The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
Thursday Murder Club Series, Book 2
Publication Date: September 16, 2021
Summary from GoodReads:
It’s the following Thursday.
Elizabeth has received a letter from an old colleague, a man with whom she has a long history. He’s made a big mistake, and he needs her help. His story involves stolen diamonds, a violent mobster, and a very real threat to his life.
As bodies start piling up, Elizabeth enlists Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron in the hunt for a ruthless murderer. And if they find the diamonds too? Well, wouldn’t that be a bonus?
But this time they are up against an enemy who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can The Thursday Murder Club find the killer (and the diamonds) before the killer finds them?
Confession:
Let’s start with the audiobook portion of this review. While Lesley Manville does have an excellent voice and I enjoyed listening to her, it would have been better if there had been other voices, especially because there are multiple viewpoints. But that said, Lesley still did a great job. She has a lovely cadence to her voice and it is nicely paced. She can modulate her voice for other characters, but not a super great range of voices. She also conveys the emotions of the characters well. I would definitely listen to her narrate again. I do recommend the audiobook if you have the time to listen, it does come in at just under 12 hours. But the chapters are short so there are easy breaks in the narration.
Now on to the book itself. I enjoyed this one just as much as the first book, The Thursday Murder Club, in the series. This one centered on Elizabeth a bit more than the rest of the gang. We do find out a bit more of her background with MI5 and that she is a bit of a legend in the organization. The rest of the gang is back as well, and full of mischief and they still love to create mayhem as they go.
Joyce is still my favorite character. I love how she can come off as nieve, but then she comes up with wonderful solutions to problems or solves a pesky issue. I love her diary entries too, so much fun and often had me laughing out loud.
I really enjoyed the story in this book. The plot was marvelous and twisty and at times I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next or to who. The ending was perfect, except for maybe what happened to the diamonds. That seemed a bit far fetched, but fun.
If you loved and enjoyed the first book then you will certainly enjoy reading this one as well. I am looking forward to reading or listening to more of these books and it looks like I won’t have to wait long.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 