I don’t even want to talk about it. I kind of want to read both books in the series again right now. They’re just the perfect mix of humor, pathos, mystery, cleverness, impishness, and intrigue. I continue to be so, so impressed by the way that Osman mixes these various elements together so well, so that one moment you’re laughing, one minute you’re puzzling out the mystery elements, and another you’re extremely sad because these character so perfectly represent the tragedy of being human, which is that one day we all will die. And because the characters are mostly all old people living in a plush retirement community, we get people who deal with that one way or another constantly.
It’s Elizabeth’s past that comes into play here, and we go from vague allusions to her former occupation as a spy, to outright espionage. Her ex-husband, also a spy, is on the scene, and soon there is a murder (or two). This time, the Thursday Murder Club works their way into the murder investigation organically, as opposed to by sheer nosiness, because they are all involved in it from the beginning. I was skeptical that he could write a book as good as the first one, but he did it. No second book slump to be found here.
I can’t stress enough how much I am enjoying these books, and I’m so glad number three is coming next year.
