Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club hardly needs an introduction: it is the first novel in a record-breaking, million-copy bestselling series, and it has since been adapted into a Netflix film. The audiobook, brought to us by Penguin and read by Lesley Manville, runs for 12 hours and 25 minutes and holds a 4.4 star rating from 181 listeners on our records. The question I am asked about it more than almost any other title is blunt: is it actually worth an Audible credit? Here is my honest answer.
The verdict, up front
Yes, with one caveat. If you enjoy crime fiction that values character, wit and warmth over gore and grit, this is a delightful way to spend twelve and a half hours, and Lesley Manville’s narration is a genuine asset. The caveat is pace. This is cosy crime, and it saunters. That 4.4 rating, respectable but a touch below the 4.7 the sequels hold on our records, reflects a split I recognise from listener comments across the genre: those who wanted a propulsive thriller mark it down, while those who surrender to its charm adore it without reservation. Know which camp you are in before you spend the credit, and you will not be disappointed.
The story: four friends and a live case
In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet once a week to pick over unsolved murders. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves, and when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Can this unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it is too late? That is the premise, and Osman wrings both comedy and surprising tenderness from it.
What lifts the book above its setup is the voice. Much of the story arrives through Joyce’s chatty, disarming diary entries, and Osman uses her apparent innocence to smuggle in genuine emotional weight about age, grief and friendship. The mystery itself is satisfying, but the deeper pleasure is simply the company. It was The Times Crime Book of the Month and appeared among the Guardian’s best crime and thrillers, and the affection the critics felt is easy to understand from the very first chapter.
The narration: Lesley Manville plays it beautifully straight
Lesley Manville is a superb piece of casting. The great temptation with comic crime is to wink at the listener, and she never does. Her Joyce is a small masterpiece, all cheerful surface with something far more watchful underneath, and her Elizabeth has precisely the crisp, unbothered authority the character demands. Ibrahim and Ron are kept distinct without tipping into caricature, which matters a great deal across twelve hours of ensemble scenes.
Her pacing suits the material too. She lets the jokes land with a beat of dry air rather than forcing them, and she handles the book’s sudden swerves into loss and old age with real tenderness. The production is clean and unfussy, and this edition ends with an exclusive conversation between Richard Osman and Marian Keyes, a warm little bonus that fans of either writer will enjoy. Keyes, incidentally, summed up the book better than any reviewer has managed since:
Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny.
Marian Keyes
Who this audiobook suits
I would hand this audiobook without hesitation to:
- Fans of cosy crime and character-led mysteries, especially anyone who misses gentle British humour in the genre
- Listeners new to crime fiction who find serial killer grimness off-putting
- Commuters, since the short chapters and diary structure make it easy to pick up and put down mid-journey
- Anyone who watched the Netflix film and wants the fuller, funnier original
- Book clubs, because the closing conversation between Osman and Marian Keyes is ready-made discussion material
It is less suited to anyone after forensic procedure, high body counts or breakneck plotting. The clue is in the word cosy. If that is you, our crime and thriller section leans darker in places, with long, knotty listens such as The Running Grave for those who like a mystery they can disappear into for weeks.
The final word
So, worth your credit? For the right listener, absolutely. You get a bestselling phenomenon, a first-rate narrator on top form and a bonus author conversation, all in one purchase. And there is good news if you fall for these characters: the club reconvenes in The Man Who Died Twice, again read by Lesley Manville and rated 4.7 on our records, before Fiona Shaw takes over the microphone for The Bullet That Missed and The Last Devil to Die, both also sitting at 4.7 with our listeners.
If you are still weighing it against other contenders, our top 10 audiobooks list shows what it is up against. And if you are new to audiobooks altogether, the economics are simple: you can try Audible UK free for 30 days and make the Thursday Murder Club your first case. On this evidence, it will not be your last.
