Reviewed
Read Time
10 min read
Our age bandAdult
Reader rating
4.6 · 113,231 Amazon ratings
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Book 2 · Thursday Murder Club
The Man Who Died Twice
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman Review: A Witty, Crowd-Pleasing Mystery Sequel
The Man Who Died Twice is the second entry in Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, following Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim — four pensioners in a Kent retirement village — as they unravel a diamond-theft conspiracy entwining international mobsters, a missing ex-husband, and mounting bodies. It sold 114,202 copies in its first three days, leading an industry analyst to call Osman a "publishing phenomenon."
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Fans of warm, ensemble-driven British cozies who want a propulsive diamond-heist plot wrapped around four sharply drawn septuagenarian sleuths — especially readers who loved the first Thursday Murder Club and are eager to return to Coopers Chase.
Worth it if
Worth reading if you prize wit, genuine affection between characters, and a light-touch thriller plot over moral gravity or harrowing stakes.
Skip if
Skip it if you expect crime fiction to sit seriously with death and consequence, or if a breezy tone and critics' noted absence of real jeopardy will leave you cold.
What readers & critics say
Kirkus Reviews awarded the novel a starred review, calling it "a clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn," and named it one of the Best Books of 2021. The Guardian found the formula "fiendishly clever" and the book better than even its phenomenal commercial performance might suggest, while The Bibliofile struck a more measured note, characterising it as "entertaining but somewhat more generic" than its predecessor.
“The formula is fiendishly clever… what couldn't have been predicted was that the books would sell quite so phenomenally well, or be so good.”
— The Guardian4.6from 113,231 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
Thursday Murder Club reading order
Book 2 of 5 books + 1 announced
- The Thursday Murder Club2020
- The Man Who Died TwiceThis book
- The Bullet That Missed2022
- The Last Devil to Die2023 · on Amazon
- The Impossible Fortune2025 · on Amazon
- Untitled Book 6Announced
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The Man Who Died Twice is the second Thursday Murder Club mystery, reuniting Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim — four pensioners at Coopers Chase retirement village in Kent — as they chase stolen diamonds worth £20 million through a web of New York mobsters and Colombian cartel members. A commercially unstoppable crowd-pleaser that earned a Kirkus starred review and sold over 114,000 copies in its first three days, it delivers exactly what the series promises: sharp ensemble wit, propulsive plotting, and warm affection for its characters. Readers who prize genuine jeopardy or the moral seriousness of literary crime fiction may find the breezy tone a limitation, but for fans of cozy British mystery at its most confident, Osman's second outing is a near-irresistible pleasure.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers who enjoy warm, witty, and propulsive cozy mysteries, The Man Who Died Twice is a thoroughly confident and pleasurable read. Kirkus Reviews awarded it a starred review, praising its 'clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn,' and author Joe Hill described the books as 'absolute gold.' The principal caveat, raised by Lynne Truss in The Guardian and Jake Kerridge in The Daily Telegraph, is the novel's lack of genuine jeopardy — a real limitation for readers who expect crime fiction to sit with the weight of death and consequence, but not a drawback for those who prize atmosphere, lightness, and ensemble affection.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy The Man Who Died Twice will want to explore the rest of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series: The Thursday Murder Club, the debut that introduces Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce at Coopers Chase, and The Bullet That Missed, the third instalment that continues the formula. Beyond Osman's own work, Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency shares the same warmth, gently comic tone, and affection for its ensemble. M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death and Louise Penny's Still Life are further benchmarks of the cozy British-inflected mystery tradition that Osman writes so confidently within.
- Who should read this?
- The Man Who Died Twice is designed for readers who want their mysteries warm, their characters funny and fond of each other, and their plots propulsive rather than harrowing. It will especially delight fans of the first Thursday Murder Club book, as well as anyone who enjoys the cozy British mystery tradition. Readers who prize the moral seriousness of literary crime fiction, or who want a gritty procedural with genuine stakes and a weighty treatment of violence, are the audience most likely to find the criticisms from The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph resonant.
- About Richard Osman
- Richard Thomas Osman is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist.
- Tell me about the adaptation
- The Thursday Murder Club series, which includes The Man Who Died Twice, has been adapted for Netflix and produced as a film by Amblin Entertainment. The four-member ensemble — Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim — translates naturally to screen, given that Osman consciously structured the group's dynamic after The A-Team when writing the books. Specific casting and release details are best confirmed through current entertainment listings, as production timelines may have developed since our coverage.
- Where should I start in the series?
- The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in the series and the recommended starting point — it introduces Elizabeth Best, Ron Ritchie, Ibrahim Arif, and Joyce Meadowcroft, and establishes the Coopers Chase retirement village setting. The Man Who Died Twice is the second entry, followed by The Bullet That Missed. LuvemBooks has reviewed all three, and the related books panel below links directly to the others in the series.
- What do critics say?
- Critical reception is largely enthusiastic but divided along a clear fault line. Kirkus Reviews awarded the novel a starred review, calling it 'a clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn,' and broader coverage declared that Osman has 'vaulted into the upper leagues of crime writers' in just two books. On the other side, Lynne Truss in The Guardian and Jake Kerridge in The Daily Telegraph both identified a lack of genuine jeopardy, and a separate prominent books publication declined to review the novel at all, with its editor characterising Osman's characters as 'paper-thin' and arguing the books lack 'the underlying moral seriousness that is an essential ingredient of the best crime fiction.' These are not fringe positions — they reflect a real and ongoing debate about what crime fiction should do.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
About Richard Osman
Tell me about the adaptation
Where should I start in the series?
What do critics say?
