The Bullet Is the Only Thing That Missed
I am a Thursday Murder Club shill first and a book reviewer second.
Bethany Waites understands there is no going back now.
Welcome back to my now annual shilling for the Thursday Murder Club. I have been waiting for this book ever since I set down the second book, haunting Richard Osman’s Twitter for every possible update and just generally wondering about what direction the third novel was going to take.
I am eternally grateful that the book gods smiled on me and I got my copy of The Bullet That Missed on the first day of its release (as well as a copy of Babel — review to come soon 👀). I haven’t been very lucky with my anticipated releases this year; I’ve been getting my hands on books only about two to three weeks after they’ve been published so I was genuinely expecting to only be able to read this one in October or something. But it’s here in my hands, found it front and center in the bookstore, and I’m very lucky so—
Our beloved Joyce has actually been the one to dig up an old case this time. Ten years ago, local TV reporter Bethany Waites was reported dead after she had apparently driven herself off a cliff in the middle of the night. With no body found and no leads, the case was never closed and Waites was presumed missing. Enter Joyce who suspects there is more to this than an apparent suicide and tasks the rest of the Thursday Murder Club with uncovering the truth. And of course, if she just happens to be a little awestruck over a certain news reporter, there’s nothing wrong with a little extra incentive.
The third novel also sees the return of several key villains from the previous book who have only gotten more threatening, even behind bars. I haven’t reread The Man Who Died Twice since its publication so I needed some time to remember who these people were. But once the old noggin started working, it was smooth sailing from there.
Because a lot of the characters’ arcs were picked up right from where we had left them in the second book—The Bullet That Missed takes place not long after—new readers are going to have to start from the top. This is not a series that you can just jump into any more. You gotta get invested. There’s lore now!
I’m going to be honest: I think The Bullet That Missed is superior to The Man Who Died Twice. Despite my positive review then, I mentioned I wasn’t on board with the reveal in book two that Elizabeth was actually in MI5 (or MI6) all along. I thought she was a lot more intriguing as a character if she was just a really smart and well-connected old lady, and it felt like Osman tried to go too big too fast with her arc. The third book solves a lot of those problems for me—Elizabeth’s history now comes with consequences with all the other characters—and you can see the author has hit his stride in his writing.
The Bullet That Missed really hones in on all the things that I love about this series: the ensemble characters all solving clues in their own way, the red herrings, the small town setting. I felt like that was what made the Thursday Murder Club series as unique as it was, and those elements kind of got lost in the second book. But I love the direction the third novel took—I am invested in every single character’s well-being—and I think we’ve found a happy balance between spy thriller and cozy mystery. In fact, mid-way through reading, I got really worried we would only have three books and I had to skip to the end to see if there was an additional insert to announce the fourth.
Osman also seems to have heard my plea for more Ibrahim but in true monkey’s paw fashion, I didn’t really think through this ask.
But all the same, thank you Richard Osman for more Ibrahim, I am his stan forever and always. If you’re taking requests, I would love an ARC for the fourth book and also Joyce needs to post more on Instagram. Maybe we could do a group insta? That would be so cute.
Rating: 5/5
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman was released on September 15 and is published by Viking Press.
Gahh! I love these books.