The second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series: Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim—the Club—are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper's Chase, their posh retirement village. But they are out of luck. An unexpected visitor arrives, desperate for their help. He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he's seriously on the lam. Then, as night follows day, the first body is found. But not the last.
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.