Summarize this book
The Man Who Died Twice is the second entry in Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, set at Coopers Chase, a posh retirement village in Kent. The inciting crisis belongs to Elizabeth Best, whose former husband Douglas Middlemiss — a secret service agent — is implicated in the theft of £20 million worth of diamonds from criminal banker Martin Lomax. Lomax threatens to hand Douglas's details to the diamonds' true owners: mobsters from New York and cartel members from Colombia. The quartet of pensioner sleuths must track the stolen gems, outwit organised crime, and investigate a growing body count — all while Ibrahim retreats into depression and seclusion following a street assault.
Follow up
Where does this fit in the series?
Who are the four main characters?
What is the tone of the book?
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Our Review
We review the evidence: published critics, reader verdicts and BookTube reviews, gathered and weighed with AI assistance and edited by LuvemBooks, rather than one reader's first-hand take.
A warm, commercially unstoppable crime novel that consolidates the series' strengths while drawing pointed criticism from literary quarters.
What the Book Is and What Happens
The Man Who Died Twice drops back into Coopers Chase, the posh retirement village in Kent where Elizabeth Best (former MI6 agent), Ron Ritchie (former trade union leader), Ibrahim Arif (retired psychiatrist), and Joyce Meadowcroft (retired nurse) form the Thursday Murder Club. This time, the inciting crisis belongs to Elizabeth: her former husband, Douglas Middlemiss, a secret service agent, has broken into the home of a criminal banker named Martin Lomax, and £20 million worth of diamonds have gone missing from the same house.
Lomax, suspecting Douglas, threatens to hand his details to the diamonds' true owners — mobsters from New York and cartel members from Colombia — unless the stones are returned. The quartet must track stolen diamonds, stay ahead of organized crime, and investigate a growing body count, all while one of their own, Ibrahim, retreats into depression and seclusion after being assaulted in a street robbery.
As the Penguin Random House synopsis frames it, they are "up against a ruthless murderer who wouldn't bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians."
Commercial Phenomenon and Series Significance
Few crime novels in recent memory have arrived with the kind of sales force that greeted The Man Who Died Twice. Following publication in September 2021 by Viking (Penguin Random House), it sold 114,202 copies in its first three days on sale — a figure that, according to reporting cited in Wikipedia's reception summary, placed it among the best-performing novels since sales records began in the 1990s.
It is a New York Times bestseller, and the Thursday Murder Club series as a whole has since been adapted for Netflix and produced as a film by Amblin Entertainment. The series sits squarely in the tradition of the cozy British mystery, but Osman's background as a television presenter shaped its construction: he has noted that the four-member ensemble was directly inspired by The A-Team, a conscious structural decision that gives each character a defined role within the group dynamic.
Where It Excels: Wit, Character, and Pace
Critical notices highlighted the novel's sharp humor and ensemble warmth as its defining qualities. Reviewers declared that Osman has "vaulted into the upper leagues of crime writers" in just two books, praising the sequel as diving "right into joyous fun."
Kirkus Reviews awarded the novel a starred review, calling it "a clever, funny mystery peopled with captivating characters that enhance the story at every quirky turn." People observed that "these septuagenarian sleuths of the Thursday Murder Club don't miss a beat."
Author Joe Hill described the books as "absolute gold." Penguin Random House's own synopsis describes the novel as "just as clever and warm as the first — an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read."
Notably, Osman has spoken publicly about his intent not to patronise elderly characters, and the series's central conceit — that four retirees routinely outmaneuver both criminals and law enforcement — is at the heart of its broad appeal.
The Legitimate Critique: Jeopardy and Moral Seriousness
Not all critical voices were so generous, and the objections are worth naming precisely. Critics called the novel "superbly entertaining" while specifically criticising its absence of a genuine "sense of jeopardy" — a view echoed by Jake Kerridge of The Daily critics.
A separate, prominent books publication declined to review the novel at all, with its editor arguing that works like The Man Who Died Twice create an "illusion" that crowds out other titles; that editor went on to characterise Osman's characters as "paper-thin," accusing the books of lacking "the underlying moral seriousness that is an essential ingredient of the best crime fiction." These are not fringe positions — they reflect a real fault line between readers who prize atmosphere, lightness, and affection for character, and those who expect crime fiction to sit with the weight of death and consequence.
The novel's breezy tone, which is a draw for many, is precisely what alienates readers who prefer their mysteries darker in register.
Who This Book Is For
The Man Who Died Twice is designed for readers who want their mysteries warm, their characters funny and fond of each other, and their plots propulsive rather than harrowing. The ensemble structure — each member of the Thursday Murder Club carrying a distinct history and personality — rewards readers returning from the first book, though the novel's basic pleasures are accessible enough to work as a near-standalone.
Readers who enjoyed the first installment will find the series formula intact and confidently executed. Those seeking a grittier procedural, or a crime novel that dwells seriously on mortality and violence, will find the objections raised by The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph resonant.
For anyone in the mood for wit, retirement-village intrigue, and international diamond heists handled with a light touch, Osman's second outing delivers exactly what the Thursday Murder Club has always promised.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
en.wikipedia.org
- 2
penguinrandomhouse.com
- Further reading
- 3
Richard Osman, LuvemBooks
- 4
- 5
kirkusreviews.com
- 6
- 7
- 8
compassbookratings.com
- 9Contemporary Murder Mystery Review: Richard Osman’s THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE (Thursday Murder Club #2)
missbatesreadsromance.com
- 10
- 11
thequickandtheread.net
- 12
- 13
- 14
The Guardian
Age & Reading Level
Our age band
Adult
Our age band groups books for browsing; it isn't an age a review gave.
2 content notes · who it suits
Content to know about
street violence (character assaulted and left with lasting trauma)
organised crime and cartel activity
Skip if you want crime fiction with genuine moral weight, harrowing stakes, or a serious treatment of violence and death.
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