A nostalgic joy for pensioner detectives
After producing a novel that sold over one million copies in the UK alone, Osman’s sequel, The Man Who Died Twice broke records. One of the fastest-selling novels of all time, with 114,202 copies sold in its first three days on sale, there is no doubt that this can be attributed to Osman’s writing style and story-telling skill. However, what I believe makes Osman’s stories so enjoyable is his attention to detail, his observation of real people, and his characterisation.
Unlike some character-based novels, Elizabeth, Ibrahim, Joyce and Ron’s personalities and appearances are developed in such a way that one grows an attachment to the characters. They are incredibly relatable because they are so real, people who are studied in-depth. Joyce could easily be one's gran or one's mother as they both probably do and say similar things; just as Ron is the kind of guy you would meet in a pub who bangs on about his days fighting the good fight. These characters are discernible making the reader more empathetic toward them. Their struggles with the modern world increase this relatability, working through the difficulties of adjusting to new technology and ideas as older people. Nevertheless, the sleuthing foursome is dedicated to trying to understand the contemporary, just as we should be hopeful that many of our grandparents are too.
Elizabeth has had an incredibly interesting life, and so too have the elderly people around you. If only you’d ask.
The Man Who Died Twice perfectly explains the struggles of growing old; fear, loneliness, and the feeling of being past ones 'sell-by-date’. Although the story is often simple, they remind me of the old Miss Marple films I used to watch with my gran during the school holidays and the Nancy drew books I read as a child. We seem to be in an era of nostalgia, with everyone referencing or reminiscing about things past. Osman’s book adds to this trend; it’s a warm hug and a fluffy memory.
Nevertheless, there are some drawbacks to the novel. James Grieg writes for Gawker ‘The novel also exhibits a disdain toward British working-class young people’. This, in honesty, is a fair observation. Whilst Osman extensively develops his main, elderly middle-class, characters, he leaves out a backstory for the young working-class criminal who is labelled as simply bad. Instead, he is a walking stereotype and extremely two-dimensional.
We can learn a lot from the success of these novels. The Thursday Murder Club has truly re-affirmed the ‘cosy crime’ genre. Whilst its portrayal of British life is idealistic and sometimes verges on classism, Osman's stories teach us that the elderly have stories to tell, lives to learn from, and that they too are continuing to learn. I hope that if anything these novels persuade people to spend more time with the elderly and show them kindness and compassion. After all, growing old can be a terribly lonely thing.
Richard Osman’s third novel will be released on 15 September 2022 – The Bullet That Missed
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