Biography (Wikipedia)
Richard Thomas Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, novelist and comedian.
He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show Pointless.
He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows Two Tribes and Richard Osman's House of Games and been a team captain on the comedy panel shows Insert Name Here and The Fake News Show.
He has made appearances on many British panel shows.
Osman worked at Hat Trick Productions before becoming creative director of the television production company Endemol UK, producing shows including Prize Island for ITV and Deal or No Deal for Channel 4.
Biography (Wikipedia)
He is the author of the crime novels The Thursday Murder Club (2020), The Man Who Died Twice (2021), and The Bullet That Missed (2022).
Richard Thomas Osman was born in Billericay, Essex, to Brenda Wright and David Osman, and grew up in Cuckfield near Haywards Heath, West Sussex. When he was nine years old, his father walked out on the family, which Osman says has created difficulty for the rest of his life.
His mother went to teacher training college but, before she got a full-time job, making money to raise her two children was a challenge. His elder brother is musician Mat Osman, bass guitarist with the rock band Suede.
Osman attended Warden Park School in Cuckfield. While still at school, he gained his first broadcasting experience as a regular contributor to Turn It Up, an open-access music show which went out on Sunday evenings on BBC Radio Sussex.
From 1989 to 1992, he studied Politics and Sociology at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a contemporary of Pointless co-presenter Alexander Armstrong, who read English.
Biography (Wikipedia)
Osman began his career working as executive producer on British game shows, including Channel 4 comedy panel game 8 Out of 10 Cats and satirical comedy 10 O'Clock Live. He was the creative director at TV company Endemol UK, pitching the idea for Pointless to the BBC, becoming its co-presenter with his former university friend Alexander Armstrong when it launched in 2009.
Osman created the short-lived 2013 ITV gameshow Prize Island. His other credits include Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Total Wipeout and the game show 24 Hour Quiz.
Osman acted as script editor for BBC One's Total Wipeout and in 1999, created and wrote the Channel 4 sitcom Boyz Unlimited with David Walliams and Matt Lucas. In 2005, he co-created and co-wrote the animated Channel 4 sitcom Bromwell High. He left Endemol in 2020.
Biography (Wikipedia)
Literary career
Viking Press, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, acquired the rights to Osman's debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, and one other novel, for a seven-figure sum in a 10-publisher auction in 2019. It was said that his first book would be published in autumn 2020, and the second the following year, as part of a crime series. His debut crime novel's release date was announced as 3 September 2020.
The Thursday Murder Club is set in a luxury retirement village in Kent where four residents gather to investigate crime cases, including a "live" murder mystery. Osman said that he was "in talks" for a TV adaptation of his novel and later confirmed that Steven Spielberg had acquired the book's film rights. The book has sold well over one million copies in the UK, and sold 45,000 UK hardback copies in the first three days after publication.
Osman's second crime novel, The Man Who Died Twice, was published in May 2022.
Biography (Wikipedia)
The third novel in the series, The Bullet That Missed, was published in September 2022.
Osman has disclosed that his Murder Club series will contain four novels but readers will have to wait for the final book of the quartet while he completes his current thriller, due to be published in 2023.
In June 2022, Osman was the subject of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? He discovered that, through his maternal line, his four-times-great-grandfather Gabriel Gillham, a fisherman, had been involved in the discovery of a woman's remains and the subsequent 1831 murder trial of her husband Jon Holloway, in the Assizes at Lewes.
Osman was born with nystagmus, an eye condition that significantly reduces his vision. He learns his scripts by heart as his condition makes it difficult to read an autocue.
He has two children, ages 25 and 23, from a former relationship. On December 3, 2022 he married British actress Ingrid Oliver and lives in Chiswick, West London.
He is also 6 feet 7 inches tall.
Publications
The Thursday Murder Club (2020)
Osman's inspiration for the book came from a visit he made to an upmarket retirement village. He wrote the book over 18 months in secret. After a publishing auction, Penguin Random House acquired the rights to The Thursday Murder Club and its sequel The Man Who Died Twice for a seven-figure sum in 2019. The book sold 45,000 copies in its first three days and became a Sunday Times number one bestseller.
The Guardian described it as the "fastest selling adult crime debut" in recorded history.
