The Impossible Fortune

Oh, bravo! Another wonderful, clever, and humourous tale about the activities of these denizens of Coopers Chase. A best man goes missing from Joyce's daughter Joanna's wedding and the plot thickens almost immediately. Elizabeth is beginning to come to life again, Ron faces several challenges to do with protecting his family, Joyce and Joanna are both pondering their mother-daughter relationship . . . not everyone takes a central space but little pieces in all of their internal lives and their web of connections develop. Even Connie the drug dealer has her moment. Osman has such a deft touch, never too sentimental, never too sharp either -- it's hard to navigate between tenderness and toughness and he does it. *****

Here is a quote (for show more my benefit mostly) from one of the more reflective/serious moments, Joanna is pondering her relationship with her mother:
"Why does she always push her Mum away? There's something about that relationship, something about being a child and the need of a child to be an individual, to be something more than the things she'd been taught and the way she'd been raised. The need to somehow teach a lesson to the person who has taught her so many lessons? Joyce's love for her is unconditional. Joanna knows that, but, really, unconditional love has a huge flaw. If you love me, no matter what, who I actually am doesn't matter. If someone loves your essence, your very being, what can you do to make them them love you more or love you less? Nothing: there is no space. So the only option left to you is to continually prod at that unconditional love, to test it and stretch it, to mock it even.
And it's not just that. There is a further problem with unconditional love, isn't there? Because what if you don't love yourself? What if, like Joanna, you obsess over your flaws and weaknesses, you constantly update the balance sheet of your own personality and find it wanting? Well, then the unconditional love of a parent is a sign that they simply don't know you. If they truly knew you, their love would be peppered with, "I love you, but . . ."

Brilliant! And this is just one instance of many. show less

The team from Coopers Chase is back! The story begins innocuously enough, with Joyce’s daughter Joanna’s wedding to Paul. The first hint of trouble comes when the best man, Nick, seeks out Elizabeth to express his fear that someone is out to kill him. Before we know it, the group is caught up in solving a preposterously complex murder case.

But the genius of the Thursday Murder Club series lies not in the mystery (which despite being unrealistic is well crafted), but in the relationships between the four friends and others in their circle. Elizabeth is still grieving a loss. Joyce is bursting with pride at being a mother-in-law, and navigating a changing relationship with Joanna. Ibrahim is spreading kindness everywhere, but is also show more lonely and somewhat envious of the others. And Ron takes huge risks to protect his family while also learning how much his friends mean to him.

This could all get overly sentimental, but Richard Osman is also excellent at humor and breaks the emotional tension at all the right moments. This series is a joy to read. show less

IN A NUTSHELL
In 'The Impossible Fortune', Richard Osman has managed to combine a complicated, intriguing plot with wonderful moments of humour and pathos in the lives of the members of The Thursday Murder Club and their loved ones. I think this was the strongest book in the series so far.

This is a book where my entire review should be: READ THIS: IT'S WONDERFUL:

I enjoyed every minute of this audiobook. It has all the strengths of the first book in the series: humour, compassion, an understanding of what it is to be old but still curious and energetic, close observation of the small details that shape our lives and our perception of ourselves and strongly drawn, engaging characters. In addition, it has a clever, credible, and show more up-to-the-minute plot involving organised crime, money laundering, bitcoin speculation, a high-value heist, abuse, distrust, betrayal, hitmen, fraudsters, and old-style gangsters. I loved that while the plot was engaging and propulsive, it was the people who were the focus of the novel.

The book starts with Joyce's daughter's wedding, where I caught up with four members of The Thursday Murder Club and got to know Joyce's (formidable) daughter, Joanna and Joyce's newly-minted son-in-law. Their best man provided the link to the mystery that drives most of the plot by confiding in Elizabeth that someone had left a bomb under his car that morning.

I liked that all four of The Thursday Murder Club members had a significant role to play in solving the mystery. The car bomb mystery helps Elizabeth to begin to surface from the grief she's been submerged in. Joyce is energised by the wedding and the mystery and, in her inimitable style, is quietly taking a leadership role. Ibrahim's association with drug dealer Connie Johnson widens the circle of people investigating the mystery and introduces him to Connie's resourceful protege. Meanwhile, Ron has business of his own to take care of, protecting his family from the wrath of his murderous criminal son-in-law.

I was as engaged in the dynamics of the relationship between Joyce and her daughter as I was with solving the mystery. While Joyce’s journal entries remained my favourite part of the book-

I was also impressed by how well the interactions between the main players were described nd how realistic the dialogue was.

My only criticis of the book was That I felt the end ran a little long. Perhaps not every thread of the story needed to be neatly tied up at the end.

Even so, this was a book that was a delight to read because of the people involved and a satisfying thriller that kept me turning the pages.

