Book review: Quartet of retirees back for some super sleuthing
"The Man Who Died Twice"
Author: Richard Osman
Pamela Dorman Books, 368 pages, $26
Richard Osman's second mystery, “The Man Who Died Twice,” is a real treat. Anyone who hasn't picked up his debut novel, “The Thursday Murder Club,” should do so as quickly as possible.
This time out, not long after the events of the first story, Elizabeth is lured into another mystery by a message from a dead man. She knows he's dead because she fabricated him and then ended him herself.
It isn't long before the deception is revealed to be one of her ex-husband's schemes. At the same time, Ibrahim, another member of the Murder Club, is attacked and hospitalized. The gang come together and enlist the aid of their police benefactors, Donna and Chris, to track down Ibrahim's attacker and to stealthily help Elizabeth. It seems her ex-husband has inserted himself between a dealmaker for assorted major criminals and the Mafia. The Mafia have entrusted Martin Lomax with $20 million dollars in uncut diamonds as a good faith payment to arrange a deal. Once the deal is carried out, Martin is paid and the diamonds are to be returned to the Mafiosi who hired him. Unfortunately, the diamonds have disappeared and a bevy of interested parties are after them, including Elizabeth and the rest of the Thursday Murder Club.
This series features four of the finest septuagenarians one could ever hope to meet. Once Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce are welcomed into your world, the warmth and touching humor will turn what may not be all that pleasant a day into a day to be remembered forever more.
Richard Klinzman lives in Middleburg.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Book review: 'The Man Who Died Twice' by Richard Osman
