An unlikely duo team up to solve a murder

Richard Osman’s series of crime novels featuring the Thursday Murder Club have been very popular and I believe will shortly be made into a film. I enjoyed this series and you can read my review of one of the novels here. I was, therefore, interested to read We Solve Murders which is the first novel in a new series.

For this novel the author sticks to the cosy crime genre which has been so successful for him but widens his scope a little to include more of the world. The book features Steve Wheeler, an ordinary man who has been widowed and who lives life in a very dependable rut. Steve’s a nice man who finds himself out of his depth and yet manages to cope well. His partner in investigation is his daughter in law Amy who is in private security and is currently acting as a bodyguard. When things start getting difficult Amy relies on Steve who gets drawn into the action, in spite of his desire to remain out of everything.

The story involves a dead body and some money and a killer who needs to get to Amy. Amy and Steve acquire allies to help them investigate and prevent more murder. The book contains quite a lot of characters, each with a quirk or two in their personalities. There’s a puzzle to solve and by the end of the book Amy and Steve will have their lives changed forever.

This is a fast paced book which maybe contains too many characters to get your head around quickly. It is full of wit and a deeper understanding of what drives people – most of the characters in this book feel real. The plot, however, was too far-fetched for me and I thought that the book veered from amusing and entertaining into silliness on occasion. It was enjoyable enough to read but it didn’t engage my emotions the way that previous books have and I didn’t enjoy it as much. I am, I see, in the minority to hold this view as the book has been very successful indeed.