The Bullet That Missed

Description

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A new mystery is afoot in the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman. 

“The quartet of aging amateur sleuths…remain wonderful company,” —the New York Times Book Review
 
“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front.” —the Wall Street Journal

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind–leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.Praise for The Bullet That Missed:

“Osman concocts a satisfyingly complex whodunit full of neat twists and wrong turns. But unlike most crime novelists, he ensures his book’s strength and momentum stem not from its plot or its thrills but rather its perfectly formed characters. Once again, the quartet of friends makes for delightful company… Heartwarming and enthralling. ‘They carried a kind of magic, the four of them,’ a policeman muses. That magic is still there in abundance.”
—Washington Post

“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front. Its quandaries stymie, its solutions thrill, its banter is worth reciting and its characters exemplify an admirable camaraderie. One can only hope that the Thursday Murder Club’s next outing appears before long.”
—Wall Street Journal

“The Thursday Murder Club is back, and that should make everyone happy — except, of course, murderers. Richard Osman’s engaging series about a group of crime-solving retirees has delighted readers since the first book. The Thursday Murder Club, an international bestseller, was funny, original, baffling, poignant and thoroughly engaging. That’s a high bar to set from the get-go, but Osman has easily achieved it in subsequent books… This book is as delightful as the others. A remarkable achievement, Osman up there effortlessly balancing on that very high bar.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Not to be missed.”
—Parade

“Charming.”
—People

“The mysteries are complex, the characters vivid, and the whole thing is laced with warm humor and—remarkably, considering the body count—good feeling. Your next must-read mystery series.”
—Kirkus, starred review

“Bestseller Osman’s diverting third Thursday Murder Club mystery (after 2021’s The Man Who Lived Twice) delivers laughs along with a nicely woven plot….The pace is breezy, the characters are intelligent and varied in their interests and backgrounds, and the humor is often pitched to readers who understand the vagaries of getting older. Osman reliably entertains.”
—Publishers Weekly

“It’s charming and, as always, will leave you guessing the murderer until the very end.”
—Town and CountryRichard Osman is an author and television presenter. His novels, The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die, were number one, million-copy international bestsellers as well as New York Times bestsellers. He lives in London with his wife, Ingrid, and Liesl the cat. We Solve Murders is his fifth novel.AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BULLET THAT MISSED
 
The Bullet That Missed, the third novel in Richard Osman’s much-loved Thursday Murder Club series, sees the crime-fighting quartet of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village take on an ex-KGB colonel, several TV icons, a murderous money launderer, and more as they rush to catch the latest killer.
 
Joyce suggests that the gang investigate the death of Bethany Waites, a local TV presenter whose car was pushed off a cliff several years prior. Bethany had been investigating a tax fraud operation worth over £10 million and had told colleagues she was close to revealing the mastermind behind it all.
 
Now the Thursday Murder Club wants to know: Who killed Bethany? What happened to the £10 million? And why, since they started their investigation, have their two prime suspects in Bethany’s disappearance turned up dead?
 
 
A CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD OSMAN
 
1. The Thursday Murder Club returns for their third whodunit in The Bullet That Missed. What was your inspiration for the novel?
 
I really wanted to write a book set in the world of television, to draw on my former career a little bit. So much happens behind the scenes in television, and I have met so many extraordinary on-screen personalities who are definitely potential murderers. This book begins with our first meeting with local news legend Mike Waghorn. He was the perfect character for me. Nearly seventy years old, he is incredibly famous in his local area. He has a great mystery for the gang to solve, and I knew Joyce would immediately have a crush on him. Alongside that story line, as I always like to make Elizabeth’s life as difficult as possible, I gave her a near-impossible task in this book, just to see how she coped with it.
 
2. What has surprised you most developing the Thursday Murder Club series? Has your writing process changed over three books as you continue to build the world of Elizabeth, Rob, Ibrahim, and Joyce?
 
I love how close readers have become to the characters. Everybody has a favorite, though my favorite changes day by day. They are all kind, but also all tough, and they each have their own ways of making us laugh and cry. I love the people who are drawn to them too, and how important they have become to the books. I’m always surprised how important Bogdan, Chris, and Donna, who are now honorary members of the gang, have become to the books. If I didn’t put enough Bogdan in a book, for example, I know that my editors and my readers would be furious. Quite right too. There are a couple of new additions in The Bullet That Missed too, who I think will be sticking around for the next adventure. I just love throwing trouble at all of these completely different characters and seeing which one comes up with a solution this time.
 
