They’re back, The Thursday Murder Club! The residents of Cooper’s Chase Retirement Village. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are on the trail of the baddies once more and, as ever, are aided by Chris and Donna and of course, Bogdan, among others. The familiarity is comforting, like a cup of cocoa on a winter’s day. It’s a new puzzle but you know you’re surrounded by helpful friends.

The Prologue is a little startling, explaining as it does how useful the internet is when you want to make a bomb but chapter one brings us back down to earth as we attend the wedding of Joanna and Paul. All the members of The Thursday Murder Club are invited and Joyce, as mother of the bride, is in her element (and a new hat). Elizabeth is more pensive, still grieving for her late husband, Stephen, but when she is approached by the best man, her interest is piqued by ‘a code and a bomb and three suspects’ and it’s game on.

The principal plot is about a cold storage facility, (not for dead bodies although they do mount up) and a bitcoin bonanza. I’ve never really understood cryptocurrency, except that it looks remarkably unlike money; it seems I’m not the only one, but apparently, it is possible to make a large profit if you know when to buy and when to sell. And of course, where a lot of money is concerned, there are unscrupulous people who want to steal it. The owners of an exceedingly large amount of this currency let it be known they want to sell and within a few days, one is dead and the other, who happened to be Paul’s best man, has disappeared. Our gang is tasked with finding out who is responsible, the location of the best man and, if at all possible, the money. It’s a dangerous game.

And I haven’t even mentioned Tia yet. Complicated? Yes, it is a bit but you simply have to be there and immerse yourself in their lives to find that it is all perfectly ok

.Of course there are other threads woven into the narrative; a secondary plot involves Ron’s daughter who, having been abused by her husband for several years, finds her strength (and one of his guns) and it’s game on there, too, since he’s a crook with a temper and some very dodgy friends. Suzi and her son Kendrick need to go into hiding while Jason, her brother, sorts out the rogue husband. Jason brings Kendrick to stay with his grandad who is delighted until he finds out the reason why.

Ron is the one feeling his age this time and worries when he realises that ‘everything was nothing until it was something’ and that some of his symptoms may add up to something bigger. He is still able to fight for his family, however, and welcomes Connie, a villain and recent friend of Ibrahim, who has previously threatened to kill Ron but is now able (and willing) to help. And I haven’t even mentioned Tia yet. Complicated? Yes, it is a bit but you simply have to be there and immerse yourself in their lives to find that it is all perfectly ok.

The familiarity is comforting, like a cup of cocoa on a winter’s day. It’s a new puzzle but you know you’re surrounded by helpful friends.

Osman brings all his characters to life once more, keeping their quirky natures and deep friendship, at the fore. There are some strange alliances in this novel and a lot of thinking going on as Joanna tries to analyse her relationship with Joyce, and Elizabeth comes to terms with Stephen’s empty chair. They love a good puzzle and if it means stopping a villain or two along the way, all the better. Joyce’s reflections, shared through her journal, continue the understated humour we recognise from previously, and cannot fail to raise a smile. Kendrick, too, shows innocent insight as only children can. By the end, the reader realises that the real story has nothing to do with Bitcoins and bombs but is a story which was nearly missed because we were all ‘too distracted by louder noises’. It’s a rather nice message to us all.

If you have not read any others in the series, this novel works as a standalone although I can’t help but think that your enjoyment of it is only enhanced by having met the residents of Cooper’s Chase and their friends and family, before.


The Impossible Fortune is published by Penguin Viking