Richard Osman felt he was “cheating” on his Thursday Murder Club book series by writing his new novel, We Solve Murders.
Who is Richard Osman?
Brits will know Richard Osman for being the creator and co-host of Pointless, a quiz show series. Since then, he has covered many bases, including television presenting, producing, and comedy. On top of this, Osman also won Heat magazine’s “Weird Crush of the Year” in 2011.
But Osman’s most recent success is probably his Thursday Murder Club series. The first novel was published in 2020, and the rest were published in consecutive years. In 2022, it was announced that a screen adaptation of the series would be made, for which Osman served as executive producer. Then, a few months ago, he broke the hearts of some of his fans by telling them that the TMC series was complete. However, he did make up for it with the announcement that he was beginning a brand new murder series: We Solve Murders.
In October, Richard Osman visited the Cheltenham Literature Festival to promote his new novel. There, he was interviewed by Marina Hyde, who is very familiar with his work given that they share a podcast together: The Rest Is Entertainment.
Thursday Murder Club
TTL Deez
The series is made up of four novels: The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, and The Last Devil To Die. The murder-solving group is made up of an unlikely series of characters: an ex-spy called Elizabeth, Ibrahim the ex-psychiatrist, Ron the ex-union activist, and ex-nurse Joyce. In the second novel, Joyce adds to the squad by getting a dog.
Talking of his inspiration for the characters, Richard Osman said, “My favorite book growing up was The Famous Five — it had numbers on the spine and words on the front, so it appealed to the left and right side of my brain.” Marina Hyde quickly caught on to Osman’s insinuation, saying, “Four characters and a dog… solving mysteries — oh, I see what you’ve done!”
One of Richard Osman’s favorite things is writing characters — but he notes that in murder mysteries, you can keep those characters open all the way until the end. Everyone can have a motive, and it’s not until the last minute that you decide “whodunnit.” In fact, Osman said, “Some people say I knew [who the murderer was] by page eight…and I get impressed because I didn’t and I wrote it!”
Screen Adaptations
Since the release of The Thursday Murder Club novel series, Osman has received much praise, and he has sold over 10 million copies as of February 2024, according to The Guardian. Gaining such popularity meant that the announcement of a screen adaptation was inevitable. Big celebrities, including Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, David Tennant, and Celia Imrie, are starring in the film.
Fred Duval
Commenting on the casting, Richard Osman said, “We were discussing what actors would play Ron. The director mentioned the most handsome man in the movie industry: Pierce Brosnan… I said that’s who Ron would pick to play Ron!”
Richard Osman Being Relatable
Known as “Britain’s nerd,” many are under the false impression that Osman’s novels would be “too intellectual” and a hard read. However, they are far from it; the characters are often comical, and Osman clarified that he tries to make them as relatable as possible. Creating something that people can relate to is an important way to make your work resonate. It also increases the accessibility of Osman’s books.
That being said, Osman did admit that despite wanting his characters to be normal, he still wants them to be memorable. He said, “If I asked you the plot of the last 10 crime books you have read, you probably wouldn’t remember them but you would remember how they made you feel. You wouldn’t say, ‘I really want to read the book about stolen identity,’ but you may remember the characters. That’s why writing characters is most important to me. They have a big impact, so you have to make sure it’s a positive impact.”
When writing, Osman said that he often bases scenery off of places he has already visited, so that, as he stated, “I don’t have to do any research!” — proving that Richard Osman is truly the embodiment of “work smarter, not harder.” Another reason for his efficiency in basing stories on places he knows. He shared, “I like going out of my comfort zone but not so far that I can’t use my wifi.” Maybe Osman is truly Gen Z on the inside.
Osman on Writing
Osman initially began his writing career as a script editor for BBC One’s Total Wipeout. But, even before this, he declared, “There’s never been a week where I haven’t written. I once wrote 80,000 words on biscuits. After that, I thought ‘Maybe you could put this to better use, my friend’. That’s when I had the idea for TMC and realized I could do it. After all, I’ve already written 80,000 words on biscuits!”
