The Bullet That Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery

The third installment in the beloved and New York Times bestselling series from Richard Osman, now streaming on Netflix

“The quartet of aging amateur sleuths…remain wonderful company.” —The New York Times Book Review

It is an ordinary Thursday, and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club are concerned. A decade-old cold case—their favorite kind--leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.

Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill or be killed. Suddenly the cold case has become red hot.

While Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim chase down the clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

From an upmarket spa to a prison cell complete with espresso machine to a luxury penthouse high in the sky, this third adventure of the Thursday Murder Club is full of the cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm that readers have come to expect from Richard Osman’s bestselling series.

“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front.” —the Wall Street Journal

Richard Osman is an author and television presenter. His novels, The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, The Last Devil to Die, and We Solve Murders were number one international bestsellers as well as New York Times bestsellers. He lives in London with his wife, Ingrid, and their cats Liesl and Lottie. The movie adaptation for The Thursday Murder Club will release in 2025, produced by Amblin Entertainment. The Impossible Fortune, the fifth book in the Thursday Murder Club series, is forthcoming.

Praise for The Bullet That Missed:

“Osman concocts a satisfyingly complex whodunit full of neat twists and wrong turns. But unlike most crime novelists, he ensures his book’s strength and momentum stem not from its plot or its thrills but rather its perfectly formed characters. Once again, the quartet of friends makes for delightful company… Heartwarming and enthralling. ‘They carried a kind of magic, the four of them,’ a policeman muses. That magic is still there in abundance.”
—Washington Post

“The Bullet That Missed hits on every front. Its quandaries stymie, its solutions thrill, its banter is worth reciting and its characters exemplify an admirable camaraderie. One can only hope that the Thursday Murder Club’s next outing appears before long.”
—Wall Street Journal

“The Thursday Murder Club is back, and that should make everyone happy — except, of course, murderers. Richard Osman's engaging series about a group of crime-solving retirees has delighted readers since the first book. The Thursday Murder Club, an international bestseller, was funny, original, baffling, poignant and thoroughly engaging. That's a high bar to set from the get-go, but Osman has easily achieved it in subsequent books… This book is as delightful as the others. A remarkable achievement, Osman up there effortlessly balancing on that very high bar.”
—Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Not to be missed.”
—Parade

"Charming."
—People

“The mysteries are complex, the characters vivid, and the whole thing is laced with warm humor and—remarkably, considering the body count—good feeling. Your next must-read mystery series.”
—Kirkus, starred review

“Bestseller Osman’s diverting third Thursday Murder Club mystery (after 2021’s The Man Who Lived Twice) delivers laughs along with a nicely woven plot....The pace is breezy, the characters are intelligent and varied in their interests and backgrounds, and the humor is often pitched to readers who understand the vagaries of getting older. Osman reliably entertains.”
—Publishers Weekly

“It's charming and, as always, will leave you guessing the murderer until the very end.”
—Town and Country

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman is the third novel in the Thursday Murder Club series, and it continues the mix of mystery, humor, and emotional warmth that has made the books so popular. The story once again centers on the residents of Coopers Chase, a peaceful retirement village that is anything but ordinary, because its elderly residents keep finding themselves involved in murder investigations. At the heart of the novel are Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron, four unlikely friends who have become amateur sleuths. They may be older, but they are still clever, determined, and often more effective than the police. In this installment, they face a case connected to a journalist’s disappearance and a murder that seems to point in several different directions at once. As usual, Osman balances the suspense of the crime plot with the deep affection and personality quirks of the characters, making the story feel both entertaining and emotionally grounded.

The novel begins with the disappearance of a journalist named Bethany Waites, who had been investigating a large and dangerous financial scam. Bethany uncovered signs of fraud involving a company and a network of powerful people, but before she could fully expose what she knew, she vanished. Years later, her disappearance is still unresolved. The Thursday Murder Club becomes interested in the case because it is tied to secrets, hidden money, and people who seem desperate to protect themselves. At the same time, there is a more immediate murder to solve, and the two threads slowly begin to connect. Osman carefully builds the mystery so that the reader is always aware that nothing is as simple as it first seems. Documents, phone calls, suspicious business dealings, and old grudges all begin to matter as the club digs deeper.

