I missed episode two of the Thursday Murder Club, but I don’t think it caused me too much issue with following The Bullet That Missed (book 3). Same general gang but it seems like most everyone who was single in book 1 is pairing off in book 3, and nearly everyone has some big secret they don’t tell the others. I’ve also noticed there seems to be this emphasis on a lower level bad guy/gal turning good, or at least helpful. IT’s the secret-keeping that bugs me a little because some of that could really matter to other members of the group; Connie’s secret at least makes some sense because she might like Ibrahim, but she’s also an admitted killer and drug-dealer who has managed to do pretty well for herself in prison. Donna doesn’t get as much investigating but her connection with Bogdan is really cute and even though he’s got some secrets himself and that bothers me a bit, they’re fun to see together.
The three new additions are all entertaining characters as well; Mike is a tv host (Joyce has a bit of a crush at one point) who wants justice for a colleague presumed murdered (that’s the club’s current mystery), and the Viking (who’s actually Swedish) has a vendetta against an old frenemy of Elizabeth’s and uses threats against other members of the gang to try to force Elizabeth to murder Viktor (former bigshot KGB). This part of the plot is secondary for a good long while, although Viktor and the Viking both of whom seem like they are serious bad guys off-page end up doing a lot of good-guy helping out. This part of the story is almost more interesting than the main murder investigation. I do feel kind of worried for Stephen though since there’s a bit with him near the end that suggests he’s further declining.
The role of crypto-currency is interesting although it feels like that could have been better tied into the other money-related scheme; the potential is there, and it’s pretty relevant. Joyce’s connection to this is one the one-hand kind of cliché but it’s also a little worrying for her character; I know there’s an edge of realism in having a character be influenced by Youtube and the web, and I can see Joyce being easily distracted by trends, but still, it feels a little off, especially paired with Elizabeth’s consideration about “how does she really know about her friend?” It might be a red herring and there’s a lot of those in these mysteries it seems like, but it could also be a big hint about something planned for the future.
