Book of the Month-October

Hello!! This Book of the Month for October really gave cozy mystery vibes and was not disappointed at all! Here is my review of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman.

The Stats:

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Genre: Mystery

Published: 2020

My Overall Thoughts:

This book was such a easy and enjoyable read that I found myself flying through the pages. The first thing I loved where the characters. Often, when books feature older characters I feel they are portrayed sitting on the front porch yelling at the kids "get off my yard". It feels like they arent meant to be likable by the reader. But here, each member of the Thursday Murder Club felt real, witty, and full of life. Ron was relatable and charming, reminding me of Nick from the show New Girl in his retirement. I wanted to try the cakes and sweets that Joyce made for their meetings, and I loved Elizabeth and Donna's dynamic especially their text exchanges. Every character had so much warmth and depth it was impossible not to love them. By the end, I found myself wishing I could pull up a chair at the next meeting.

My favorite quote was when Ron's son resorts toTinder to match with a possible suspect to assist in the investigation. Joyce writes in her journal entry: "At least I have discovered online dating is not for me. You can have too much choice in this world. And when everyone has too much choice, it is also much harder to get chosen. And we all want to be chosen." That line hit me — especially as someone in their mid-twenties navigating a world where dating (and even friendship) often happens through screens. It’s such a simple reflection, but it says a lot about love, connection, and the way we crave to be seen. I have talked to so many people my age and we all mention how we think we use social media to our own detriment and have or are on our way to loosing the personal aspects of interpersonal relationships. It just felt like that was seen in this small reflection of Joyce.

The reason this book doesn't get 5 stars is because I did loose track of the mystery at times. Maybe it's because I was more invested in the characters or juggling three murders was too much for this book. I had to go back and reread some pages to piece together how everything wrapped up. Still, that doesn’t take away from how much I enjoyed it. If you're not much of a reader, I would recommend you to check out the new film that has been released on Netflix! I think they did a great job with the complexity of characters, mystery, and finer details that I really enjoyed watching it with my family.

Anyways let me know if you give this book a read!

Wilbur