FALL SPOTLIGHT: RICHARD OSMAN

Conor O’Leary

Though Richard Osman has had a long career on British television, he was relatively unknown in the U.S. when he published his first novel, The Thursday Murder Club, in 2020. Now all that has changed. His first two books were New York Times bestsellers, and the third, The Bullet That Missed (Pamela Dorman/Viking, Sept. 20) is poised to be the biggest yet. Set in a deceptively bucolic English retirement village, the books feature a group of elderly sleuths who solve cases both cold and hot, making friends wherever they go. Osman answered our questions by email.

Why do you think your group of octogenarians is such a hit with readers? We all love a gang, don’t we? A gang of unlikely friends is even better, and a gang who makes us laugh and cry and solve mysteries seems to be compelling for lots of people, whether it’s in the U.S., the U.K., or even China. We also love the idea that we can all continue to have new adventures and new friendships however old we might be. And, best of all, the Thursday Murder Club gang has a lifetime of wisdom behind them, but they are always underestimated, which makes them amazing detectives. Also, everyone would like to live in a community like Coopers Chase, with plenty of gossip, plenty of time, and plenty of wine.

What kind of research did you do for the Thursday Murder Club books? Do you belong to any clubs of your own? My mum lives in a retirement community very much like Coopers Chase, and I visit often. So far there haven’t been any actual murders (that I know of), but there are so many great characters and so many amazing life stories. In terms of other research, I love reading about spies and criminals, but so far I haven’t joined any clubs for Mafia gangsters, diamond thieves, or cryptocurrency fraudsters (one of the bad guys in The Bullet That Missed).

Were you a big reader as a kid? Are there any formative books you remember from your youth or any adults who influenced you as a reader or writer? By law, everyone in Britain has to read Enid Blyton’s Famous Five adventures. They’re about a gang of kids solving mysteries, and, now I think about it, they are like a non–senior citizen version of the Thursday Murder Club. They even had a dog, Timmy, and I’ve just introduced a dog, Alan, to The Bullet That Missed. After reading the Famous Five stories, all British children then read Agatha Christie. We train our crime readers, and our murderers, very young over here.

What book do you absolutely love that is not as well known as it deserves to be? And/or what are some of your favorite mystery series?