3. Friendship and its importance are recurring themes in The Bullet That Missed as our sleuths reflect on the relationships they have built later in life. As newcomer Viktor reflects: “People drift in and out of your life, and, when you are younger, you know you will see them again. But now every old friend is a miracle.” Why was it important to explore this now?
 
In The Thursday Murder Club, Joyce makes the observation that you always know when you’re doing something for the first time, but you rarely know when you’re doing something for the last time. Friendships are a very important example of that. There will always be people in our life who we are never going to see again. You don’t choose your family, but you do choose your friends, and I love the strength of the friendships between Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim, and the lengths they will go to protect one another and to protect their friends. They know that one day they will lose one another, and they make the most of the days they have.
 
4. The cold case that the Thursday Murder Club is investigating in The Bullet That Missed involves the disappearance of a local TV anchor. How did your experience as a television producer and host inform the mystery?
 
There is a sequence in The Bullet That Missed where Joyce and Elizabeth visit the recording of a daily quiz show, and I adored writing it because I have been presenting daily quiz shows for many, many years. I loved writing it through their eyes. Though I should say that, without giving away spoilers, no audience member has ever brought a gun into one of my TV recordings before.
 
5. Every installment introduces readers to new “fan-favorite” characters. The gang’s fixer, Bogdan, mob boss Connie, and this book’s newcomers: ex-KGB officer Viktor and the mysterious Viking. How do you breathe so much life into each and every character?
 
When I introduce new characters, I try to imagine they’re the lead characters in their own novel. Probably the only new major character in this book that I wouldn’t want to write a whole novel about is Joyce’s dog, Alan. Although, now that I say that, I’m kind of tempted to try. Dogs solving crimes, is that a profitable niche?
 
6. You just discovered that one of your ancestors formed an amateur crime-solving gang in nineteenth-century Brighton. Can you tell us a bit about these crime solvers? Will your discovery find its way into a Thursday Murder Club story in future?
 
Yes, I discovered on a British TV show that my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Gabriel Gillam, a fisherman and smuggler, uncovered the body in one of England’s most notorious nineteenth-century murder cases. Even better, he was aided by his wife and mother, as they formed their very own band of plucky amateur detectives. I was able to visit the site of the murder, the old inn where the inquest took place, and the crown court where the murderer was convicted and sentenced to death. I would love to write a story one day about Gabriel, Mary, and Elizabeth (yes, the gang even had their very own Elizabeth) solving crimes in 1820s Brighton.
 
 
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
 
1. How do you think the relationships among the members of the Thursday Murder Club have changed through the series? Have any dynamics remained the same? Discuss.
 
2. Who is your favorite of the new characters introduced in The Bullet That Missed, and why? Would you want to see them again in future books?
 
3. Elizabeth makes a rare mistake in keeping to the same routine, which leads to her capture by the Viking. What other flaws does Elizabeth have? What could she have done differently?
 
4. Joyce is shocked to discover that Elizabeth could be capable of killing someone. How far do you think Elizabeth would go to protect her friends? How far do you think Joyce would go?
 
5. During one of their therapy sessions, Ibrahim asks Connie if she has any secrets then refuses to answer the same question when it is turned back on him. Why do you think he avoids this question?
 
6. Joyce and Elizabeth are best friends—and yet even they don’t tell each other everything. Do you think it’s necessary in any relationship to keep a few secrets from each other? Why or why not?
 
7. Donna and Chris were each romantically uninvolved before they met the Thursday Murder Club and their network. How have they changed since then? And what do you think the future holds for Donna and Bogdan, Chris and Patrice?
 
8. What were your suspicions about the truth behind Bethany’s disappearance? Were you surprised by the ending? Discuss.1.

I don’t need makeup,” says Ron. He’s in a straight-backed chair because Ibrahim told him you mustn’t slouch on television.

“Do you not?” replies his makeup artist, Pauline Jenkins, taking brushes and palettes from her bag. She has set up a mirror on a table in the Jigsaw Room. It is framed by lightbulbs, and the glow bounces off her cerise earrings as they bob back and forth.

Ron feels the adrenaline pumping a little. This is the stuff. A bit of TV. Where are the others though? He told them they could come along “if they fancied, no big deal,” and he will be gutted if they don’t show.

“They can take me as they find me,” says Ron. “I’ve earned this face, it tells a story.”

“Horror story, if you don’t mind me saying?” says Pauline, looking at a color palette, and then at Ron’s face. She blows him a kiss.

