The Man Who Died Twice dispenses with new series jitters and dives right into joyous fun ... a twisting yet perfectly controlled plot featuring spies past and present, missing diamonds, unexpected love affairs, surprise attacks and killings with the power to shock. Osman’s writing reminds me of Anthony Berkeley’s in its mixing of sparkling humor and resonant emotion ... No wonder readers, myself included, have surrendered to [the characters'] abundant charms.
What makes The Man Who Died Twice so delicious, even adorable, derives from its lighthearted tone and a witty style based on antithesis. To build tension, short chapters shift rapidly from one viewpoint and scene to another. More crucially, though, Osman’s heroes, while trying to solve brutal murders and decipher cryptic messages, never stop being concerned with their health, grandchildren and the pleasure of just sipping wine and bantering with one another. They are ordinary old people yet, like all old people, much deeper and complicated than they appear ... Veteran mystery readers will doubtless recognize one or two red herrings, but other clues will only be remembered in retrospect. Osman keeps you guessing, which is just as it should be. This is, in short, a wildly entertaining book—even for people a long way from their 70s.
The club makes a triumphant return in Mr. Osman’s The Man Who Died Twice ... The Man Who Died Twice, like its series predecessor, is an unalloyed delight, full of sharp writing, sudden surprises, heart, comedy, sorrow and great banter.
The formula is fiendishly clever ... Those of us who write comic crime are often asked to explain the appeal. We can’t. It all boils down to your attitude to entertainment. If you are happy to let other pens dwell on guilt and misery, you can relax and enjoy this novel, which is superbly entertaining. And of course it’s never just about the laughs. The comedy in The Man Who Died Twice allows for all its characters to be alert to sobering realities.
Enthralling ... In places, Elizabeth and Joyce resemble a crime-busting double act, and Ibrahim and Ron feel underused. On the plus side, Osman blends humor and pathos while weaving his tangled web of intrigue and deception ... This is the perfect book with which to unwind.
... a unique form of cozy amateur-sleuth mystery. Its tone is reminiscent of Alexander McCall Smith’s works ... These share a focus on the simple, important things in life, tinged with compassion—which similarly imbues the complex capers of the Thursday Murder Club. There’s something for almost all readers in both the original and now the second book in this series. Just remember that 'ironic' and 'whimsical exaggeration' are included in the definition of tongue-in-cheek.
There is is not much more to the plot, which has more holes than a dodgy knitting pattern and his characters - aside from Elizabeth and her sidekick Joyce - are pretty flimsy. Indeed, the money laundering criminal mastermind at the heart of it all is so nondescript he is either a comment on the banality of evil or just proof Osman’s characters need work. But despite the gripes, I read it from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute ... Critics are meant to pick holes, but most readers won’t care and will be happy to be swept along on a tide of good humour, good will, some cracking one-liners and in places a genuinely touching look at how our society treats old people ... As a reviewer I can find plenty of faults, but as a reader I didn’t care - and I suspect millions of other won’t either. They’ll be delighted to be back with Elizabeth and the gang.
The Man Who Died Twice...is at once a sequel but also ostensibly the same book, boasting most of the same characters, and many of the same jokes ... Osman, confident in his abilities now, gleefully throws everything into the mix ... It seems superfluous to point out that much here is frivolous and a little ridiculous, because Osman was never after credulity so much as escapist fun in the first place. Only a curmudgeon would deny that The Man Who Died Twice is just that: jolly and silly – in fact, jolly silly – but it’s not quite all caper ... His elderly characters are increasingly three-dimensional, not two, and he doesn’t flinch from their frailties ... It is these scenes that give the book, which is sometimes a little too knockabout, an emotional heft, something you hope Osman might build on if, as seems inevitable, the Thursday Murder Club returns again and again.
