Questions and answers: Richard Osman, author of “We Solve Murders”

We talk to author Richard Osman about We solve murdersthe heart and humor united by The Thursday Murder Club with an enigmatic international mystery.

We solve murder cases is the first novel in a new crime series featuring the dynamic detective duo Steve and Amy Wheeler. What inspired you to write it? We solve murder cases?

I was in a bookstore looking for an international thriller with high stakes but also that tells some truths about the world we live in today and makes you laugh like The Thursday Murder Club. I couldn't find one, so I thought I should write one myself. A sort of Thursday Murder Club meets The Da Vinci Codewritten by Lee Child. A lot has changed since that first thought, but that's how it all started!

Steve is retired from the police force and is enjoying his usual habits and routines to the fullest: the pub quiz, his favourite bench, his cat. His daughter-in-law Amy believes that adrenaline is good for the soul and works as a private security guard for billionaires. She travels the world in search of her next adventure. How did you create this unlikely duo?

Amy is the kind of person who wants to go everywhere and experience everything. Live every minute of every day and always be on the move. You know the type! Steve, on the other hand, just wants to stay safe at home and happily do nothing, just like me. I think a lot of the humor comes from bringing together characters who are very different but still really love each other, and that's Amy and Steve.

When you take two people with completely different expectations of life and then set a murderer on their tail, it's always great fun!

One of the characters in We solve murder cases is a bestselling author, Rosie D'Antonio. What was it like writing a novel? Did any of your own writing habits creep into the novel?

Rosie was originally intended to be a minor character, but burst out in her leopard skin and shoulder pads and became a major character in the novel. I describe her as the Jackie Collins of crime, having sold hundreds of millions of copies and having a lifestyle that wouldn't be out of place in one of her books. Unfortunately, I don't own a helicopter or a private jet (Rosie has “eighties money”), but I like to think we have a similar sense of humor.

The cover for We solve murder cases reminiscent of some of our classic thrillers of the 1970s and 1980s. Do you have any favorite books from that era? Pay tribute to one of them in We solve murder cases?

Cover designer Richard Bravery has hit the nail on the head with the cover. My mum always had the big airport blockbuster novels of the 70s and 80s in the house and the covers seemed so incredibly glamorous to me, so that was the design brief. Len Deighton, Arthur Hailey, Jackie Collins, but with a 'Thursday Murder Club' twist. A cute cat sitting on a gun sums up my writing pretty well too!

The Thursday Murder Club has amassed an incredible following of loyal readers since its debut in 2020. Why did you decide now was the right time to start a new series?

The Thursday Murder Club gang has had a very busy few years and it was right to give them a few months off to rest and recuperate. The events of The last dying devil were pretty significant and it seemed like the right time to give them a break and come up with something new. And I really wanted to write a heroine who could jump out of planes and attack bad guys in a way that I don't think we'd see in Joyce!

However, our favorite senior detectives will soon be back, in print and on screen. What can you tell us about what's next for Thursday Murder Club?

I've just started writing the fifth Thursday Murder Club novel and it's great to be back with the old gang: more murders, more secrets, more lemon cake. Filming of The Thursday Murder Club The filming starts in the summer of 2024 and we have a great cast, Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie, Sir Ben Kingsley, just incredible. I think Ron would be delighted if he knew he was being played by James Bond.

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