A Cozy Story

 The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is the latest book to be read in my book club. Originally, I thought the premise of a bunch of amateurs solving unsolved crimes was ridiculous until I read a story of exactly that happening.  The Vidocq Society does exactly what the Thursday Murder Club theorizes, for real.  The group of volunteers helped solved a case from 1957.  The author, Richard Osman, must have heard of groups like The Thursday Murder Club and used it in his novel.  So I took the novel more seriously, after reading about The Vidocq Society.

The setting is an upscale retirement home.  The place was once a convent with a cemetery.  The sleazy developer had plans to move the cemetery and build on that land.  The people were upset. At a  meeting between the residents and the developer, the developer was killed.  This was a fortunate happenstance for The Thursday Murder Club.

The club was started by a retired detective, who now was comatose.  Her husband spent his days at her side.  There's a priest who isn't a priest.  There's Elizabeth who's the leader.  Joyce chronicles everything. Ibrahim is a former psychiatrist. Ron whose son, Jason, is a suspect.

They manage to have the police help them, not the other way around.  There are secrets kept, which may be not kosher, but sometimes the means justifies the end.  As long as the bad guy is caught.  

It's a cute idea.  It's a cozy story.  The book club will enjoy it.