The Impossible Fortune: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery
By Richard Osman
Penguin
ISBN: 978-0593653272
368pp.
Richard Osman is back, and he’s not playing it safe.
The Impossible Fortune: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery isn’t just any Thursday Murder Club Mystery instalment. This one could safely be called his most intricate and emotionally layered story to date. Fans of Osman will know the stakes have been rising with each book, but this one? It’s an explosion, literally and metaphorically.
Osman, once known as the charming quiz show host-turned-bestselling crime writer, has firmly cemented himself as Britain’s new Agatha Christie for the streaming generation. His voice, warm, wry and observant, remains intact. But this time, Osman adds a sharper edge: grief, morality and the blurred lines between justice and revenge.
On paper, it’s still a cosy mystery. But scratch the surface and you’ll find a thriller grappling with grief, ageing, cybercrime and even the digital economy of death. Osman uses his trademark humour to explore loneliness and human connection, and how love, in its many forms, often leads to both miracles and mayhem.
Richard Osman’s latest slow-burn thriller continues his trademark balance of humour and morbid mystery, tapping into something deeper — that we all crave purpose, connection and a bit of chaos to remind us we’re alive
The story opens with a bang, quite literally, on a shady website that sells customised bombs. It’s a shockingly dark opener for Osman, setting the tone for what follows. Soon, we’re back with our favourite gang — Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim — at Joyce’s daughter Joanna’s wedding. Everything’s picture-perfect until the best man, Nick Silver, confides to Elizabeth that someone has tried to kill him. There’s a car bomb, a mysterious code, and a “cold storage” company holding something so valuable people would kill for it.
From there, the Thursday Murder Club is sucked into yet another tangled web, one that spans luxury security firms, old grudges and dangerous new players. Osman masterfully toggles between light domestic comedy and high-stakes espionage. Elizabeth’s intuition sharpens once again, Joyce provides diary-style letters laced with warmth and wit, and Ibrahim and Ron bring the philosophical and physical punch, respectively.
As always, Osman lets the plot unfurl gently, like tea steeping just long enough to reveal its flavour. We get interlocking subplots: Connie Johnson (yes, that Connie) out of prison, mentoring a young criminal prodigy, Joyce’s bittersweet reflections on family and friendship and Elizabeth, still haunted by her late husband, rediscovering her purpose when trouble, as she puts it, “finds her again.”
Let’s take a deep dive into the characters. Elizabeth Best, still razor-sharp, still haunted. Osman lets us see behind her composure, the grief, the fatigue, the thrill of feeling alive again when mystery calls. Joyce Meadowcroft, the heart of the book, steals every page she narrates. Her diary entries are pure gold: funny yet rich. Her reflections on her daughter’s wedding and ageing alone are among Osman’s most heartfelt writing yet. Ibrahim Arif and Ron Ritchie continue to ground the chaos, one with quiet intellect, the other with blunt humanity. Their friendship and banter remind us why we keep coming back to this unlikely quartet.
Nick Silver, a new addition, is Osman’s wild card: a man trapped between guilt and danger. Through him, Osman injects modern paranoia: data, secrets and digital blackmail. Even Connie Johnson, the ex-drug dealer turned mentor, adds texture to the story. Her “reformation”, if we can call it that, is both hilarious and touching.
Osman’s genius has always been balance; humour besides heartbreak, murder besides marmalade. That remains his superpower here. The dialogue sparkles, the relationships deepen, and the emotional beats, particularly Joyce walking her daughter down the aisle, are genuinely moving.
Joyce’s chapters are written in her familiar, first-person diary format, warm, funny, slightly scatter-brained but emotionally acute. She writes directly to the reader, reflecting on daily life, Joanna’s wedding, and the group’s adventures. Her sections carry Osman’s signature charm and provide the emotional heart of the story.
Elizabeth’s chapters give a more strategic and suspenseful tone to the book. With a focus on investigative and espionage aspects, her instincts, her grief over her late husband Stephen, and her leadership within the group come across as rather grave. Meanwhile, Ibrahim, Ron and even side characters, such as Connie and Nick, are great to read through.
This alternating POV structure lets Osman balance the tone beautifully. Stylistically, the book continues Osman’s signature rhythm. But let’s be honest: The Impossible Fortune is long. A little too long. There are chapters that meander, scenes that could easily have been trimmed. Osman’s fondness for his characters sometimes makes him indulgent — he lets them chat (endearingly, yes) long past the point where the plot needs to move. The middle section drags slightly, weighed down by exposition about codes, bombs and who-told-whom-what.
Still, Osman’s world is one we’re happy to linger in, even if the story could use a tighter edit. The reason Osman keeps dominating bestseller lists isn’t just his wit. It is his empathy. His characters aren’t super-sleuths; they’re retirees, widows and worriers, who find meaning in solving puzzles. The Impossible Fortune taps into something deeper: that we all crave purpose, connection and, yes, a bit of chaos to remind us we’re alive.
If you’ve loved Osman’s earlier books, this is a must. You’ll savour every cosy cup of tea, every sharp twist, every line that makes you laugh out loud before quietly breaking your heart. But if you’re craving a pacey, gritty thriller, one with explosions every 10 pages, this might test your patience. Osman takes his time. His murders are rarely about violence; they’re about people.
The Impossible Fortune is witty, warm and well-observed, even if it overstays its welcome by a few chapters. Osman proves yet again that murder mysteries don’t need to be grim to be gripping.
The reviewer is a content lead at a communications agency
She can be reached at sara.amj@hotmail.co.uk
Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 27th, 2026
