The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

Pamela Dorman Books, 368 pages, $26

“The Man Who Died Twice” sort of made me feel the same way I felt when author Robert Crais gave one of his characters, Joe Pike, his own book and we learned way too much about Joe. Up until that point, Joe had mainly (and wisely) been a cipher. That is what made him so intriguing and the object of cult-like affection. (Or so I’ve been told. I wouldn’t know personally. I’m shutting up now.) Crais ripped the Band-Aid right off. Obviously not everyone agreed with me, because Crais has gone on to create a few more Pike-centric books. Those books may have been nominated for awards. Maybe. Probably. Okay, yes, they have.

Richard Osman created “The Thursday Murder Club,” and I loved it. “The Man Who Died Twice” is the follow-up. The founding members of The Thursday Murder Club are Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim. We met quite a few other characters in the first book, and there is now a loose agglomeration of friends and relatives who assist them. The four central characters live in a retirement complex in Coopers Chase, England. They were not true friends when the first book began — they went to great lengths to describe how they were not friends — but certainly they were then and are more fastly so now as the second story begins.

There are some bare facts worth repeating — and don’t worry, Osman does a great job giving you the bare bones of their genesis and camaraderie. Elizabeth is a retired spy (MI5), Joyce was a nurse (and is not easily deflected from viewing gore and viscera), Ron was and is a shady character, Ibrahim was a successful psychotherapist who now has some crippling mental issues himself. That’s the gang. Elizabeth’s husband has Alzheimer’s but contributes occasionally, Ron’s son has a shady business, and Joyce has a daughter who may or may not be useful. Then there’s Bogdan and his muscles (the arm kind, not the bodyguard kind), and Donna and Chris and their police badges. They are the most important auxiliary members.

One fine day, Elizabeth and the others are getting set to tackle a new cold case, which is what the members of The Thursday Murder Club was formed to do. However, Elizabeth has been rendered pensive by a message. Douglas has moved into the same retirement facility and has invited her for a drink. Who is Douglas? Exactly. You are meant to wonder, but I have to drop the curtain obscuring his identity if I am to get on with this review. He is Elizabeth’s ex-husband. He, like Elizabeth, was MI5. Why, in the name of trench coats and wide-brimmed hats, has Douglas settled down in Coopers Chase? Does he still pine for Elizabeth? Is he suffering from a fatal illness? Does he want Elizabeth to care for him? (If so, he must not remember Elizabeth very well, although Elizabeth does a most excellent job nursing her husband, Stephen, he of the diminishing perceptions.) Elizabeth remembers clearly being married to and working with Douglas. Not all of it was bad, but there is a reason he is her ex-husband.

It turns out Douglas is in the retirement facility because of Elizabeth, but not for any romantic reason. He has been accused by a local heavy-duty criminal broker of stealing twenty million pounds worth of diamonds. Douglas has sworn up and down that he is not responsible. What he was actually guilty of was snooping — on behalf of MI5, of course — in the man’s home, although that was not part of his remit. In the process, the diamonds disappeared. Your diamonds or your life, the broker threatens. Help, says Douglas to Elizabeth. Elizabeth is cool and calm. She is a quick and creative thinker, an ideal spy. Douglas and Poppy, his MI5 bodyguard, are hiding out in her neck of the woods because Elizabeth was and still is the best.

It is now up to the Thursday Murder Club to find the diamonds, avert the slaughter of many people, and thwart any bad-faith dealing among world-class criminals. At least Joyce will have a rollicking good time doing that. She rambles on sometimes when she shouldn’t, but she pulls through in a pinch with humor and an unexpected perspective. She and Elizabeth are besties.

This book entertained me immensely. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if only I hadn’t really loved the secrecy that enveloped Elizabeth’s character in the first book. If only she hadn’t been the Thursday Murder Club’s Joe Pike. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching Elizabeth flex her mental muscles. She’s not really Joe Pike, and I am grateful for that.