The Man Who Died Twice (novel)

Following the publication of The Thursday Murder Club, Osman said that he had decided to continue writing due to its success outside the United Kingdom,[1] saying, "I was very worried about that thing, 'Oh it's a celebrity writing a novel', which, of course, is one of the worst phrases in the English language."[2] His mother, who lives in a retirement home like the characters, had initially worried that the previous book had contained elements of her indiscretion; after discovering that was not the case, she reported enjoying the sequel a lot more, having read The Thursday Murder Club "in a blind panic".[1]

Like The Thursday Murder Club, the plot revolves around a quartet of pensioners living in Kent who solve murders: Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce.[3] When composing the team, Osman had said he was inspired by the television show The A-Team, which he had watched in his youth. Elizabeth Best, the leader of the group, is a former MI5 agent; Ron Ritchie is a former trade union leader; Ibrahim Arif is a retired Egyptian psychiatrist; Joyce Meadowcroft is a retired nurse.[4]

Elizabeth's former husband, Douglas Middlemiss, a secret service agent, had broken into the home of a criminal banker, Martin Lomax. Soon after, £20 million of diamonds go missing from that house, with the banker suspecting him;[4] the banker threatens to give the diamonds' owners, mobsters from New York and cartel members from Colombia, details on her husband should the diamonds not be returned.[5] Ibrahim is assaulted during a street robbery,[4] prompting depression and seclusion.[6] Due to a lack of proof, the police's hands are tied and the remaining trio is told to seek retribution themselves.[5]

The Man Who Died Twice focuses on the theme of age, with Osman saying that he did not want to patronise the elderly. He further revealed that he had tried to focus on mortality in a "refreshing and possibly even calming" way.[6]

Lynne Truss of The Guardian stated that the "comedy in The Man Who Died Twice allows for all its characters to be alert to sobering realities: of time running out; of losing loved ones to death or dementia; of feeling physically unsafe in the modern world; of grown-up children finding you stupid and tiresome."[3] Jake Kerridge of The Daily Telegraph wrote that "Osman manages to keep the novel rooted in truth by focusing on his central characters' everyday concerns as well as their hair-raising adventures: Elizabeth's heroic stoicism in the face of her husband's encroaching dementia; Joyce's circular rows with the daughter she'd die for but doesn't much like."[7]

Praising the characters, Michael Dirda of The Washington Post wrote that the Thursday Murder Club were "ordinary old people yet, like all old people, much deeper and complicated than they appear".[4] Joan Smith of The Sunday Times, however, criticised the lack of realism in Osman's portrayal, highlighting that the Club were "in their seventies or eighties, but retain all their faculties and do not appear to have any financial problems as they run rings around the police."[8]

While calling it "superbly entertaining", Truss criticised the novel's lack of a "sense of jeopardy",[3] with Kerridge agreeing.[7] Tom Nolan of The Wall Street Journal called it "an unalloyed delight, full of sharp writing, sudden surprises, heart, comedy, sorrow and great banter",[5] with Dirda calling the book "wildly entertaining".[4]

Robert Dex of the Evening Standard had mixed thoughts on the novel, writing that the plot "has more holes than a dodgy knitting pattern and his characters – aside from Elizabeth and her sidekick Joyce – are pretty flimsy."[9] However, he stated: "As a reviewer I can find plenty of faults, but as a reader I didn't care", having "read it from cover to cover and enjoyed every minute."[9] Joan Smith was harsher, calling the plot "so hackneyed that it is hard to read without yawning." She went further, lambasting Osman as "very much a one-trick pony", his characters as "paper-thin", and scorching both of his "soap opera" books as "lack[ing] the underlying moral seriousness that is an essential ingredient of the best crime fiction."[8] She further accused Osman of "not tak[ing] murder seriously, dispatching characters with careless abandon".[8]

Following publication on 16 September 2021 by Viking,[9] The Man Who Died Twice became one of the best-performing novels since records began in the 1990s, selling 114,202 copies in the first three days it was available; this led an industry analyst to call Osman a "publishing phenomenon".[10] However, a prominent books magazine, led by Rolling Stone's former editor, refused to review it, saying that "there are hundreds of new books published every week" and there was an "illusion" that only two books (The Man Who Died Twice and Beautiful World, Where Are You) were on sale, pleading for its readers to "[f]ocus instead on the mountain of other stuff that has been magically made to disappear".[11]

The Man Who Died Twice was followed by The Bullet That Missed, the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series. This book released on the 15th of September 2022. The narrative continues with Joyce Meadowcraft and her group of friends navigating through another intriguing murder mystery. The plot thickens when a man confesses to the murder of Bethany Waites, a promising young journalist, adding a layer of complexity to the story.[12] The book was well-received and was mentioned as a New York Times Bestseller, showcasing the ongoing appeal and success of the series.[13]

Following "The Bullet That Missed," Richard Osman introduced readers to another thrilling chapter in the Thursday Murder Club series with "The Last Devil to Die," published on 12 September 2023. This fourth installment sees the sleuths of the Thursday Murder Club find themselves embroiled in yet another mystery when shocking news reaches them: an old friend in the antiques business has been brutally killed, and a dangerous package he was safeguarding has vanished.[14]