Osman was 50 when this first book was published.
Publications
The Man Who Died Twice (2021)
According to The Guardian, one of the fastest-selling novels since records began: only 4 other novels have sold faster.
“It’s wonderful to see how many people have fallen in love with Richard’s fabulous Thursday Murder Club and simply couldn’t wait to read the next instalment,” said his publisher Joanna Prior, managing director of Penguin General. “The response to these characters and the crimes they solve from readers around the world has been extraordinary and it has been a joy to work with retailers to make publication week such a big moment for everyone to share in.”
From The Guardian:
UK book sales in 2021 were the highest in a decade. Booming appetites for crime, sci-fi and romance drive fiction sales 20% higher than in 2019, with Richard Osman the year’s bestselling author.
Publications
The Bullet that Missed (2022)
The Last Devil to Die (to be released in September 2023)
We do know that Osman will take a break from the Thursday Murder Club after book 4. In recent interviews, he's expressed that while he loves writing the series, he'd like to start on another new crime series before returning to Joyce and the gang. That series will be “a sort of Thursday Murder Club meets The Da Vinci Code,” according to Osman.
He explained that he thought of it while visiting a bookstore, realizing he'd love a Da Vinci Code-style story with a bit of humor and intelligence thrown in.
Publications
He commented:
I'd love one of those books that's a caper around the world, but that also has some truth about the world, and also makes you laugh and has also has some of the aesthetic of Thursday Murder Club, but it's Da Vinci Code. And I couldn't quite find one.
Offering a clue about the upcoming detective, he said:
I'm quite a reluctant traveler,” he reveals. “I'm not in love with going around the world and seeing the Pyramids. I'm a bit happier staying at home and watching the snooker.
“And I thought, that's quite a fun detective, a reluctant traveler, having to go around the world and saying ‘oh god, really? I've got to get on a private jet and fly to the Cayman Islands?' – but just thinking ‘I've got the local pub quiz on Tuesday.' And that felt to me like an interesting world to explore, so I'm going to explore it.”
Interviews
From the publisher (Penguin House):
What was the inspiration for The Thursday Murder Club?
I was visiting a relative who lives in a beautiful retirement community, nestled in the heart of the English countryside. This place had it all: green fields, gleaming lakes, ancient woodlands, state-of-the-art gym and pool. It even had a Jacuzzi and steam room . . . You have to be over 65 to live there, but if you visited today then you’d want to move in straight away.
We sat down for lunch on the restaurant terrace and I looked at my phone, and I saw that I had no reception. So there I was, in this gorgeous, peaceful place, miles from anywhere, with an English sun beating down, and my phone wouldn’t work. And that was the exact moment I thought, “Well, this would be an amazing place for a murder.”
Rather than commit one, I thought I should probably write about one instead. I looked around at my fellow diners. I was surrounded by interesting people who had led interesting lives, and I had another thought. “If there was a murder here, I bet this lot would solve it.” And so The Thursday Murder Club was born.
Interviews
From the publisher (Penguin House):
The entirety of the novel is set in Kent, following four quintessentially British friends. Will American readers connect with the residents at Coopers Chase despite the novel being set across the pond?
To think my book is out in America is an honour I can’t begin to describe, or, rather, “an honor.” I know there has long been a literary love affair between our two countries, and I know an American audience will feel absolutely at home in the English countryside of The Thursday Murder Club—a world made familiar by the works of Agatha Christie and many others.
America has always been my great obsession. My major at Cambridge University was American Politics & Society. I will happily sit and discuss FDR and Nixon, JFK, and Obama, and congressional oversight all evening long if you’d like to. I’m aware that not many people would actually like to, but just so you know the offer’s there. I am also obsessed with American sport, but let’s not get into that. I’m one of the few English people who will argue passionately that baseball is better than cricket.
Interviews
Nothing seems to slow down our septuagenarian sleuths. What appeals to you about having elderly detectives? Do you worry about throwing too much murder and mayhem at them?
Having four characters in their seventies was an absolute joy from the very start. The idea that we underestimate older people is the key to The Thursday Murder Club. My four detectives might look gentle and harmless on the outside, but they are far from that on the inside. And, as people will read in the books, all four of them are overlooked and underestimated throughout—by suspects, by cops, by everyone. They use this to their advantage in a number of ingenious ways.
