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What it argues
The Man Who Died Twice is the second Thursday Murder Club novel, picking up the Coopers Chase quartet — Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron — shortly after the events of the first book. When a man from Elizabeth's distant past arrives at the village with a story about stolen diamonds, a faked death, and very dangerous people searching for him, Elizabeth finds herself navigating her own history while the Club takes on a case involving organized crime well above the usual village-murder register. Police detectives Donna and Chris return, now with a more developed relationship with the four retirees.
What Osman does well in the sequel is deepen the characters rather than simply extending the plot. Elizabeth's past, which hovered productively at the edges of the first book, becomes central — and the revelations are handled with enough earned ambiguity to avoid the trap of over-explaining a character whose mystery was part of her appeal. Joyce's diary sections remain the emotional engine: warm, wryly observed, and quietly devastating when Osman turns the dial toward grief or loss. The new case is more baroque than the first, but the character work grounds it.
What it gets right
- 1.
Elizabeth's backstory, revealed gradually, reframes her from an amusing eccentric into a figure with genuine moral complexity and specific regrets.
- 2.
The novel earns its emotional high points because Osman has spent two books establishing why these friendships matter, so the moments of vulnerability carry real weight.
- 3.
Osman continues the series' quiet argument that people become more themselves as they age, not less — courage, loyalty, and sharpness all concentrate in the Club members.
What it covers
Who wrote it
Richard Osman is a British television presenter and author best known as the co-host of Pointless on the BBC. His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club (2020), became the fastest-selling debut crime novel in UK publishing history. The Man Who Died Twice (2021) was equally successful; the series now runs to four novels including The Bullet That Missed (2022) and The Last Devil to Die (2023). Osman has spoken publicly about writing as a way of processing his own fears about aging and the loss of people he loves.
