“Everyone is taking the best shot they’ve got, and some shots are just luckier than yours. Anytime you feel your unhappiness turning into bitterness, you have to check yourself. You can live with unhappiness, but bitterness will kill”― Richard Osman, We Solve Murders
Richard Osman has channeled his winning formula for A Thursday Murder Club Mystery series into a new mystery series. We Solve Murders is the first book in this series and it is very similar in tone and structure to Osman’s earlier books. We are introduced to an entirely new cast of characters who find themselves embroiled in a mysterious situation and the body count is rising. Widower Steve Wheeler is a retired detective who has a lot of time on his hands. He putters around taking on the occasional investigation but largely spends his time in the pub with friends, sitting on a bench talking to his deceased wife, and taking care of his cat. He is glad to leave the action and danger of his former life behind.
Action and danger are the main components of Amy Wheeler’s life. Amy is Steve’s daughter-in-law and she works for a private security company. When a dead body and a bag of money turn up on the remote island where she’s currently working, she knows something’s up and it is not good. With a spy in her organization and her boss in hiding, Amy turns to the only person she can trust for help–Steve. Together they must figure out who’s trying to frame and kill Amy and it’s going to take traveling across the world to expose a spy and unmask the killer.
Osman has created another winning combination in the detective duo of Steve and Amy. They are terrific characters and he combines them with witty dialogue, great supporting characters, and a story line with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. I look forward to future books in the series.
Content Advisory: Murder, language, references to sex