“Not everyone has to be beautiful,” says Ron. His friends know the interview starts at four. They’ll be here soon surely?

“We’re agreed there, darling,” says Pauline. “I’m not a miracle worker. I remember you back in the day though. Handsome bugger, weren’t you, if you like that sort of thing?”

Ron grunts.

“And I do like that sort of thing if I’m honest with you, right up my street. Always fighting for the working man, weren’t you, throwing your weight around?” Pauline opens a compact. “You still believe in all that, do you? Up the workers?”

Ron’s shoulders go back a touch, like a bull preparing to enter a ring. “Still believe in it? Still believe in equality? Still believe in the power of labor? What’s your name?”

“Pauline,” says Pauline.

“Still believe in the dignity of a day’s work for a fair day’s pay, Pauline? More than ever.”

Pauline nods. “Good oh. Then shut your mush for five minutes and let me do the job I’m paid to do, which is to remind the viewers of South East Tonight what a looker you are.”

Ron’s mouth opens, but, unusually for him, no words come out. Pauline starts on his foundation without further ado. “Dignity, my arse. Haven’t you got gorgeous eyes? Like Che Guevara if he worked on the docks.”

In his mirror, Ron sees the door to the Jigsaw Room open. Joyce walks in. He knew she wouldn’t let him down. Not least because she knows Mike Waghorn will be here. This whole thing was her idea, truth be told. She chose the file.

Ron notices that Joyce is wearing a new cardigan. She just can’t help herself.

“You told us you weren’t going to have makeup, Ron,” says Joyce.

“They make you,” says Ron. “This is Pauline.”

“Hello, Pauline,” says Joyce. “You’ve got your work cut out there.”

“I’ve seen worse,” says Pauline. “I used to work on Casualty.”

The door opens once again. A camera operator walks in, followed by a sound man, followed by a flash of white hair, the quiet swoosh of an expensive suit and the perfect, masculine yet subtle scent of Mike Waghorn. Ron sees Joyce blush. He would roll his eyes if he wasn’t having his concealer applied.

“Well, here we all are, then,” says Mike, his smile as white as his hair. “The name’s Mike Waghorn. The one, the only, accept no substitutes.”

“Ron Ritchie,” says Ron.

“The same, the very same,” says Mike, grasping Ron’s hand. “Haven’t changed a bit, have you? This is like being on safari and seeing a lion up close, Mr. Ritchie. He’s a lion of a man, isn’t he, Pauline?”

“He’s certainly something or other,” agrees Pauline, powdering Ron’s cheeks.

Ron sees Mike turn his head slowly toward Joyce, slipping off her new cardigan with his eyes. “And who, might I ask, are you?”

“I’m Joyce Meadowcroft.” She practically curtsies.

“I should say you are,” says Mike. “You and the magnificent Mr. Ritchie a couple, then, Joyce?”

“Oh, God, no, my goodness, the thought, no, heavens no. No,” says Joyce. “We’re friends. No offense, Ron.”

“Friends indeed,” says Mike. “Lucky Ron.”

“Stop flirting, Mike,” says Pauline. “No one’s interested.”

“Oh, Joyce’ll be interested,” says Ron.

“I am,” says Joyce. To herself, but just loud enough to carry.

The door opens once again, and Ibrahim pokes his head around. Good lad! Only Elizabeth missing now. “Am I too late?”

“You’re just in time,” says Joyce.

The sound man is attaching a microphone to Ron’s lapel. Ron is wearing a jacket over his West Ham shirt, at Joyce’s insistence. It is unnecessary, in his opinion. Sacrilegious, if anything. Ibrahim takes a seat next to Joyce and looks at Mike Waghorn.

“You are very handsome, Mr. Waghorn. Classically handsome.”

“Thank you,” says Mike, nodding in agreement. “I play squash, I moisturize, and nature takes care of the rest.”

“And about a grand a week in makeup,” says Pauline, putting the finishing touches to Ron.

“I am handsome too, it is often remarked upon,” says Ibrahim. “I think perhaps, had my life taken a different turn, I might have been a newsreader too.”

“I’m not a newsreader,” says Mike. “I’m a journalist who happens to read the news.”

Ibrahim nods. “A fine mind. And a nose for a story.”

