The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

With The Impossible Fortune, Richard Osman once again proves why he has become one of Britain’s most beloved storytellers. The fifth instalment in The Thursday Murder Club series is as clever and comforting as ever, offering a mystery that is as much about the puzzle at its centre as it is about friendship, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit. Osman’s writing continues to delight, his humour as sharp as his empathy is deep.

The story opens in relative calm at Cooper’s Chase, the retirement community that has become both refuge and battleground for the series’ quartet of amateur sleuths. Joyce is preoccupied with wedding preparations for her daughter, her usual buoyant narration peppered with lists, questions, and self-deprecating wit. Ibrahim is still providing therapy to a favourite former criminal, using his steady rationality to make sense of a world that rarely behaves logically. Ron, the firebrand of the group, faces personal trials that test his patience and compassion. At the centre, Elizabeth is quietly grieving the loss of her husband, Stephen, her once-unshakeable confidence muted by sorrow.

Into this subdued setting steps a wedding guest who seeks Elizabeth’s help over a matter that swiftly spirals into danger. Before long, the group are once again entangled in a web of deceit involving an uncrackable code, shadowy figures, and a race against time. Yet Osman ensures that the thrills never overshadow the tenderness at the book’s core. The mystery propels the narrative forward, but the characters (and their extraordinary exploits and humanity) are what make it stay in the mind.

Osman handles grief and ageing with a deft touch, never allowing sentimentality to cloud his insight. Elizabeth’s struggle to regain her sense of purpose provides one of the novel’s most poignant threads, while Joyce’s cheerful optimism and Ibrahim’s precision balance the emotional weight. Ron’s relationship with his neurodivergent grandson, Kendrick, introduces new energy to the series and widens its generational scope. Osman’s characters feel like people readers know - complicated, fallible, funny, and endlessly resilient.

Stylistically, The Impossible Fortune is unmistakably Osman: briskly paced, filled with short chapters that make the story compulsively readable. His use of multiple perspectives and fragmentary notes gives the novel a mosaic-like quality, allowing each member of the ensemble to shine. The humour remains distinctly British with its mix of dry, observational, and often slyly self-awareness, but beneath the laughter lies a sincere reflection on what it means to live fully in later life.

Thematically, the novel explores legacy and connection. The elusive code at the heart of the plot mirrors the deeper mysteries of ageing and identity. Osman suggests that life itself is a riddle that can only be solved through companionship and courage. The Thursday Murder Club’s investigations, then, are not simply acts of detection but affirmations of purpose.

The Impossible Fortune is an exemplary addition to the series: tightly constructed, emotionally intelligent, and suffused with warmth. Osman’s great gift lies in balancing tension with tenderness, ensuring that even amid kidnappings and cryptic puzzles, readers are reminded of the simple joys of loyalty, laughter, and love. In a genre often defined by cynicism, Osman continues to write with heart and that, more than anything, is his impossible fortune.

Reviewer: Chris Reed

Penguin