This is a worthy sequel to The Thursday Murder Club and the quartet of geriatric detectives (and the pair of police officers, and Bogdan the Polish superhero) are caught up in another multiple murder mystery, courtesy of Elizabeth, who used to work for the Security Services. There is the trademark humour and the very real empathy for those who are growing old and are facing death while still wanting rather more out of life.
As before it is written in short chapters, each told from the perspective of one of the main characters. I thought some of the clues were quite obvious but, as usual, I reached the conclusion before the solution after the final twist ... and I thought my conclusion was better.
Selected quotes:
- "A lot of people at Coopers Chase smoke cannabis. Supposedly to relieve glaucoma, but statistically not that many people can have glaucoma, surely?" (Ch 5)
- "The twinkle in his eyes was undimmed. ... The twinkle you soon realize is actually the beam of a lighthouse, warning you off the rocks." (Ch 6)
- "Why had she married him? Well, he had asked at around about the time she felt she ought to get married." (Ch 9)
- "People seem to get allergic to all sorts as soon as they move to London." (Ch 10)
- "When they say that time heals, that's what they mean. Like most things, when you really drill down into them, it is neuroscience, not poetry." (Ch 16)
- "Does expensive paper come from more expensive trees, or do they just make it differently?" (Ch 39)
- "On the lake to her right, a goose misjudges a landing, inelegantly belly flopping into the water. She swears the goose looks round to make sure none of the other geese were watching." (Ch 55)
- "If one is never lost in life, then clearly one has never travelled anywhere interesting." (Ch 57)
July 2022; 420 pages
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