“Well, that’s why I’m here,” says Mike. “As soon as I read the email, I sniffed a story. A new way of living, retirement communities, and the famous face of Ron Ritchie at the heart of it. I thought, ‘Yup, viewers will love a bit of that.’ “

It’s been quiet for a few weeks, but Ron is delighted that the gang is back in action. The whole interview is a ruse. Designed by Joyce to lure Mike Waghorn to Coopers Chase. To see if he could help them with the case. Joyce sent an email to one of the producers. Even so, it still means that Ron is going to be on TV again, and he is very happy about that.

“Will you come to dinner afterward, Mr. Waghorn?” asks Joyce. “We’ve got a table for five thirty. After the rush.”

“Please, call me Mike,” says Mike. “And, no, I’m afraid. I try not to mix with people. You know, privacy, germs, whatnot. You understand, I’m certain.”

“Oh,” says Joyce. Ron sees her disappointment. If there is a bigger fan of Mike Waghorn anywhere in Kent or Sussex, he would like to meet them. In fact, now he really thinks about it, he wouldn’t like to meet them.

“There is always a great deal of alcohol,” says Ibrahim to Mike. “And I suspect many fans of yours will be there.”

Mike has been given pause for thought.

“And we can tell you all about the Thursday Murder Club,” says Joyce.

“The Thursday Murder Club?” says Mike. “Sounds made up.”

“Everything is made up, when you really think about it,” says Ibrahim. “The alcohol is subsidized by the way. They tried to stop the subsidy, but we held a meeting, a number of words were exchanged, and they thought better of it. And we’ll have you out by seven thirty.”

Mike looks at his watch, then looks at Pauline. “We could probably do a quick supper?”

Pauline looks at Ron. “Will you be there?”

Ron looks at Joyce, who nods firmly. “Sounds like I will, yeah.”

“Then we’ll stay,” says Pauline.

“Good, good,” says Ibrahim. “There’s something we’d like to talk to you about, Mike.”

“Which is?” asks Mike.

“All in good time,” says Ibrahim. “I don’t wish to pull focus from Ron.”

Mike sits in an armchair opposite Ron and starts counting to ten. Ibrahim leans into Joyce.

“He is testing the microphone level.”

“I had worked that out,” says Joyce, and Ibrahim nods. “Thank you for getting him to stay for dinner-you never know, do you?”

“You never do know, Joyce, that is true. Perhaps the two of you will marry before the year is out. And, even if not, which is an outcome we must prepare for, I’m sure he will have plenty of information about Bethany Waites.”

The door opens once more, and Elizabeth enters the room. The gang is all here. Ron pretends he is not touched. Last time he had a gang of friends like these, they were being hospitalized by police riot shields at the Wapping print-workers’ strike. Happy days.

“Don’t mind me,” says Elizabeth. “You look different, Ron, what is it? You look . . . healthy.”

Ron grunts, but sees Pauline smile. That’s a cracking smile, to be fair to her. Is Pauline in his league? Late sixties, a bit young for him? What league is he in these days? It’s been a long time since he’d checked. Either way, what a smile.

2.

It can be hard to run a multimillion-pound drugs gang from a prison cell. But it is not, as Connie Johnson is discovering, impossible.

Most of the prison staff are on side, and why wouldn’t they be? She throws enough money around. There are still a couple of guards who won’t play ball, however, and Connie has already had to swallow two illegal SIM cards this week.

The diamonds, the murders, the bag of cocaine. She had been very skillfully set up, and her trial date has been set for two months’ time. She is eager to keep things ticking over until then.

Perhaps she will be found guilty, perhaps she won’t, but Connie likes to err on the side of optimism in all things. Plan for success, her mum used to say, although soon afterward she died, having been hit by an uninsured van.

Above all it’s good to keep busy. Routine is important in prison. Also, it is important to have things to look forward to, and Connie is looking forward to killing Bogdan. He’s the reason she’s in here and, eyes like mountain pools or not, he is going to have to go.

And the old guy too. The one who helped Bogdan set her up. She has asked around, and found his name is Ron Ritchie. He’ll have to go as well. She’ll leave them until after the trial-juries don’t like witnesses being murdered-but then she will kill them both.

Looking down at her phone, Connie sees that one of the men who works in the prison admin block is on Tinder. He is balding and standing next to what appears to be a Volvo of all things, but she swipes right regardless, because you never know when people might come in handy. She sees immediately that they are a match. Quelle surprise!

Connie has done a bit of research into Ron Ritchie. He was famous apparently, back in the seventies and eighties. She looks at the picture of him on her phone, his face like an unsuccessful boxer, shouting into a megaphone. Clearly a man who enjoyed the limelight.

Lucky you, Ron Ritchie, thinks Connie. You’ll be famous again by the time I’ve finished with you.

One thing is for sure: Connie will do anything she can to remain in prison for as short a time as possible. And, once she is out, the mayhem can really begin.

Sometimes in life you simply have to be patient. Through her barred window Connie looks out over the prison yard, and to the hills beyond. She switches on her Nespresso machine.

3.

Mike and Pauline have joined them for dinner.

Ibrahim loves it when the whole gang is together. Together, and with a mission in mind. Joyce had been adamant that they were to investigate the Bethany Waites case. Ibrahim was quick to agree. Firstly because it is an interesting case. An unsolved case. But mainly because Ibrahim has fallen in love with Joyce’s new dog, Alan, and he is worried that if he upsets her, Joyce might restrict his access.

“You want a drop of red, Mike?” Ron asks, bottle raised.

“What is it?” asks Mike.

“How do you mean?”

“What wine is it?”

Ron shrugs. “It’s a red, I don’t know the make.”

“OK, let’s live dangerously, just this once,” says Mike, and lets Ron pour.

They have been very keen to talk to Mike Waghorn about the murder of Bethany Waites. It is assumed that he will have information that was not in the official police files. Mike doesn’t know that yet, of course. He is just enjoying free wine with four harmless pensioners.

Ibrahim will be patient before he starts asking about the murder, because he knows that Joyce is excited to meet Mike, and she has lots of other questions for him first. She has written them down in a notebook, which is in her handbag, in case she forgets any of them.

Now that Mike has a glass of unidentified red in front of him, Joyce clearly feels able to begin. “When you read the news, Mike, is it all written down, or are you allowed to put it in your own words?”

“That’s an excellent question,” says Mike. “Perceptive, gets right to the heart of things. It is all written down, but I don’t always stick to the script.”

“You’ve earned that right over the years,” says Joyce, and Mike agrees.

“Gets me into trouble from time to time though,” says Mike. “They made me go on an impartiality course in Thanet.”

“Good for you,” says Elizabeth.

Ibrahim sees Joyce take a sneaky peek at the notebook in her handbag.

“Do you ever wear any special clothes when you read the news?” asks Joyce. “Special socks or anything?”

“No,” says Mike. Joyce nods, a little disappointed, then takes another look at her book.

“What happens if you need the loo during a show?”

“For heaven’s sake, Joyce,” says Elizabeth.

“I go before the show starts,” says Mike.

Fun though this is, Ibrahim wonders if it isn’t time to kick off this evening’s proceedings himself. “So, Mike, we have a-“

Joyce places a hand on his arm. “Ibrahim, forgive me, just a couple more things. What is Amber like?”

“Who’s Amber?” says Ron.

“Mike’s co-host,” says Joyce. “Honestly, Ron, you’re embarrassing yourself.”

“I do that,” says Ron. He says this directly to Pauline, who, in Ibrahim’s opinion, had very deliberately sat next to Ron at the start of dinner. Ibrahim usually sits next to Ron. No matter.

“She’s only been there three years, but I am already starting to like her,” says Joyce.

“She’s terrific,” says Mike. “Goes to the gym a lot, but terrific.”

“She has lovely hair too,” says Joyce.

“Joyce, you should judge news presenters on their journalism,” says Mike. “And not their appearance. Female presenters, particularly, have to put up with that a lot.”

Joyce nods, knocks back half a glass of white, then nods again. “I do take your point, Mike. I just think that you can be very talented and have lovely hair. Perhaps I’m shallow, but both of those things are important to me. Claudia Winkleman is a good example. You also have lovely hair.”US

Additional information

Weight	19 oz
Dimensions	1.1000 × 6.2000 × 9.2800 in
Series	A Thursday Murder Club Mystery
Imprint	Pamela Dorman Books
Format	General Trade
ISBN-13	09780593299395
ISBN-10	0593299396
Author	Richard Osman
Audience	General / adult
BISAC	FIC022000, FIC022100
Subjects	best selling mystery books, cozy mysteries, murder mystery books, cozy mystery books, mom gifts, new york times best sellers, best selling books, cozy book, murder books, cozy mystery, mystery book, top selling books, the thursday murder club, the man who died twice, thursday murder club, murder mystery book, best mystery books, crime, mystery books best sellers, murder mystery, crime books, mystery novels, FIC022100, mystery books, FIC022000, book club, mysteries, murder mysteries, gifts for mom, murder, book club books, bestsellers, mystery