Despite my personal preference for summer, fall is the best season for a cozy mystery reader. The air is crisp; dusk falls just as you get home — perfect for a cozy, dark reading session. And the releases flow fast and furious, both big-name blockbusters and pleasingly puzzly debuts.
It’s the former I’ll focus on today, because the latest Thursday Murder Club is out! I’ve been an unapologetic fan of Richard Osman’s senior sleuths since their debut in 2020. It was a perfectly cozy, warm story for a deeply depressing year. Since then, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron have brought a smile to my face with every new adventure. And as I’ve gotten to know them (and their friends) better, I’ve come to love them not just as sleuths, but as people. Osman used that connection to great effect in their last outing; The Last Devil to Die literally made me tear up.
But after that impactful story — and given Osman’s pause to launch We Solve Murders last year — I wasn’t exactly sure where the series could go. So you can imagine my delight when I saw the announcement for a new installment, The Impossible Fortune. I pre-ordered the signed, deluxe Waterstones edition as soon as humanly possible. (Side note: when will a US retailer finally start offering such pretty, signed copies?)
Catching up with the crew
Osman picks up with Joyce, narrating Joanna’s wedding. Of course the entire Cooper’s Chase crew is invited, and we quickly learn what each is up to. Elizabeth is still stuck in her grief, and the rest of the group worries about her. At the wedding, Elizabeth meets the best man, who mysteriously asks for help — and then promptly disappears. The gang soon discovers he held one half of a code to over $300 million in Bitcoin, and they set out to find who might want it.
So far, so typical: Elizabeth has found some kind of puzzle that the rest of the gang can help solve…
Or can they? In the intervening months, life has gone on for the rest of the club. Joyce has been preoccupied with the wedding and getting to know her new son-in-law. Ibrahim is still counseling Connie — even after her release from prison — which means supporting a new protégé as well. Ron, it turns out, has a daughter, Suzi, who finally stands up to her abusive husband — which means Ron’s grandson, Kendrick, comes to stay. And while each friend is excited to see Elizabeth finally engaging with a puzzle again, they have to balance her needs with their own.
This shift is most prominent in Elizabeth’s evolving view of Joyce, contrasted with Joyce’s narration. Elizabeth finally credits Joyce’s emotional intelligence and grace, even as Joyce quietly leverages that EQ to draw out Elizabeth’s contacts. Joyce herself describes her role as “defusal” — of bombs and of human tension. It’s the most explicit credit she’s gotten in the series, beyond simply being “charming.” And it re-balances the narrative from Elizabeth-centered to one that follows the entire gang more equally.
A shift in focus
The heart of this story, however, is Ron and his family.
Ron’s daughter, Suzi, has finally kicked out her abusive and criminal husband. Fearing for her safety, she’s left her son Kendrick with Jason — who in turn leaves him with Ron as a form of camouflage. Ron must protect his family one last time, and Osman puts plenty of obstacles in his way. Will he walk away from Connie alive? Will he cooperate with the police, or revert to violence? This is the first time Ron shows up as more than a rabble-rouser, and it’s a good look on him.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Thursday Murder Club book without some Joyce storytelling. Thanks to the wedding, we see more of her relationship with Joanna. Joanna, for her part, finally starts to expand her view of Joyce, crediting — even appreciating — their similarities. Joyce’s major shift in this book, then, comes from recognition of her unique strengths by those who once underestimated her.
The rest of the recurring cast plays smaller roles, largely in service to Ron’s arc. Ibrahim’s ongoing relationship with Connie helps move the Bitcoin plot forward through her knowledge of cold storage, while bringing her closer to Ron. (There’s also a side plot with Connie’s latest mentee, who Ibrahim assumes is non-criminal… perhaps wrongly.) Donna offers a bit of help; Chris is mostly unavailable due to weapons training. The balance here feels slightly muddled — there are brief mentions of Ibrahim’s loneliness that don’t quite resolve. Personally, I’m still waiting for my Ibrahim book. He deserves more love than Osman’s given him so far.
From sleuthing to storytelling
If the above sounds more like a sitcom update than the latest entry in a mystery series, that’s not entirely wrong. Osman has always built his stories around human observation, with much of his wit coming from little asides about everyday life. In The Last Devil to Die, he leaned into this even more, focusing on the tragedy of death and the grief it creates. After that, it would’ve felt almost disrespectful to leap gleefully back into spy-adjacent sleuthing shenanigans.
And so, wisely, Osman has shifted the narrative.
The Impossible Fortune features both a mystery and a puzzle. The mystery is high-tech, glamorous, full of criminal enterprises and spies and bombs. The puzzle, though, is much more human — requiring emotional growth and personal reckonings from its central characters to solve. This is no longer just a story about clever, daring pensioners — it’s one about humans with life yet to live.
What’s next?
As of now, I’m intrigued to see where Osman takes this concept. This outing was still a little clumsy in execution, with the deeper focus emerging mostly near the end. Future installments with the Cooper’s Chase crew would ideally balance mystery and character in a cleaner, tighter way — with more thematic harmony.
There’s also a risk that the series leans too far into cozy character studies at the expense of any real mystery. I hope we don’t end up there — because while I love this crew, I also love puzzling alongside them, watching how they complement each other in pursuit of a goal.
This month marks 3 years (!) of The Cozy Owlet, and I’m so excited to celebrate with y’all. I’ll be kicking things off with a giveaway of a brand-new copy of The Impossible Fortune!
To enter:
- Follow my Instagram account
- Like the Instagram post for The Impossible Fortune
- Comment on the Instagram post with either:
- a tag for friend who also loves the Thursday Murder Club, or
- a note about why you love this crew.
The giveaway ends October 19 — and I can’t wait to hear what you all have to say.
Until next time, stay cozy, and stay curious!
The Impossible Fortune will count for my “book read in a -ber month” for this year’s 52 Book Club Challenge!
