varingblaarWe Solve Murders by Richard Osman
Spoiler warning: If you haven't read We Solve Murders, I suggest you do so before going any further. If this spoils it for you, it's not my fault.You have been warned.
It's weird to get new characters from a writer I already know, especially after 4 books in the same universe with The Thursday Murder Club. The writing style is the same, as one would expect. There's a lightheartedness about everything, without denying the gravity of the situation. I do like the characters though. The story is sort of much of the same, but with a lot more globetrotting.
Amy is a bodyguard. Sorry, a "private security officer". It turns out her client is the target of a famous-but-mysterious assassin. Instead of letting it go, she gets her father-in-law a retired private investigator, to very reluctantly help figure out what's going on. In the process they uncover a whole fraud scheme within the company.
As an interesting detail, the assassin François Loubet uses ChatGPT to hide their identity. It also means a supposedly French assassin can be written as a "friendly English gentleman", which definitely makes the author's job a little easier. Smart move.
Rosie D'Antonio, Amy's client, is the main reason we're travelling all the time. Her spontaneity and eccentric life experience gets them in trouble but often gets them back out of the same trouble. She's an entertaining read and channels a lot of the "I'm old I don't care" energy while still being young of spirit. It lets us see a bunch of new places through the eyes of Richard Osman who until now has mostly written about the English countryside, though beautifully.
The relationship between Amy and her husband Adam is odd. It's very much a marraige of convenience, which is fine. I find it odd that she can call him up, tell him to visit someone in prison to find out about an international fraud network. It's only when he gets to prison to find her already dead, that he realises that this isn't a game anymore. Something we knew for a while already. It was a weird bonding moment for Adam and his dad Steve though, but at a distance.
So anyway I quite enjoyed the book. Lighthearted, doesn't have too much of the sadness The Thursday Murder Club has, but a lot of suspense in its own way. The ending was clearly written to setup another book, because that's what the contract with Viking says apparently. It sets up the company that will feature in the next book, similar to Mr Mercedes and Finders Keepers by Stephen King, although that's pretty much where the comparison ends...
Yep I'm definitely picking up We Chase Shadows when it drops later this year...