Elizabeth, as always, is one of the most important figures in the story. She is sharp, fearless, and has a remarkable talent for obtaining information from almost anyone. Even when she appears calm and ordinary, she is usually several steps ahead of everyone else. In this book, Elizabeth is also dealing with personal pressures that make her more vulnerable than usual. Her husband, Stephen, continues to struggle with the effects of dementia, and Elizabeth’s private life carries a quiet sadness beneath her usually confident exterior. Osman uses this to remind readers that behind her intelligence and toughness is a woman who is still deeply affected by love, memory, and loss. Joyce, meanwhile, remains observant, funny, and deceptively insightful. Her diary-like voice and practical curiosity bring both humor and intelligence to the investigation. Ibrahim continues to be measured and thoughtful, often analyzing people’s behavior with a psychologist’s eye, while Ron adds energy, bluntness, and a sense of directness that cuts through nonsense.

One of the strengths of the novel is the way it expands the world beyond Coopers Chase. The story moves into the lives of journalists, criminals, politicians, business figures, and police officers, showing how the murder and the missing journalist are tied to a much larger system of corruption. Osman makes it clear that the crime is not just personal; it is part of a chain of greed, manipulation, and self-protection. The Thursday Murder Club must therefore deal not only with a killer, but also with people who have invested years in hiding the truth. This gives the book a broader moral dimension. It is not only about who committed a crime, but about how easily powerful people can bend systems, control narratives, and leave ordinary people to pay the price.

The detective work unfolds through a mixture of clever observation, informal questioning, and good old-fashioned persistence. The club members are not bound by procedure in the way the police are, so they can think creatively and pursue odd leads that others might ignore. At the same time, the police remain important to the story, especially through characters who have grown familiar to readers across the series. There is a sense of cooperation, tension, and mutual respect between the retirees and law enforcement, though the club often ends up doing the most useful thinking. As the mystery develops, the novel becomes increasingly complex, with multiple suspects and overlapping motives. People lie, withhold information, and protect themselves. Old events turn out to matter much more than they first appeared to, and the truth emerges slowly through layers of deception.

Alongside the crime plot, Osman gives considerable attention to relationships, both old and new. The friendships among Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron remain the emotional center of the series. They tease one another, support one another, and bring out different strengths in each other. Their bond is one of the main reasons the books feel so human. This novel also continues to explore family relationships, especially the pain of watching a loved one decline and the awkward ways people cope with aging, fear, and change. Even as the plot involves danger, murder, and financial wrongdoing, the book never loses sight of ordinary human feeling: loyalty, regret, affection, and the need to matter to someone.

The title, The Bullet That Missed, reflects the novel’s layered approach to fate and consequence. It suggests that something intended to destroy or silence did not fully succeed, and that a missed shot can still have lasting effects. The phrase also fits the book’s broader concern with chances, mistakes, and the way past actions keep echoing into the present. Osman builds the story toward a resolution that is both satisfying and thoughtful, tying together the strands of the mystery while also leaving room for emotional reflection. The ending reveals how the seemingly separate events are connected and shows once again that the Thursday Murder Club are remarkably good at uncovering truths that others overlook.

What makes the novel especially enjoyable is that it never feels cold or mechanical, even though it is built around a murder investigation. Osman writes with warmth and wit, and he allows his characters to remain fully human, with fears, habits, and private griefs. The result is a mystery that is clever without being harsh, funny without being trivial, and emotional without becoming sentimental. The Bullet That Missed is, at its core, a story about persistence: persistence in uncovering the truth, persistence in friendship, and persistence in living meaningfully even when life becomes complicated, uncertain, and deeply imperfect.