Between them, Richard Osman's first four "Thursday Murder Club" novels sold more than ten million copies and sparked a publishing craze for so-called "cosy crime", said Kevin Maher in The Times. Small wonder, then, that Netflix's big-budget adaptation of the first title arrives "with the self-conscious swagger of a ready-made franchise".
Cracking cases
Meanwhile, a shady property developer played by David Tennant plots to turn Coopers Chase into luxury flats; and when both he and his business partner (Geoff Bell) are found dead in mysterious circumstances, the amateur sleuths are "compelled into undercover and very active duty".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Funny and likeable'
The murder mystery that follows is less a whodunnit than "a half-hearted parody of one", said Robbie Collin in The Telegraph. In the books, Osman's characters occupy a space somewhere "between romanticism and pastiche". This doesn't really translate to film: even this A-list cast can't seem to work out "if they're playing people or spoofs".
There's little suspense to speak of, and the end result is a "thin and perfunctory" movie. It's certainly "undemanding", but that's sort of the point, said Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. "The Thursday Murder Club" is a "funny and likeable, if slightly bland" film which, as one character remarks, "feels just like a Sunday teatime TV crime drama".
-
What will the US economy look like in 2026?Today’s Big Question Wall Street is bullish, but uncertain
-
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: should Egyptian dissident be stripped of UK citizenship?Today's Big Question Resurfaced social media posts appear to show the democracy activist calling for the killing of Zionists and police
-
Biggest political break-ups and make-ups of 2025The Explainer From Trump and Musk to the UK and the EU, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a round-up of the year’s relationship drama
-
The best food books of 2025The Week Recommends From mouthwatering recipes to insightful essays, these colourful books will both inspire and entertain
-
Art that made the news in 2025The Explainer From a short-lived Banksy mural to an Egyptian statue dating back three millennia
-
Nine best TV shows of the yearThe Week Recommends From Adolescence to Amandaland
-
Winter holidays in the snow and sunThe Week Recommends Escape the dark, cold days with the perfect getaway
-
The best homes of the yearFeature Featuring a former helicopter engine repair workshop in Washington, D.C. and high-rise living in San Francisco
-
Critics’ choice: The year’s top 10 moviesFeature ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘It Was Just an Accident’ stand out
-
A luxury walking tour in Western AustraliaThe Week Recommends Walk through an ‘ancient forest’ and listen to the ‘gentle hushing’ of the upper canopy
-
Joanna Trollope: novelist who had a No. 1 bestseller with The Rector’s WifeIn the Spotlight Trollope found fame with intelligent novels about the dramas and dilemmas of modern women
