Since 2020 the British TV presenter, producer and comedian Richard Osman has turned his hand to crime writing and produced three totally engaging books that flow seamlessly into one another.

If you’re not familiar with Richard Osman you may have seen him appearing as a guest on any number of quiz or panel shows in England such as Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 Cats, Would I Lie to you or QI.

His most consistent exposure in Australia is on his own invention, Pointless, a game show you can see every weekday along with his close friend and fellow comedian Alexander Armstrong.

Richard has that academic quality of say Stephen Fry but without the ‘poshness’. He has an encyclopaedic memory for not only things that matter but for the inane and pointless.

Despite having graduated from Cambridge where he studied politics and sociology Richard was raised in a single parent home in Essex and comes across as very down to earth.

He is a long time devotee of the Fulham FC and a lover of music in particular post punk. His older brother Mat is the bass player and founding member of independent band Suede.

Richard’s razor sharp intellect, wit and self-deprecation will often steal the show on the aforementioned panel shows and it’s this warmth that runs through all of his books regardless of the occasional gruesome topics.

The three books, The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed are all set in and around a retirement home in the south of England.

The four main elderly protagonists and sleuths are:

Joyce – A former nurse and general busy body. She is best friends with Elizabeth and new to crime solving. She can sometimes be over zealous and take risks but should never be underestimated.

Elizabeth – A former MI5 agent, Elizabeth has seen it all. She’s strategic, brave and humble.

Ron – A former union heavyweight and West Ham FC tragic. Rough around the edges but loyal to a tee.

Ibrahim – A former psychiatrist, he is very detailed and structured in his approach to life.

Now at first sight, this may sound like a written version of a Doc Martin episode, but you’d be wrong!

There are as many twists and red herrings in these stories that you could expect in other excellent British and Scottish writers such as Ian Rankin, Peter Robinson or Val McDermid.

Also the brutality isn’t shaded either. Murder is murder in anyone’s language and the detail isn’t avoided at all. What’s interesting is that the gruesome bits are offset by the composure of the Thursday Murder Club members as they set about finding the killers.

If you’ve ever spent time in a nursing home perhaps visiting family, you will feel these characters leap off the page to you. Richard delivers a level of pathos that strengthens your affection for the characters even more.

Maybe it comes with age, but the way Richard has written the dialogue for these four is truly authentic. The ‘matter of fact-ness’ we associate with the way elderly people speak has been captured so beautifully in these books.

If you’re like me and you put a book down and can’t get back to it for a couple of days, I will have to go back a chapter or two to reacquaint myself with some of the characters and plot.

In the Thursday Murder Club books, Richard has allowed Joyce to pop up every few chapters to give an update on where they are currently in an investigation. Very clever and equally engaging.

There is a fourth book on the way then it will spell the end for the Thursday Murder Club given their age. No eternal life, even for these legends.

The great news for Richard is that Steven Spielberg has bought the film rights to The Thursday Murder Club which isn’t surprising after reading the books. You can easily see the stories and characters translating to the big screen.

Looking forward to book four, and in the interim I can highly recommend these books especially if you are a fan of British crime fiction.