If you loved Richard Osman’s bestseller, check out these 11 books like The Thursday Murder Club for more cosy mystery books!
The Thursday Murder Club is a popular book by writer and presenter Richard Osman. It’s a fun, sweet story about a group of pensioners (Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron) attempting to solve the mystery of a brutal murder in their quiet village.
The book is phenomenally popular, and readers have enjoyed the sequels, The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed, too. If you’ve exhausted the series and long for a cosy, British mystery novel to sink your teeth into, here are a few books like Thursday Murder Club that might hit the spot!
11 Books Like The Thursday Murder Club
A Spoonful of Murder by J.M. Hall
This one sounds like the title of an episode of Midsomer Murders, which should give you a good idea of the vibe!
Like The Thursday Murder Club, this involves a group of retired teachers meeting up each week to have a coffee at the garden centre. When a former colleague of theirs is murdered, they take on the task of finding out what happened to her.
This is an extremely cosy book, and very British. Expect a lot of references to British culture, clever and funny characters, and an interesting plot.
It’s full of twists and turns to keep readers on their toes, and the close friendship between Liz, Pat, and Thelma is lovely to read.
The Cornish Wedding Murder by Fiona Leitch
In this book, main character Jodie enjoys returning back to Cornwall after a busy career in the Met Police. She returns to the beautiful countryside with her daughter, Daisy, to enjoy a quieter life.
Unfortunately, all illusions of peace and quiet are shattered when a local bride goes missing. Jodie has to use her detective skills all over again!
It’s slightly different from The Thursday Murder Club in that Jodie is not an amateur sleuth; she’s actually an experienced police officer, which puts a different spin on her investigation.
Still, it’s very British, with plenty of descriptions of gorgeous Cornwall, and it’s a nice escape into not-so-quiet village life.
Buy The Cornish Wedding Murder
The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendy
Is there anything more British than a dinner lady? In this novel, dinner ladies Margery and Clementine are looking forward to their retirement.
However, when their kitchen manager is found dead in the freezer, their lives take an unexpected turn. The friends take it upon themselves to investigate, accidentally putting themselves in danger.
This is a sweet and warming novel. It’s light, with a few twists, and interesting (and, it has to be said, fairly grumpy) main characters.
Margery and Clementine quickly become entangled in something they weren’t expecting, and watching them try to get out of it is the perfect story to enjoy on holiday.
It’s a little corny sometimes, but it’s perfect for fans of cosy detective dramas.
Buy The Dinner Lady Detectives now
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
This book shares several similarities with The Thursday Murder Club.
The protagonist, Judith, is seventy-seven, living a blissfully happy life in her mansion. She enjoys drinking whisky, doing the crossword, and pottering around on her own.
That is, until she witnesses a terrible murder.
Typically, the police don’t believe Judith, so she, along with her friends Suzie and Becks, decide to investigate for themselves.
Judith, Becks, and Suzie are not experienced detectives, but they are extremely curious. This leads to all sorts of mayhem, and things are complicated even more when another body turns up.
The Marlow Murder Club is another funny, interesting murder mystery story with a very British setting, and it’s fun to see the characters bring their individual strengths to the group.
Buy The Marlow Murder Club now
The Quiche of Death (Agatha Raisin #1) by M.C. Beaton
You kind of know what you’re getting when you have both the word ‘quiche’ and the name ‘Agatha Raisin’ in the title.
The Quiche of Death is the first in a series of books about protagonist Agatha, who gives up her successful PR firm in order to move to the idyllic village of Carsley.
Quickly, she becomes bored of village life, until a bizarre series of events involving a quiche leaves a villager dead.
As fingers point to Agatha (as it was her own quiche, bought from a bakery, that was poisoned), she is forced to investigate what happened.
Agatha starts off kind of unlikeable, but readers will warm to her eventually, and it’s nice to have a more complex, interesting main character. It’s charming and very British.
Plus, the mystery itself is well-written.
The Agatha Christie Collection by Agatha Christie
If you want to get serious about murder mystery novels, you must return to the brilliant Agatha Christie.
