The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman Review: A Breezy, Witty Cozy Mystery Triumph

The Bullet That Missed picks up with the core quartet of the Thursday Murder Club — retirees living at Coopers Chase who meet weekly to pore over cold cases — now drawn into a fresh and urgent investigation. The central mystery involves a decade-old murder connected to a former TV news presenter, and the stakes escalate sharply when one of the club's own, Elizabeth, finds herself in danger, forcing the group to race against time to solve the case before the killer can strike again. The adventure takes the characters from an upmarket spa to a prison cell (described by the publisher as coming complete with an espresso machine) to a luxury penthouse high above the city — settings that reflect Osman's fondness for placing his elderly sleuths in unexpectedly glamorous and absurd circumstances. It is the third book in a five-book series, following The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice.

By any measurable standard, The Bullet That Missed is one of the most successful British crime novels of recent years. According to Wikipedia's reception summary, it reached number three on the New York Times Best Seller list and was the UK's bestselling hardcover book of 2022 as reported by The Sunday Times — a remarkable double performance for a cozy mystery. The series as a whole has achieved New York Times bestseller status across multiple entries, cementing Osman's standing as one of the dominant forces in contemporary popular fiction. Kirkus awarded the novel a starred review, calling it "your next must-read mystery series," praise that reflects the enthusiasm the books have consistently generated from trade publications.

Penguin Random House's own description points to "cleverness, intrigue, and irresistible charm" as the hallmarks of the book, and the critical record bears that out with some specificity. Critical coverage, as quoted via Penguin Random House, described the third instalment as delivering "laughs along with a nicely woven plot," singling out a pace it called "breezy" and characters that are "intelligent and varied in their interests and backgrounds." The humour, the same source notes, is "often pitched to readers who understand the vagaries of getting older" — a pointed observation about Osman's genuine attentiveness to his older protagonists, whose wit and competence are never played for condescension. Alison Flood, reviewing for critical coverage, called it a "sleuthing sequel" that "hits the bullseye," though the full substance of that review is available through The Guardian's own pages rather than reproduced here in depth.

The audiobook edition, released by Penguin Audio on September 20, 2022, runs eleven hours and sixteen minutes and is performed by a trio of narrators: Fiona Shaw, Richard Osman himself, and Steph McGovern. Wikipedia's entry on the book notes that Fiona Shaw is the primary reader for the audiobook edition, and Shaw — a celebrated stage and screen actress — brings considerable range to an ensemble cast that spans different generations, temperaments, and backstories. The addition of Osman as a co-narrator gives the production a notably direct quality, and Steph McGovern's participation further extends the ensemble feel of the performance. The edition is also Whispersync for Voice ready, allowing listeners to move between audio and text formats. For those new to the series, the format does reward starting from book one, as character relationships and series mythology deepen across instalments.

The Thursday Murder Club series has a clearly defined ideal audience: readers and listeners who enjoy cozy mysteries with a strong emphasis on character, gentle comedy, and plots that reward patience rather than pulse-pounding action. Those seeking a grittier procedural or darker psychological thriller will find the breezy register a mismatch. The series' very accessibility — its warmth, its light touch on violence and consequence — is also the quality that leads some crime fiction readers to find it slight. There is, in addition, a cumulative investment required: arriving at book three without familiarity with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron means encountering character dynamics that the novels reward having built over time. As a standalone listen, The Bullet That Missed functions well on its own terms, but the emotional payoffs are richer for those who have followed the club from the beginning.