Books Like The Thursday Murder Club
Introduction: What Readers Mean by “Books Like The Thursday Murder Club”
When readers ask for books like The Thursday Murder Club, they are rarely asking for just any mystery. They are asking for something more specific: senior protagonists who refuse to be underestimated, a cozy mystery with wit rather than gore, and the conviction that the characters are the point. The Thursday Murder Club (2020) has all three: four retirees in a luxury village who meet to solve cold cases; the murder that arrives in their own village; and the novel’s central claim - that the old are not past but practiced, and that their skills are exactly what a murder needs. The books that come closest are the ones that find their own way to the same combination.
This guide gathers the strongest readalikes, old and new, with honest content notes and a clear sense of what each book shares with Osman’s novel and where it departs from it.
The Thursday Murder Club Series
The books that come closest to The Thursday Murder Club are the rest of the series.
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (2021) is the essential companion: the second volume of the series, in which Elizabeth receives a letter from a man she thought she had killed. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s characters, its wit and its warmth, deepening everything the first volume built. Content note: a cozy mystery with no graphic content; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman (2022) is the essential companion that continues the series: the third volume, in which a cold case from decades ago returns. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s world and its characters. Content note: a cozy mystery; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (2023) is the essential companion that deepens the series: the fourth volume, in which the friends face the end of an era. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s world, carrying the characters forward with warmth. Content note: a cozy mystery; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
The Gentle Mysteries
A second branch of the family is the novel about the gentle mystery - the crime solved with warmth and wit rather than gore.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (1998) is the essential companion: Precious Ramotswe, the first female detective in Botswana, in the novel of the cases solved with wisdom and kindness. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s gentle mystery and its warm characters, with the seniors replaced by the detective. Content note: a gentle mystery; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
The Thursday Murder Club also belongs to the family of mysteries about the amateurs who are better than the professionals, and the closest of those in the classic canon is Miss Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (1930): the first novel of the elderly village detective who solves the crimes the police cannot. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s senior detective and its village, with the register classic. Content note: a classic cozy mystery; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018) is the essential companion in puzzle register: a man who must solve a murder by living the day of the murder eight times in eight different bodies. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s puzzle and its cleverness, with the register sharpened. Content note: a mystery with some violence; for readers from around age sixteen upward.
The Clever Ensembles
A third branch is the novel about the clever ensemble - the group that is sharper than anyone expects.
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978) is the essential companion: sixteen heirs must solve the puzzle of a millionaire’s will, in the novel of the game that is not what it seems. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s ensemble, its puzzle and its wit, with the seniors replaced by the heirs. Content note: a middle-grade mystery; for readers from around age ten upward.
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (2007) is the essential companion: four gifted children recruited to infiltrate an evil institute, in the novel of the puzzles and the team. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s clever ensemble, with the seniors replaced by the children. Content note: a middle-grade novel; for readers from around age ten upward.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (2020) is the essential companion about the puzzle: Avery, a teenager who inherits a fortune from a stranger, in the novel of the puzzles and the family of heirs. It shares The Thursday Murder Club’s puzzle and its ensemble, with the register young adult. Content note: a young adult mystery; for readers from around age fourteen upward.
Themes and Values That Hold the Readalikes Together
Once you have read a few of these books side by side, the shared themes become clear, and they are worth naming because they are what make the category cohere.
The underestimated as the hero runs through every one of them. The Thursday Murder Club’s central claim - that the old are not past but practiced, and that their skills are exactly what a murder needs - is the load-bearing structure of the whole family. The books are united by the conviction that the underestimated are the heroes, and that the underestimating is the mistake.
The cozy as the register is the second shared shape. The family is united by the murder solved with warmth and wit rather than gore - and by the conviction that the coziness is not a softening but a register. The books agree that the gentle can carry the weight.
The ensemble as the engine is the third shared theme. The family is united by the group - the four retirees, the heirs, the children - and by the conviction that the ensemble is the engine. The books agree that no one solves it alone.
What to Read Next Depends on Why You Loved It
If you loved the series, read The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed.
If you loved the gentle mystery, read The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency and Miss Marple.
If you loved the puzzle, read The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Inheritance Games.
If you loved the clever ensemble, read The Westing Game and The Mysterious Benedict Society.
Content Notes: What These Books Contain
The Thursday Murder Club is a cozy mystery dealing with murder but with no graphic content, most naturally from around age fourteen upward. The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed and The Last Devil to Die continue the series. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is a gentle mystery. Miss Marple is a classic cozy mystery. The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle has some violence. The Westing Game and The Mysterious Benedict Society are middle-grade mysteries. The Inheritance Games is a young adult mystery. None contain gratuitous content; the weight is warm and witty. Our best historical reading lists and our historical reading lists themes and notes offer related reading paths for the craft and the traditions of the mystery.
Why These Books Work as a Set
Read together, these readalikes form a coherent shelf rather than a random pile, and the coherence is worth naming for anyone building a reading list. They are bound by the conviction that the underestimated are the heroes, that the cozy is the register, and that the ensemble is the engine. They are also bound by tone: nearly every title here solves its crime with warmth and wit, letting the reader enjoy the puzzle without the gore. That shared DNA means the shelf rewards reading in almost any order - the books talk to each other. The Man Who Died Twice deepens the series; Miss Marple grounds the senior detective in the classic; The Westing Game echoes the ensemble across the generations. For a reader working through the family, the pairings are as instructive as the individual titles, which is why the reading plan below suggests specific combinations rather than a single sequence.
A Reading Plan for Book Clubs
The Thursday Murder Club generates conversation on every level: the characters, the puzzle, the question of what the old actually know. Some of the best discussion questions come from pairing it with a book that shares or challenges it: read it with The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and compare the two gentle detectives; read it with Miss Marple, and ask how the senior detective has changed; read it with The Westing Game, and discuss the two ensembles and the two puzzles.
Conclusion: The Club That Keeps Giving
The Thursday Murder Club endures because it is about something permanent: the conviction that the underestimated are the heroes, that the cozy is the register, and that the ensemble is the engine. Every book on this list takes one piece of that - the seniors, the puzzle, the wit - and builds its own account around it. The joy of reading them is the joy of watching the same cleverness practiced in different villages, different generations, different registers. Start with whichever part of the club’s story you loved most, and let the comparison teach you what the mystery is really made of. For the full collection of reading paths, start at the Worlds section of our site.
