused personal bodyguard) and some very specific bad guys who despite frequently and gleefully murdering people tend to espouse the basics of fundamentally British middle class sensibilities. Someone is trying to murder author Rosie, who is being guarded by Amy, who has a habit of speaking daily with her father-in-law, ex-cop Steven, but when it turns out that influencers who are on the books of Amy’s employer are being killed one after another, all in Amy’s immediate vicinity, the number of people needing protection and the number of possible suspects starts rising and rising…. As with the Thursday Murder Club stories, “We Solve Murders” is alternately hysterically funny and deeply poignant, with characters who have finely drawn qualities and flaws, very deeply human. This appears to be the start of a new series (indeed, Mr. Osman said as much at one point, I believe), so now’s your chance to get in on the ground floor, so to speak. And, of course, if you are unfamiliar with his other work, you can then treat yourself to the four Thursday Murder Club books while waiting for his next work. Highly recommended! ( )

A rollicking tale with lots of humour and laugh out loud moments. Highly recommend. ( )

I had read all four of Osman’s previous books featuring the Thursday Murder Club, and wondered what direction his new series might take. There is always a slight trepidation when an author whom one likes announces that they are trying something new. This book, is, however, just as enjoyable as its predecessors.

Where the action in the earlier books was all focused on the retirement community where the protagonists live, this hops all over the world, taking in Hampshire, South Carolina, the Caribbean, Ireland, Hampshire again and Dubai. I won’t attempt to give a synopsis of the plot – it is complex, but might seem rather too fanciful if reduce to a few lines on a page, whereas while reading it I found it satisfyingly engrossing.

As always, Osman writes with an accessible and engaging touch, and the text is littered with his humorous asides. I am sure that this will prove to be another runaway bestseller, and it deserves its success. ( )

'We Solve Murders' turned out to be an entertaining read but, if it had been written by an author I didn't know, I'd have been thinking about setting it aside after the first hour. The start of the book put me off. The situations felt forced, the humour was brittle in a wannabe Carl Haaisen way, the people felt shallow and their world felt plastic. I was not engaged.

Because this was a Richard Osman book and the start of a new series trying something more plot-driven than 'The Thursday Murder Club' novels, I stuck with it.

Things changed, slowly. By the end of the second hour, I'd been pulled into the story by Nicola Walker's narration and I was starting to become interested in Amy, the bodyguard, and Steve, her ex-police detective father-in-law but I was still struggling with a plot that, while clever, had all the charm of a fake Doric portico stuck onto the front of an 'Executive Home'.

In the third hour, I settled into the story, which I'd now understood was a sort of fairytale with slightly subversive humour that reminded me of David Lodge. I began to enjoy the way the heist-movie-slick plot and the glitzy settings were constantly being undercut by a type of English humour that sees bling as essentially childish, and by characters whose curiosity was of the kind that would find the service tunnels in Disneyland more interesting than the rides. The plot was generating an enjoyable 'root for the underdog' vibe but the character development was still patchy.

By the halfway point, I was being swept along by the clever, original, fast-paced plot which kept me entertained until the end.

One of the things that I've enjoyed most about Richard Osman's other books is how relatable and well-observed and real his characters are. I felt this was missing for the first half of the book. Perhaps this is because I don't know any international criminals or people who choose to work in the close personal protection business and becuase many of the settings were a long way from home.

By the end of the book,, I had become engaged with most of the main characters. I thought that Steve, the widowed ex-police officer and Rosie, the top-selling thriller writer were well-drawn and easy to engage with. Amy, the bodyguard was a little different. Her character felt functional rather than engaging, like a knife or a gun or a good piece of code. Still, the three of them together had an attractive dynamic.

The humour lifts the book and often made me smile but it was the small moments of intimacy that I liked most, especially those grounded in Steve's New Forest village.

I'd like to see what Steve, Amy and Rosie do next, so I'll be back for the next 'We Solve Murders' novel. ( )

I have read every Richard Osman mystery and by now have seen complaints that they, like, glorify violence, etc. And boy ever does this glorify violence! It's laugh-out-loud, read-to-innocent-bystanders hilarious, an action-movie good time, and has a great mystery. I loved it and will recommend it to everyone I know, and almost certainly some absolute strangers (look, I have already begun!). ( )

When a high power bodyguard is being chased all over the world by a high power assassin, the stakes are high and the reader's adrenaline climbs right along with the characters'. Amy has been assigned the job on a tropical island of protecting a hugely popular author whose life has been threatened by a Russian Oligarch. Amy's husband is working in the far east, but she checks in daily with her father-in-law Steve, a retired cop of whom she's very fond. Her life gets complicated when her boss disappears and she receives threats on her own life. Rosie, the octogenarian author, comes to her aid, and they join forces, along with Steve, to uncover the plots that put them in extreme danger. There are plenty of red herrings to keep us and the characters guessing, and the good humor makes the rapid pace all the more fun. Luckily this appears to be the first of a new series by Osman. ( )