A group of septuagenarians meet every Thursday in their retirement home to discuss unsolved murders. Primarily, they just look through cold case files given to them by an ex-cop. However, when a murder happens close to home, this rag tag bunch will find themselves swept up in the action.
With this premise, Richard Osman has created the coziest of cozy mysteries. One that I think would make Agatha Christie proud. He has created characters so likeable and funny I wished to know each of them personally. Each line of dialogue serves to create the most endearing characters possible. Their little idiosyncrasies charmed from page one. The dialogue is tightly wound. Little jokes abound. Ones you might miss if you’re reading too fast.
However, it may be a bit slow in the middle. Ultimately, that is to the benefit of the ending that has many twists and turns. The middle has a lot of character study and development that I was not expecting. I ended up enjoying it but the pacing might be unfavorable to some readers.
This is irrelevant, so skip if you wish. But, coincidentally, I visited my grandma in the middle of reading this book. She has been alone for most of the past year due to the pandemic and was giving me some of the FIFTY books she has accumulated during this time. One of the books on her shelf happened to be this one this one, which she loved. So, in a way, this book brought myself closer to one of the octogenarians in my own life. (Dear reader, this is an aside within an aside, but you may find this adorable as I do. Every book in her collection had handwritten stars on the title page. Including half stars! Naturally, I walked away with everything 4 stars or above and created her a Goodreads account).
TL;DR This is a cute, cozy mystery to read yourself or send to the Gen Xer in your life.
Dinosaurs and Blueberries 