The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman
I actually quite enjoyed this book. I liked that the pace of the book was in keeping with the key characters, and was unrushed. I also liked how this was reflected in the writing and the tone. For instance, the rapid and random sways in conversation, from discussing murder suspects to M&S cakes (one of the many times this happens). It's very close to how conversations with my grandparents usually go, where by the end, we're discussing three completely different topics simultaneously. As to the tone, it's kept light and breezy throughout, instead of the sombre tones of most books in this genre.
Although, there were two things I didn't enjoy as much. Firstly, the way in which suspects were handled got really repetitive. A suspect is introduced (Father Mackie, Jason, Gianni, Joyce, Kate, etc.), and a couple of chapters later, they confess to the host of reasons why they were acting suspicious. The reader automatically dismisses them entirely as a suspect thereafter (in fact, I felt so moved by some of their stories it made me strangely guilty for suspecting them), and there are no hidden surprises here. They are, in fact, innocent.
I personally do not enjoy mystery books where the resolution of the affair is based on very random facts and back stories that are only revealed at the end. I prefer crime/ mystery authors who write in a way that at least leaves some room for the readers to have a shot (however small) at guessing who the killer/ criminal is. If a book relies entirely on the big reveal, and on things that are not brought up (or even alluded to) a single time throughout the read, it's not much of a mystery read for me, since I'm someone who really enjoys trying to piece together the clues as we go along. Specially with a book this long. 115 Chapters, where the actual facts that could help identify the killers was contained in 2 Chapters at the end! Why did we bother with the plethora of backstories and sleuthing efforts, if 99% of the efforts were spent chasing red herrings?! Again, this is a personal preference, everyone else might have enjoyed this aspect of the writing.
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