Talking about his writing process, he explained that he writes crime because he reads it. He said, “I like the rules, I find it freeing. It’s like having a hammock and being restricted but still being able to swing. But, then technically, you can fill the hammock with items…” Referring to the tangent he got into, he quipped, “Yeah, this is why I don’t write other fiction!”
However, in the same way, Osman recognizes what features make people ‘normal,’ he also notices ways to humanize villainous characters. He said, “Most people’s lives are about the small things happening. Even the ‘baddies.’ They don’t spend their spare time throwing axes against the wall…I imagine them waking up and getting frustrated they have to go to the dentist!”
Amongst his humorous writing, Richard Osman skillfully weaves in social issues and problems close to his own heart. He that he writes in the way he sees the world. In one of his novels, Richard Osman addressed the tough topic of dementia, inspired by his grandfather, who struggled with the condition. Osman said, “I wrote about him and how, at the end of the day, he knew he was loved.”
Osman on “The People Behind The Scenes”
Richard Osman called his copy editors “the best people in the world,” affirming that he couldn’t have gotten through the writing process without them. In one of his novels, his editors noticed a “very interesting” mistake. She had told him that a date from 1975 that he had included was actually labeled as the wrong day: “She said to me, ‘You said it was a Monday when it was actually a Tuesday’. The only reason I’d changed it was because it was originally meant to be a Thursday, but I thought I had to mix things up a bit!”
He said another small piece they had picked at was that the train line 923 doesn’t have a trolley, and he had mentioned a character getting water off this nonexistent trolley. But, in that instance, Osman recalled: “I didn’t think we had to edit that one out, I wasn’t too worried about receiving hate for that one.”
To Osman, it isn’t just copy editors that deserve more praise; he says that booksellers need more support too.
“The world is a better place when people read more books. But it’s the booksellers who need the support. Ten years ago, it was a concern that people weren’t going into shops — Ebooks were on the rise and bookshops looked to be in trouble. Now, the bookshops who are successful are growing and the others aren’t finding it as hard. It’s because people are reading more and that’s beautiful.”
Richard Osman
The New Book: We Solve Murders
While fans were disappointed that the Thursday Murder Club ended, they were excited to dive into a new murder series. Selling 100,000 copies in the first week, We Solve Murders still felt like “cheating” on TMC to Osman. He said, “My writing is identical…I haven’t suddenly become Dan Brown. I just made it more global, added a few more private islands and helicopters in.”
In this novel, Osman explores the rarely-discussed relationship between a woman and her father-in-law. He remarked, “It’s an interesting relationship because they’re your chosen family but you don’t technically have to love them. Yet, Steve [father-in-law] was the only person she [the main character] felt she could trust.”
Osman said that whilst writing Steve, he drew a lot of the characteristics from himself. Steve has chosen to isolate himself, deciding that he wants a “smaller” life. So, Osman thought, “Who better to send across the world than someone who really doesn’t want to go.”
The main character, Amy, has a lot of money. Osman said, “This meant that the money came in handy for whenever you need a private jet. It’s useful…I didn’t have to use my imagination too much for certain elements of the plot.”
What’s Next?
Richard Osman said We Solve Murders is part of a “new series,” so more books are likely coming. If it follows the TMC series’ release pattern, the next novel should arrive by the end of 2025.
Yet, in terms of a crossover series, Osman has denied the possibility for legal reasons. He said, “Someone said there’s an easter egg where one of the TMC characters shows up briefly. This was accidental because they are separate legal entities…but yeah maybe.”
When asked “what’s next?” Osman had replied with his goal to “get big” on TikTok. He said, “It can’t all be YA Romances on BookTok, surely. At the moment I’m selling to about four pensioners on the app, so I need to up my game.”
If you can’t wait until 2025 for the Thursday Murder Club movie to hit your screen then find out what other books have been adapted.