They also have a lifetime of experience to draw on, so their former jobs were very useful in this respect. Elizabeth used to be a spy, so there is nothing she hasn’t seen, no trick anyone can pull that will get past her. She is utterly ruthless. Joyce used to be a nurse, so she has spent her life around death, and pain, and grief. Ron is a former labor activist, and he will argue about anything with anyone, and will never back down. And Ibrahim was a psychiatrist, a thinker, an organizer, and is the type of man who will always spot things that others might miss. They are not self-conscious, they are not frightened by death, and they are not frightened about the consequences of their actions.
Interviews
Did your experience working on the first book in the series—and especially the public’s warm reception—change how you approached the second book? Or did you already have a plan in place for Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim?
The plan was already in place as I was writing the first book. I don’t want to write a series where The Thursday Murder Club just keep coincidentally stumbling upon new corpses, so I made sure the events of book one cause the events of book two to happen naturally. Something Elizabeth does in The Thursday Murder Club leads directly to the mayhem in The Man Who Died Twice.
At the very end of the first book, somebody slips a note under Elizabeth’s door, and at the very beginning of The Man Who Died Twice we discover exactly who the note is from, and what it says.
Videos
Setting for Thursday Murder Club mysteries: his mother Brenda's retirement community
Locations
While many of the main locations in the Thursday Murder Club series are fictional, we do know the Cooper's Chase retirement community is said to be located off the A21 in Kent, in “the Kentish Weald”. In real life, that would place it somewhere in the neighborhood of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Wadhurst, Robertsbridge, etc.
Unfortunately, the descriptions within the book, while detailed, are total nonsense. As much fun as it can be to track down the locations of good books, you'll be sending yourself on a wild goose chase if you attempt to locate Cooper's Chase.
Members of the group often visit the nearby (and fictional) seaside town of Fairhaven. Based on descriptions in the book, the town might be loosely based on the real life Hastings in East Sussex. It's described as being “around 30 minutes in the other direction from Tunbridge Wells” and having a police station, pier, and access to the A21 for entering/exiting the town.
If you're a fan of the WW2-era period drama Foyle's War, Hastings was the filming location for a large portion of the series, including Foyle's house
Cast of characters
Thursday Murder Club: residents of the luxurious Cooper's Chase retirement village near the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.
Elizabeth Best: ex-spy and founder of the Thursday Murder Club. She doesn’t play games, but uses her experience in espionage to get what she wants. She's the driving force behind the Thursday Murder Club and spearheads their investigations.
Even in her senior years, she is strong, insightful and wily, employing tactics of intimidation and deception to get results. Despite her tough-as-nails exterior, however, Elizabeth’s vulnerable side comes out in her personal life as she deals with the reality of her husband Stephen’s dementia.
Pertinent to this book, her first husband was Douglas, also a spy, whom she divorced.
Cast of characters
Thursday Murder Club: residents of the luxurious Cooper's Chase retirement village near the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.
Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse, newest member of the Thursday Murder Club, and a flirt.
She's a calm and kind woman who seems to truly wants the best for others; she recognizes what people need, as with Ibrahim in this book. She also has a charming degree of quirky eccentricity.
Despite her warm personality, Joyce is a clever investigator who makes the perfect match to Elizabeth’s tougher tactics. Her entertaining reflections on everything from shopping to figuring out Instagram make her one of the most relatable characters in the series.
Although only occasionally mentioned, usually in Joyce's diary, Gerry was her husband.
Cast of characters
Thursday Murder Club: residents of the luxurious Cooper's Chase retirement village near the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.
Ibrahim Arif is a lovely ex-psychiatrist who acts as the glue that binds the Thursday Murder club together. Like the other club members, he is a resident at the Cooper Chase Retirement Village, but unlike the others, he is much more soft-spoken.
For much of The Man Who Died Twice, Ibrahim is quite reclusive, living in fear after being attacked by a thug. Nevertheless, he continues to play an important part in their investigations while they support his mental and physical recovery.
While Ron is off implementing Elizabeth's plan, Ibrahim spends time with Kendrick, Ron's grandson.
