'The Thursday Murder Club' - A book review and food for thought

Since the release of the new Netflix film under the same name, you may be itching to read this famous book series. Well if you thought the move was interesting, the book is even better! Richard Osman's story speaks to people of all ages and there is something for everyone amongst its pages.

Book Cover

My Initial Thoughts

'The Thursday Murder Club' was an easy to read novel from the start. The chapters are small and centred around one main part of the story, sort of like reading a quick scenes from a movie. It gives you an instant reward and makes for an easy start, removing that sense of burden that comes after starting a new chapter only to realise it's 50 pages long!

The vocabulary is also quite clear but not too simple where I could believe the novel was written for younger audiences. The prose has just about the right amount of complexities that you are still intellectually engaged but you are unlikely to need a dictionary to figure out what's going on.

From the get go, it became very clear why this book series became so popular.

Thoughts By The End

As the story wrapped itself up, I was surprised by how enamoured I became with all the characters. The tension rose as each new mystery unravelled itself by the brilliant cunning of the members of the club and I could barely contain my shock at the resolution (when you read the story, you will know what I mean).

On A More Critical Note

Exposing myself to Richard Osman's writing style made me even more keenly aware about how addicted I had become to instant gratification. In the days of social media, we are used to endless scrolling, where each movement of our fingers leads to another video perfectly curated for our enjoyment. I had not realized how this affected my enjoyment in reading.

The reward of finishing a chapter whilst reading 'The Thursday Murder Club' was fulfilled very quickly compared to other books and it made me reflect on my reading habits. Am I reading for the sake of the story or just finishing a chapter? Over time I learned to stick through the book for the reward of unravelling the story itself, which I believe is the true purpose of reading.

Final Verdict

Would I read the next book in the series? Certainly! In fact the second book, 'The Man Who Died Twice' is next on my list of books to read. However, before I finish the whole series I want to pause and give myself a moment to practice reading without the need for gratification, to slow down and enjoy the story for what it is, a story.

Get the book here