The Bullet that Missed (by Richard Osman)

(Amazon UK link)

I very much liked the first book I read by Richard Osman, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’, and immediately put the second, ‘The Man that Died Twice’ on my wishlist. I wasn’t sure if I was going to want the third one, but a visitor earlier in the year had bought the book at the airport and read it while staying here, then asked if I would like it for my collection. Naturally, I accepted. 

I’ve just spent the last few days reading ‘The Bullet that Missed’. It involves the familiar quartet from the previous books (Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim) and their characters feel a lot more well-developed than they were in the first book. They are all in their seventies, and live in a retirement ‘village’ and meet regularly to try to solve murders from the past. 

Elizabeth, formerly a spy, is quite hard-nosed and mostly takes the leading role. But her softer side comes out in dealings with her beloved husband Stephen, who is gradually falling further and further into dementia. There are some very poignant moments involving Stephen.  Elizabeth’s friend Joyce is fluffy and romantic on the surface, but observant and quite astute at times. Ibrahim, a former psychiatrist, is wise and intuitive. Ron is perhaps the least interesting, in my view; he’s quite tough on the surface and often takes a while to catch on. But he hates being left out of anything and when he has something to do, he does it well.  

There are other familiar characters from the earlier books,, and some who are new to this one including several TV workers, and some extra police officers. There are also some new criminals, one of whom is stalking Elizabeth and threatening her as the book opens. 

This novel features the quartet’s  investigation of the death of a former TV presenter called Bethany, whose car was driven (or, perhaps, pushed) over a cliff. Her body was never found but that’s not surprising, and the case was closed, ten years before the story starts, without any indication as to why this tragedy happened. 

There are also some very wealthy money-launderers involved in this novel, one of whom is in prison but hoping to get out soon. I found some of the technicalities of the crimes committed a bit confusing in places, but it didn’t much matter. 

The writing is terse but very well done, in my view, with occasional humorous asides.  The chapters are short, each taking different point of view; this works well and while it could have felt a bit jumpy, it somehow works. 

Until I was about half-way through the book I was finding it a bit samey, but gradually the different storylines started to come together, and some of the characters got under my skin.  By the time I was nearing the end, I could hardly put it down.

I took me until towards the end before I worked out who one of the perpetrators was most likely to be and even then I wasn’t entirely correct in my suppositions.  I’m not sure I could have worked out the complexities of what went on - for Bethany’s wasn’t the only death being investigated, by that stage. And then there were more twists, although there had been some hints and I wasn’t altogether surprised. 

All in all I thought this a good book, worth reading if you enjoyed the first two of Richard Osman’s novels. I won’t be rushing out to get the fourth, which is now available but I may well pick it up at some point. Recommended if you like light crime fiction (there’s a fair amount of tension but no real gore, and the odd humorous aside) but it would be confusing if you had not previously read the two earlier novels in the series.

Review copyright 2023 Sue's Book Reviews