And he informally offers his services to Donna who needs some "life skills" advice from a therapist. He advises her to "climb mountains" and she returns the same advice to him.
Cast of characters
Thursday Murder Club: residents of the luxurious Cooper's Chase retirement village near the fictitious village of Fairhaven in Kent.
Ron Ritchie is a headstrong former union activist who completes the Thursday Murder club. Though his rashness can be a bit off-putting, he’s a perfect fit for the club, as he trusts nobody but his three friends to tell the truth.
In both The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice, Ron has his own motivations for participating in the investigations, trying to clear his son’s name in the first book and get revenge on Ibrahim’s attacker in the second book.
Cast of characters
Donna De Freitas is a local police officer (benevolently) used by the members of the Thursday Murder Club
Chris Hudson, 51, is Donna's partner; he's in love with Patrice, Donna's mother
Sue Reardon—detective with MI5 and--"spoiler alert"--the book's killer, Douglas's lover and co-conspirator
Lance James—her partner
Kendrick—Ron's grandson who visits with Ibrahim and helps him view CCTV footage of the lockers
Bogdan Jankowski – A Polish immigrant who works in construction, visits and plays chess with Stephen, has all sorts of other interesting talents. Although Connie is definitely interested in him, he may be more inclined toward Donna
Cast of characters
Poppy, assigned to protect Douglas, but killed
Siobhan, plays Poppy's mother but is really Sally Montague, one of Douglas's ex-wives.
Ryan Baird, young hooligan who beat Ibrahim, has dealings with Connie Johnson
Frank Andrade Jr., the second-in-command of one of New York’s leading crime families, (Mafia) who has left a bag of diamonds worth 20 million pounds with Martin Lomax to secure a deal. At the end of the novel, Elizabeth and Joyce meet him when he de-places and take him to their rendezvous with Martin Lomax.
Martin Lomax is a "middleman," "banker," money launderer.
Sylvia and Dennis—'Living with Dementia—Living with Love"
Questions for discussion
The basic plot of the novel follows the four friends as they solve the puzzle involving the murder of Douglas and Poppy, the assault on Ibrahim, and the machinations of Martin Lomax, Frank Andrade, and Connie Johnson, all through a third-person narrator. Except for Joyce. Throughout we as readers lean over Joyce's shoulder as she records her thoughts in her diary, a first-person narrative.
Why are these sections included within the novel? Why do we get Joyce's perspective on the action when we don't get that of other characters, unless they are woven into the narrative?
So why this insertion of a first-person narrative, like an epistolary novel, within what is otherwise a third-person narrative. And why just Joyce?
Questions for discussion
In an interview, previously cited, Osman explains that he had the second novel in mind when he completed the first. That one ends with Elizabeth receiving a piece of paper, slipped under her door, a letter.
Then book two begins with Elizabeth reading the letter, from former husband Douglas, and the plot begins.
What does this tell us about series novels?
Questions for discussion
During an interview, Osman commented on how very, very British this novel is, rather like a modern Agatha Christie, famous of course for the "cozy" novels.
Is this novel a "cozy" like Agatha's?
Questions for discussion
Most reviewers characterize this book as a character-driven novel, although it also contains a murder mystery. Would you agree?
Although so far, there are only 3 books in the series, with a fourth promised, is this also characteristic of a mystery series?
Questions for discussion
Although we might initially think that the title of the book, The Man who Died Twice, refers to Douglas, it actually refer to the character Dennis, introduced at the end of the novel by his wife Sylvia, as "Gone to dementia, then gone forever." She volunteers for the non-profit agency “Living With Dementia—Living With Love” that had help her and her husband when he was alive.
In the novel's very last paragraph, Sylvia says:
“I’m ever so sorry to interrupt,” she says. “But I don’t suppose anyone here knows anything about twenty million pounds from Antwerp?”
Although only implied, Elizabeth has donated the money from the sale of the diamonds to this organization, perhaps in Sylvia's name.
What's the theme here?
Breakout room question
What do you think of the novel's ending, specifically Elizabeth's plan to exchange the diamonds and force Poppy into the open?
Next Week
Claire Keegan
Small Things Like These
(only 70 pages)