Crime

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman Series: Thursday Murder Club #2 Genres: Adult, British Literature, Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Cozy Mystery Published by Penguin on September 15, 2021 Format: eBook Pages: 432 It’s the following Thursday.  Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.  As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?  But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them? Round 2 in Richard Osman’s charming Thursday Murder Club series, the Man Who Died Twice is a sequel novel that should satisfy most fans of the first book. Delivering the same cozy mystery vibes and light-hearted comedic shenanigans, this novel instantly feels familiar and is incredibly easy to pick right up. In many …

Cheddar Luck Next Time by Beth Cato Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery Published by Datura Books on April 7, 2025 Format: eBook Pages: 272 A cozy cheese-scented mystery with delightful characters, a dash of murder and tons of intrigue, perfect for fans of The Thursday Murder Club and The Maid.  Bird Nichols moves to a quiet, quirky Californian town in hopes of a fresh start. With an autism-driven special interest in cheese, all she wants to do is grow her gourmet cheese board business and live out the rest of her life in peace, a plan that is suddenly upended when she stumbles across a body not too far from her new home…  As the latest arrival to town and the first on the scene, Bird is thrown into the centre of the investigation, prompting her to begin her own inquiry into what happened. But when Grizz, the closest thing Bird has to real family, becomes the sheriff department’s favourite suspect, the stakes rise even higher.  With a town full of suspects, Bird must take off the apron, pick up the magnifying glass and find the true murderer before they strike again. A mysterious small-town murder mystery balanced by deliciously described …

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman Series: Thursday Murder Club #1 Genres: Adult, Contemporary Fiction, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Thriller on September 22, 2020 Format: eBook Pages: 382 In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.  But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.  Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late? Richard Osman’s series has already been heavily read and reviewed so I won’t be quite as detailed as I usually do since the major points of discussion have already been covered. Despite what the genre and synopsis of the book may imply, The Thursday Murder is as much of a senior citizen themed character drama as it is a murder mystery novel and therefore one must adjust their expectations to its crossover intentions. If reading and reviewing this novel purely as a murder mystery investigation procedural story, The Thursday Murder Club is generally an above average, …

Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch Series: Rivers of London #3 Genres: Adult, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Urban Fantasy Published by Gollancz on June 21, 2012 Format: eBook Pages: 322 A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP  It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.  At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well. Reading …

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch Series: Rivers of London #2 Genres: Adult, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Urban Fantasy Published by Gollancz on February 28, 2011 Format: eBook Pages: 304 The song. That’s what apprentice wizard and London Metropolitan Police Constable Peter Grant first notices when summoned to the local morgue to view the corpse of Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho’s 606 Club. He, along with Scottish pathologist Dr. Abdul Haqq Walid, hears the distinct notes of an old jazz standard emanating from the body—a sure sign that something about the man’s death was not as normal as it might first have seemed, since only something supernatural leaves such an imprint.  Body and Soul.  They’re also what Peter will risk, as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last practicing Newtonian wizard in England, and the questionable assistance of voluptuous but old-fashioned jazz groupie Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace—one that leads right to his own doorstep, with an unexpected connection to the squandered …