I recommend the audiobook. Fiona Shaw's narration increased my enjoyment of the novel. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL9GkQMrp70 show less

This is the fifth entry in the “Thursday Murder Club” series - quick-paced and witty cozy mysteries set in a luxury retirement community.

Elizabeth Best, a onetime spy; Joyce Meadowcroft, a retired nurse; Ibrahim Arif, a former psychiatrist; and Ron Ritchie, who was a well-known union organizer, reside in Coopers Chase Retirement Village. They meet every Thursday for a “Murder Club” to look at old police files of cold cases and try to solve the them.

As the series has gone on, the original four have been joined by a number of others who have become friends and collaborators. Most notable is Bogdan Jankowski, who helps the group with situations that require youth and muscle. They also get assistance (albeit reluctantly), from DCI show more Chris Hudson and PC Donna De Freitas who serve in the local police. A less “respectable” sort has joined their group as well: the drug dealer Connie Johnson. The Murder Club helped get her installed in Darwell Prison in a previous book, but there were no hard feelings; Ibrahim now serves as her weekly therapist.

In this book, there is a new murder to solve, as well as assorted criminal activities, but mostly it is about love and acceptance. The family members and friends of the Murder Club play a larger role in this book, helping the characters realize it is the little moments that enrich life and give it meaning.

Joyce, whose diary entries are woven intermittently into the books, observes: “When things are noisy, and everyone is asking you to look at something right this instant, we mustn’t forget all the things still going on in quiet corners. There’s the news, and then there’s life.”

And another of the characters - perhaps possibly about to be murdered! - thinks (thus appropriately): “One should take the very next opportunity you have to tell the people dear to you in your life how much they mean to you; otherwise you may miss your chance.”

Evaluation: Osman writes in his Acknowledgments, “How lovely to have Joyce, Elizabeth, Ibrahim and Ron back together again. . . I hope you enjoyed getting reacquainted.” How could we not? His books about the Thursday Murder Club are written with compassion, humor, and a profound love of humanity in all of its permutations. Like the others in the series, it is delightful and very entertaining, whether Osman focuses on murder, or the human condition, or the intersection of the two. show less

When you were younger did you ever decide to snub a friend, but you weren't sure if that was the best thing to do and you did it anyway and lost an interesting companion? But you know, and your heart, you did it for some kind of reason?

I feel that way about the Thursday Murder Club series. I've loved them from the first, come to care for each character, but I'm just not sure I want to carry on my involvement in the series.

Maybe it's the short, cliffhanger chapters? Well, let's leave it at that because each character and their story is utterly engaging.

It's not you Thursday Murder Club, it's me. And for me it's time to go.

Oh, boy--another Thursday Murder Club adventure! And this was a very good one, indeed. The gang is back, dealing with the disappearance of a wedding guest and the ugly death of his business partner; an impossible fortune in Bitcoin is locked in a "cold storage" security bunker unavailable to anyone who doesn't have those two people's separate and distinct codes to access the vault. That cyber currency has multiplied over the years to an amount anyone might consider worth killing for. And besides the owners of this fortune, some rather unsavory types seem to know its whereabouts and value. Elizabeth is getting her groove back after the loss of her beloved Stephen, but she isn't quite at the top of her game yet. Some new characters are show more introduced, both Joyce's daughter Joanna and Ron learn some valuable lessons about what really matters in life, and the shenanigans just never stop. I loved it to bits. show less

What an absolute delight to return to The Thursday Murder Club. I tried to savour it, but this series really is a warm, comforting hug - with such wonderfully familiar characters, it’s hard to hold back.

This instalment follows concurrent plotlines: opening with Joyce’s daughter Joanna’s wedding and unfolding into the attempted bombing of best man Nick (and fallout with his business partner Holly), while in parallel a domestic abuse storyline involving Ron’s daughter Susie takes centre stage, bringing Kendrick into the spotlight. Despite being the fifth in the series, Osman keeps it fresh: the bitcoin and cyber-crime threads, Chris’s firearms training, and the new recurring perspectives from Joanna and Kendrick all feel like show more natural expansions of the world.

The book balances beautifully funny moments with heartbreak. Jasper, Ron, and Ibrahim each shine a brief but poignant light on the realities of ageing men; Elizabeth is still grieving but regaining her sharpness; Joyce revels in becoming a mother-in-law while reflecting on mother–daughter bonds. The introduction of Tia offers an unexpected chance to explore Connie’s humanity, and how people become trapped by circumstance. Every character has their own arc, their own motivations, and something to bring - comedy and emotion intertwine seamlessly as people learn and grow.

Although this doesn’t entirely stand alone, the plots are self-contained and satisfying, wrapped in the warmth and depth of a world we’ve come to love. The continuing diversity of the cast is another pleasure, and the series feels as vibrant as ever. I finished it already hopeful for many more returns to our favourite foursome. show less