This collection features some of her most celebrated books, including The Mysterious Affair at Styles, the first novel featuring Hercule Poirot.
The Cornish Mystery is the perfect seaside holiday read, and The Murder on the Links is another fun Poirot classic.
This is a great collection because you can dip in and out of it whenever you fancy a mystery to solve.
While some of Christie’s works haven’t aged well (her stories have been going through a series of edits for this reason), her plotting and character-building skills are superb, and these books are a must-read for fans of the genre.
Buy The Agatha Christie Collection here
How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
You may have spotted this book in supermarkets over the past couple of years; the striking cover, combined with the memorable title, makes it an eye-catching book.
Grace Bernard is a regular twenty-something living a fairly ordinary life in London. That is until she decides to systematically (and sometimes, brutally) murder her family members in an act of calculated revenge.
This is an interesting twist on the classic murder mystery. Having an open and honest murderer as the main character is a strange but interesting experience for the reader, and the book is deeper than the title suggests.
It’s really a story about love, betrayal, class, and family. It’s also funny, and very British, and may make a refreshing new read for fans of The Thursday Murder Club.
Buy How to Kill Your Family now
The Maid by Nita Prose
This is a bit of a sneaky entry, as The Maid is not actually set in England. It’s set in Washington and mostly occurs in the main character’s workplace, The Regency Grand Hotel.
However, it shares some common ground with The Thursday Murder Club: it’s an interesting mystery with quirky characters, and it feels a little like trying to puzzle out the solution to a game of Cluedo.
Molly is a peculiar character; she’s very specific with her routines and struggles with her social skills, which have only worsened since the death of her beloved grandmother.
When Molly finds an esteemed guest dead in their hotel room, she quickly becomes entangled in something she isn’t capable of understanding and accidentally turns to the wrong people for help.
It’s an interesting story with some good twists and turns, and you can’t help but root for Molly, even when she’s making very bad decisions.
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
This is another cracking entry to the list with some extremely interesting characters. Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie have been assassins for forty years.
Nearing their retirement, they decide to go on an expensive vacation to celebrate. However, when they become targets of another assassin, they realise they’ll have to fight for their right to live through their retirement.
It’s an interesting book. The group travel across the globe in both the past and present, and it’s full of exciting moments and unpredictable twists.
Plus, the friendship between the women is a joy to read. It’s a fun bit of escapism for a holiday and offers an unusual perspective for a murder mystery story.
Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
The blurb of this book sums it up: ‘Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once.’
In this book, the protagonist Ernie prepares himself for a very complicated family reunion. Trapped at this family gathering in a ski resort, tensions soon mount, and Ernie starts to wonder if he’s going to make it out alive.
Ernie sometimes decides to break the fourth wall by directly addressing the reader, which makes the story feel personal and immediate, as though the reader is directly involved in the story itself.
It’s a fun story with twists, turns, and mysteries aplenty, and the bizarre family dynamic is super fun to read.
Buy Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone
Cast, In Order of Disappearance by Simon Brett
In this book, protagonist Charles Paris is a middle-aged actor trapped in a bit of a spiral. When Marius Steen, a theatre tycoon, and Bill Sweet, a notorious blackmailer both turn up dead, Charles decides to assume the role of a detective.
With very dubious results.
It’s funny and puzzling and very difficult to predict.
This book was first published in 1975, and the radio plays (starring Bill Nighy) are hilarious and well worth a listen if you’ve enjoyed the book. It’s charming and funny, and like The Thursday Murder Club, it’s very British.
Buy Cast, In Order of Disappearance
Hopefully, this list has given you a good range of mystery books to pick from if you long for more books like The Thursday Murder Club. Any of these will help to fill a cosy mystery book shaped gap in your life!
Megan Bidmead
Guest writer
Megan is a freelance writer based in Somerset, England. When she’s not writing about books, video games, and pop culture, she’s running around after her two kids and trying to squeeze in the occasional walk in the countryside.
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