We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders #1)

If Richard Osman had any reason to take a break from the beloved Thursday Murder Club series that many of us have come to love to start a new one, at least he made it a good one!

Amy Wheeler works in the close protection business for a company called Maximum Impact Solutions. Her latest client is feisty and fun long-time author Rosie D’Antonio, who’s had a hit placed on her by a powerful Russian mogul, Vasiliy Karpin, who didn’t appreciate being outed by her in her latest book. Amy is a force to be reckoned with - don’t let that calm exterior fool you. 

Meet Francois Loubet (pronounced loo-bay). Well … that’s the name he uses. In a fascinating plot device that never would’ve occurred to me before this book, whoever this mysterious individual is, he communicates via email AFTER he’s run what he wants to say through the AI program ChatGPT, telling it to rewrite it “in the style of a friendly English gentleman, please.” Brilliant move to conceal his identity, but scary in its real-world applications! 

Loubet is a powerful money smuggler who’s using unsuspecting low-level social media influencers protected by Maximum Impact to move large quantities of money. When they start meeting unfortunate ends, Amy’s boss and trusted friend, Jeff Nolan, threatens Loubet, putting a target on both his own and Amy’s backs. Luckily, this chess match is a little more evenly matched since both sides know how to play the game!

Part of Amy’s strategy? Bring in her recently widowed retired-cop/part-time investigator father-in-law Steve to help.  He doesn’t really want to. He’s comfortable with his pub trivia nights, his small group of friends and taking care of his cat, Trouble, but Amy needs him and he’d do anything to help her. 

So what happens when you combine an adrenaline junkie daughter-in-law, a savvy, but reluctant father-in-law, and a thrill-seeking, fearless author in various life-threatening scenarios? It’s Richard Osman … you get FUN, of course!

True to style, Osman’s strength is his characters. He knows how to write a diverse, richly imagined cast who always embody so much personality that you love them whether they’re friend or foe. There’s not a single character I didn’t like, and his ability to find humor and lightness in the darkest of scenarios is what makes his books a magnet for me. Another big draw? The narrators for his audiobooks are always stellar. In this case, Nicola Walker bats it out of the park.

The only ding to my rating is simply that I wasn’t as enamored of the mystery itself as I was the characters. It’s a large cast, so keeping up with all the names and connections was sometimes challenging, and I don’t love social media influencers as a device in stories, though they played a very small part. That’s a me thing. What I do love is the main three characters - particularly Rosie, who is SO much fun and will be back for the next book. It’s a great start to the series, and thankfully, will coexist with The Thursday Murder Club series, as that gang gets a return visit in Osman’s next book. I can’t wait!

★★★★ ½ 

Thanks to my library/Libby for the Kindle copy and audio. This book is out now!