Osman throws everything AND the kitchen sink at his second crime novel, but that’s not too much of a hindrance really, as the story moves along at a pace and with some deft plotting worthy of an author with many more years of experience. There are also giggles, chuckles and outright guffaws aplenty as the story unfolds. Readers of The Thursday Murder Club will be delighted to see all the familiar faces here—including Bogdan, who had a vital role in that book and is an important character in The Man Who Died Twice too. But after all that lightheartedness, a sentence in the final chapter left me with tears in my eyes—it is a beautiful, unexpected line that will likely pull you up short too. Overall, though, this isn’t a novel to be taken too seriously, and probably veers towards cosy. Nevertheless The Man Who Died Twice is a hugely satisfying read and fans will be delighted to hear that two more Thursday Murder Club books are in the pipeline.
The stellar cast of characters with their varied backgrounds and retirement community residence, the intriguing cases they tackle, and the fabulous writing filled with humor and charm make this book a true standout. Rarely in a series is the sequel better than the original, but that’s the case here. While both titles are fabulous, The Man Who Died Twice hits all of the right notes perfectly. Osman delves further into the backgrounds and personalities of his protagonists, places one of them in a heartbreaking and timely situation, and develops heartwarming and unexpected relationships between characters new and old ... Filled to the brim with entertaining, well-drawn characters, The Man Who Died Twice is a clever mystery and a joyful page turner from start to finish.
... a real treat ... This series features four of the finest septuagenarians one could ever hope to meet. Once Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce are welcomed into your world, the warmth and touching humor will turn what may not be all that pleasant a day into a day to be remembered forever more.
... a riotous and distinctly British voice in a long-faced, angsty wilderness. Campus novels may be the thing, but it’s refreshing to read a new work about golden oldies ... the Thursday Murder Club solve the Carmichael mystery with considerable aplomb and panache, and the badly shaken Ibrahim gets justice too. But this is not just about comical criminal high-jinks, it’s about old-fashioned things like honour, loyalty, duty and friendship. And a very British kind of stiff upper lip, at which Osman excels. Almost every character is a little creaky around the knees and hips, but the warmth and humanity in the writing makes this a double winner for Osman. Bravo!
The plot is tightly woven and intriguing with lots of opportunities for the sleuthing reader to follow the clues ... The characters are an absolute delight and the author's skill is in convincing us that they are real, living in the South of England, baking treats and dabbing blood stains from their cardies. The Man Who Died Twice is possibly more riveting than the first book—absolutely delightful and one of those books that I highly recommend for any gender and age over about 15. It's a cracker.
Osman has stuck to a winning formula with his new book, setting it in the upmarket retirement village in Kent he invented for the first ... The Man Who Died Twice is an easy read ... Osman seems strikingly keen on ticking all the diversity boxes, but it sits oddly in what can only be described as a tediously old-fashioned caper. What is clear after reading both novels is that Osman is a very much a one-trick pony, whose trademark is subverting expectations about the elderly in a series of attention-grabbing asides ... He is essentially writing soap opera, and there is nothing wrong with that, but his characters are paper-thin ... There is no doubt that Osman is a phenomenon, but that says more about the relationship between celebrity and publishing than it does about his writing. I suspect these are novels for readers who do not normally like crime fiction — and there appear to be plenty of those.
This entertaining follow-up to Osman’s first mystery reveals more about the main characters’ lives, especially Elizabeth’s. Excerpts from Joyce’s diary provide many humorous moments, as well as another perspective of the events of the novel. Recommended for fans of British cozies, especially Simon Brett’s 'Fethering' series and Ann Purser’s 'Lois Meade' series.
Osman, a familiar TV face in the UK, captures the spirit of older folks who don’t want to be pigeonholed by their age and who capture the charming insouciance of those who’ve seen a lot, including death. The use of the present tense moves the dialogue at a sprightly clip, while the plot itself often gallops. But it is the four very different, sometimes annoying, but utterly endearing members of the club who will leave readers eager for Osman to call the next meeting to order.
Osman follows The Thursday Murder Club (2020), his supremely entertaining debut, with an even better second installment ... A clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn.
Riveting ... The twisty plot, knotty issues of relationships with life partners, and steadfast loyalty among the sleuths provide depth and poignancy. Those who prefer their mysteries with touches of spycraft, humor, and eccentricity will be well pleased.
