Netflix is in active development on a television series based on Richard Osman's We Solve Murders, with the author himself signalling his intention to personally adapt his remaining Thursday Murder Club novels for the screen — a pipeline that directly implicates The Man Who Died Twice as a future Netflix project. Coverage across multiple outlets including Express, Digital Spy, Screen Rant, and Deadline, published in September 2026, confirms the development is underway following the August 2025 theatrical release of The Thursday Murder Club film, produced by Amblin Entertainment and starring Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Osman confirmed on BBC's The One Show that he wants to write the adaptations himself — a statement that carries significant weight for fans of the book series.
From Page to Screen: How The Man Who Died Twice Fits the Netflix Blueprint
The Man Who Died Twice, published by Viking Press (Penguin Random House) in September 2021, is the second instalment in Osman's Thursday Murder Club series. It reunites the quartet of sharp-minded pensioners — Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce — living in a Kent retirement village, and picks up narrative threads from the first book in ways that make it a natural candidate for a sequel film or follow-on series. Osman has spoken openly about the pressure of being perceived as a celebrity-turned-novelist: as noted on Penguin Random House's own pages, he was acutely aware of scepticism around that label, making the sustained critical and commercial success of the series all the more meaningful to him personally.
The move from film to series format is a strategically coherent one. As Collider reported, following the success of The Thursday Murder Club, Osman and Netflix are now set to reunite not for another feature film but for a full television series — with We Solve Murders as the source material. Meanwhile, MovieWeb has observed that the Thursday Murder Club film achieved strong viewership and critical reception on Netflix, making a sequel or expanded adaptation effectively inevitable given the depth of source material available. Osman has now written five novels in total, providing a substantial library for a long-running series.
Why Osman Adapting His Own Work Changes Everything
The most consequential detail in the September 2026 reporting is not merely that Netflix is developing more Osman content — it is that Osman himself wants to control the adaptations. Author-led adaptation has become an increasingly significant factor in how book-to-screen projects are received, both critically and by existing fanbases. Osman's creative involvement in We Solve Murders signals that any future adaptation of The Man Who Died Twice would likely carry the same authorial fingerprint, rather than being handed to a writing room unfamiliar with the world he has built. For a series whose appeal rests heavily on character voice — the wit, warmth, and precise social observation of its retired protagonists — that distinction matters enormously.
It also repositions The Man Who Died Twice within a larger conversation about how cosy crime fiction translates to prestige television. The genre has historically struggled to make that leap without losing the intimate, character-driven qualities that make it compelling in print. Osman's insistence on personal involvement in the adaptations reads, at least in part, as an effort to guard against exactly that dilution. Readers interested in the full Thursday Murder Club universe may also want to explore The Thursday Murder Club Series - 5-Book Box Set and the third instalment, The Bullet That Missed: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery, both of which form part of the adaptation pipeline Osman is now publicly discussing.
The Man Who Died Twice is a richly plotted mystery that established Osman as a serious crime novelist rather than a celebrity novelty — and its place in what could become an ambitious multi-title Netflix franchise now looks considerably more secure. Want the full verdict? Read our review of The Man Who Died Twice for a deeper look at what makes the book — and the series — worth your time.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Man Who Died Twice: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery worth reading in 2026?
Absolutely, and particularly now. With Netflix actively developing the Thursday Murder Club universe and Richard Osman publicly naming his remaining novels as personal adaptation priorities, The Man Who Died Twice sits at the centre of one of the more interesting book-to-screen stories in crime fiction. Reading it before a potential adaptation arrives is the obvious move for fans of the genre.
Will The Man Who Died Twice become a Netflix film or series?
As of September 2026, Netflix is in active development on We Solve Murders — Osman's fifth novel — as a TV series. Osman has confirmed on BBC's The One Show that he wants to personally adapt his remaining Thursday Murder Club novels, which include The Man Who Died Twice. No formal announcement for that specific book has been made, but it is explicitly part of Osman's stated adaptation plans.
Do I need to read The Thursday Murder Club before The Man Who Died Twice: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery?
The Man Who Died Twice is the second book in the Thursday Murder Club series and picks up characters and narrative threads from the first novel. While Osman has crafted his books to be broadly accessible, reading the first instalment will give you the full context for the characters and their relationships — and significantly deepen your enjoyment of the sequel.
Should I read The Man Who Died Twice or wait for the Netflix adaptation?
Reading the book first is almost always the richer experience, and that holds here. The Thursday Murder Club series is built on precise character voice and authorial wit that no adaptation, however faithful, fully replicates. Given that a screen version of this specific novel remains unannounced, reading the book now means you won't be waiting long for something that may still be years away.
How many Thursday Murder Club books are there, and which comes after The Man Who Died Twice?
Richard Osman has written five Thursday Murder Club novels to date. The Man Who Died Twice is the second in the series, followed by The Bullet That Missed as the third instalment. All five books are now in scope as potential adaptations given Osman's stated intention to personally bring the full series to screen.
Who stars in the Thursday Murder Club Netflix film, and is there a sequel planned?
The August 2025 Thursday Murder Club film, produced by Amblin Entertainment, starred Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Following its strong performance on Netflix, the platform is now in active development on a We Solve Murders TV series, with Richard Osman involved in adapting his work — suggesting the screen universe will continue to expand rather than end with a single film.
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