The Man Who Died Twice

I loved this sequel to The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. The setting and characters remain largely the same--a group of 4 septuagenarians living in a lovely retirement village in England, Coopers Chase, (see my post of the previous book for more about the characters). When Douglas, an old acquaintance (or was he something more?) of Elizabeth's comes asking for help, she feels obliged to respond, even though they didn't part on the best of terms. He is accused of stealing twenty million pounds worth of diamonds--from the wrong man. This broker for shady characters has his reputation to protect and will hunt Douglas down and kill him if the diamonds are not returned. In addition to the usual cast of characters--who all get further development-- we meet two MI 5 agents who have worked with Douglas and know Elizabeth by reputation, as well as "some new bad people: a local teenage thug; a tough-nut female drug dealer who (helpfully) goes weak at the knees around Bogdan; a high-level underworld 'middle man' from whom mafia diamonds have been stolen" (The Guardian). People get killed and Elizabeth, Ron and Joyce take the lead in setting a trap for the killer. Donna turns to Ibrahim for counseling after her set up of her boss and her mother turns out to be wildly successful, leaving Donna feeling lonelier than ever. So much heart is in these books in terms of dealing with the losses accompanying aging, and also so much spirit. You won't regret reading these and I look forward to further adventures with this group. The Guardian sums up my sentiments well, "The comedy in The Man Who Died Twice allows for all its characters to be alert to sobering realities: of time running out; of losing loved ones to death or dementia; of feeling physically unsafe in the modern world; of grown-up children finding you stupid and tiresome. It’s this self-awareness that grounds Osman’s characters, and makes us look forward to seeing them again." The Washington Post calls the cast of the Thursday Murder Club "a senior version of 'The A-Team.'” This review goes on to give brief intros to the various plots and subplots of the book. Kirkus rates this book as being even better than the first one, concluding "A clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn."