Recently, I had the chance to listen to Richard Osman give a talk at a local bookstore about his new novel We Solve Murders. The book also marks the launch of a new series for Osman, as he (temporarily, he assures us) puts aside the Thursday Murder Club.
One of the themes Osman constantly returned to was that, to him, character is much more important than the plot to a mystery novel’s success. Indeed, unlike many mystery writers, Osman swears he has no solution in mind when he embarks on a new story. He starts by creating distinct personalities and seeing how they interact with each other, trusting that a plot will develop along the way.
I understand his point. Certainly I remember much more about Hercule Poirot the person than I do about many of his cases, which tend to run together in the mind after a while. But I feel like plot may have taken too much of a backseat in We Solve Murders, where the lack of a traditional “whodunit” structure works against the reader’s interest.
Osman’s new series focuses on an unlikely trio. Amy Wheeler is a professional bodyguard. Growing up in rough circumstances made her a fighter, and now she uses those skills to protect the rich and famous, including world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio. Rosie made the unwise decision to parody a Russian arms-dealer in her latest novel, and now the man has sworn vengeance. So Amy and Rosie are camped out at her private island residence of the coast of South Carolina. The third side of the triumvirate is Amy’s father-in-law Steve, an ex-cop and widower who has settled a little too comfortably into retirement.
Steve is the most complete creation of the three, even as his proclivities border on the absurd. His obsession with his weekly routine, including pub quiz every Wednesday no matter what, is a bit out of sorts with a jet-setting murder investigation.
Right, the murders. The plot of We Solve Murders kicks off with a strange series of deaths involving s0-called influencers, all of whom turn out to have been gullible stooges, unwittingly smuggling money across borders for a mysterious criminal mastermind known as Francois Loubet. Loubet had been a client of Amy’s, but know he seems to be framing her for the influencer murders. Unable to leave Rosie behind (and finding her limitless resources quite useful) Amy takes off to try to clear her name, solve the murders, and unmask Loubet. And of course, she calls the one man she trusts most. Not her husband, a well-meaning but rather dull banker, but his father, who’d rather sit at home watching telly with his cat, Trouble.
I think fans of the Thursday Murder Club will be a little underwhelmed by We Solve Murders. Part of the problem is that Amy is a cipher. Her rough childhood is alluded to but never delved into, perhaps being kept in reserve for future novels. Without that, you have a blandly competent professional without many defining traits. In compensation, Rosie, Steve, and some of the background players are fun to spend time with, but they’re no substitutes for Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron and Ibrahim.
The plot, being an afterthought throughout, comes to a fairly unsatisfying conclusion. Perhaps I am being unfair because at one point, I thought I had solved the novel’s central mystery and, frankly, still think my solution was better than the author’s. More interesting, certainly. Other readers would do well to prepare themselves more for a thriller, as opposed to the classic mystery format.
There’s room for improvement with this new cast of characters, and Osman has more than earned some leeway with me. That being said, I remain glad to know that he is returning to Coopers Chase and the Thursday Murder Club.