Reviewed by Jeanne
The residents of Coopers Chase, a retirement village in
England, are distressed to hear that the owner and developer is planning to
expand by taking out a graveyard and former nunnery. They intend to protest the matter, but when
the developer’s top lieutenant is found murdered, the police become involved.
Motives abound, but the members of the Thursday Murder Club think they may be
able to puzzle out the solution.
That sounds pretty fluffy, right? Jessica Fletcher meets the
Golden Girls. In one sense, you would be right, but the depth of characterization
and the complex plot lifts this story into a different level. I prefer my fiction to be character driven
and this book has vivid characters aplenty.
There’s Elizabeth, with her rather mysterious past—is she a former
secret agent?—and her cool, analytical façade but who loves fiercely; Joyce,
who seems the most stereotypical of the group, baking and writing in her diary,
but who has sharp insights; Red Ron, a former rabble rouser who is still ready
to lead a protest even if he has to do it from his walker; Ibrahim, a retired
psychologist who stays awake nights re-reading old case files, remembering the
ones he couldn’t save. There are too many other important characters to list
here, including the police officers, but each one is memorable and distinctive.
As the story progresses, there are more mysteries to be
solved; some are not crimes, per se, but interesting all the same. I will admit
that near the end there are some “info dumps” in which the author tells us
about things all in one go rather than carefully doling out clues. As a rule, I dislike this tactic a lot but in
this book I didn’t mind. The answers are all tied up in character so that when
all is revealed, it makes perfect sense.
I also liked that there’s a certain amount of realism in the
book. Some struggle with new technology. Some embrace it. They are aware of
their limitations but aren’t defined by them. The relationships between
characters are complex and layered. They
are all very much individuals, and mostly
people I would like to know. Some of the solutions to the mysteries were
emotional for me as well, but to say more would get into spoiler territory.
The stories unfold from the viewpoints of several different
characters, which I found a little confusing at first but quickly adjusted as I
figured out who was who. I really like
that the author believes in showing rather than telling, and soon these
characters felt like old friends.
There are two more books in this series so far, and I am very
much looking forward to continuing the journey with characters I have grown to
love and care about.
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