Books like The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman · 2020
Updated June 2026
Book data: Open Library · Taste signals: BookTaste model
The Thursday Murder Club is Richard Osman's debut novel featuring four retirees at a posh English village who meet weekly to pore over cold cases — until a real murder lands on their doorstep. 🔍 Fans love it for its witty, warm banter, the deceptively sharp minds behind the cardigans, and a plot that balances genuine mystery with genuine heart. It's cosy crime at its most charming: laugh-out-loud funny, elegantly plotted, and oddly moving about ageing, friendship, and what it means to still matter.
Picked by taste overlap — not popularity alone.
What to read next
Closest match
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Alexander McCall Smith · 1998
🕵️ Cosy Mystery😄 Wit & Humour🕵️ Both series centre on warm, eccentric detectives who solve crimes through wisdom and people-reading rather than forensic drama, wrapped in enormous charm and gentle humour.
- Matches
- Cosy, character-driven mysteries · Witty, warm narrative voice · Amateur sleuths outwitting everyone
- Differs
- Set in Botswana, not England · Solo protagonist, not a club · Less wry British irony
- Skip if
- You specifically want the English village atmosphere and ensemble banter — the African setting is a very different flavour.
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●●● strong · ●●○ medium · ●○○ light · ○○○ none
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
- A Long Petal of the Sea
A Long Petal of the Sea
Isabel Allende · 2019
❤️ Found Family❤️ Like Thursday Murder Club, it builds deep affection for its older characters and explores how the past and friendship shape who we become, though the genre shifts entirely to literary historical fiction.
- Matches
- Emotionally rich older characters · Strong sense of found family · Quietly moving about ageing
- Differs
- No mystery plot whatsoever · Serious, not comedic tone · Sweeping historical epic
- Skip if
- You're here for the whodunit puzzle — this is pure literary fiction with no crime element at all.
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
- Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Caroline Graham · 1987
🕵️ Cosy Mystery🇬🇧 British Setting🇬🇧 Graham's Inspector Barnaby novels are the literary ancestor of exactly this mood — English village, eccentric locals, and murder most cosy — with a dry wit that Saturday-night TV fans will find very familiar.
- Matches
- English village murder mysteries · Dry British humour · Ensemble of quirky suspects
- Differs
- Professional detective, not amateurs · Less heartfelt, more procedural · Slightly darker edge
- Skip if
- You want the intergenerational warmth and the elderly-protagonist angle — Barnaby is a working copper, not a retiree.
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
Not similar books. Similar taste.
It reads the grain of every book you've loved — why it stayed with you — and follows that thread to your next read. Not the bestseller list, not the crowd: just your taste. Free, no signup.
Add books you've read; BookTaste builds your taste radar and recommends from it.
Taste radar — read from the themes shared across The Thursday Murder Club and the picks below
Strongest taste signals: 🕵️ Cosy Mystery · 😄 Wit & Humour · 👴 Older Sleuth
How taste signals are generated
BookTaste's model reads the themes, moods, settings, and reader hooks of the base book, then scores every pick across those same axes — what overlaps, what diverges. Ordered by taste fit, not by popularity.
Still Life
Louise Penny · 2005
🕵️ Cosy Mystery❤️ Found Family🕵️ Penny's Chief Inspector Gamache series shares Thursday Murder Club's cosy village setting and deep character warmth, but adds a more literary, emotionally layered mystery beneath the charm.
- Matches
- Cosy village community mysteries · Strong, loveable ensemble cast · Witty but emotionally resonant
- Differs
- Professional detective lead · Canadian setting, not English · More melancholic and literary
- Skip if
- You want pure comedy and fizz — Penny is warmer and quieter; the humour is less sharp and the sadness is more present.
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
Hamish Macbeth
M. C. Beaton · 1985
🕵️ Cosy Mystery😄 Wit & Humour🇬🇧 British Setting😄 Beaton's lazy, loveable Scottish constable solves village murders with the same light-touch comedy and irresistible ensemble of local oddballs that makes Thursday Murder Club such easy company.
- Matches
- Cosy British village mysteries · Comedic, loveable protagonist · Charming recurring local cast
- Differs
- Scottish Highlands, not English · Single protagonist, not a club · More farcical, less emotionally deep
- Skip if
- You want sharp wit and ensemble chemistry — Hamish's humour is broader and more situational, the emotional register is shallower.
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
Jonas Jonasson · 2009
😄 Wit & Humour👴 Older Sleuth😄 Jonasson's runaway hit shares Thursday Murder Club's core joke: an elderly protagonist who is wildly, cheerfully more competent than everyone around them, wrapped in absurdist comedy and a caper plot.
- Matches
- Unstoppable elderly protagonist · Irreverent, comedy-first tone · Caper-style plot momentum
- Differs
- No mystery or crime-solving · More surreal and absurdist · No ensemble club dynamic
- Skip if
- You want a proper whodunit structure — this is pure comic adventure with no mystery puzzle to solve.
Solid = this book · dashed = The Thursday Murder Club
Frequently asked
- Is The Thursday Murder Club a series?
- Yes — Richard Osman has published four books so far (and counting): The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil to Die. Start with the first and read in order; the characters develop significantly across the series.
- What makes The Thursday Murder Club different from other cosy mysteries?
- The elderly ensemble is the real hook — four residents of a retirement village, each with a brilliantly specific backstory (spy, union organiser, psychiatrist, nurse). The humour is sharper and more literary than typical cosy crime, and Osman gives the books genuine emotional weight about friendship and mortality that most cosies avoid.
- Are these books suitable if I don't usually read crime fiction?
- Absolutely. The mystery is more of a scaffold for the character comedy and heart than a procedural puzzle. Readers who normally stick to literary fiction or general fiction consistently report loving it — the crime element is light and bloodless. 🎉
- Which book should I read first if I loved the TV adaptation?
- Go straight to the original novel — the TV film simplifies several subplots and the book's first-person narrated chapters (written by Elizabeth) are funnier and more moving than anything on screen. The book is the superior version and the natural starting point for the series.
Book data and covers from Open Library. Picks and taste signals are generated by BookTaste's taste model.