READERS GUIDE

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BULLET THAT MISSED
 
The Bullet That Missed, the third novel in Richard Osman’s much-loved Thursday Murder Club series, sees the crime-fighting quartet of the Coopers Chase Retirement Village take on an ex-KGB colonel, several TV icons, a murderous money launderer, and more as they rush to catch the latest killer.
 
Joyce suggests that the gang investigate the death of Bethany Waites, a local TV presenter whose car was pushed off a cliff several years prior. Bethany had been investigating a tax fraud operation worth over £10 million and had told colleagues she was close to revealing the mastermind behind it all.
 
Now the Thursday Murder Club wants to know: Who killed Bethany? What happened to the £10 million? And why, since they started their investigation, have their two prime suspects in Bethany’s disappearance turned up dead?
 
 
A CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD OSMAN
 
1. The Thursday Murder Club returns for their third whodunit in The Bullet That Missed. What was your inspiration for the novel?
 
I really wanted to write a book set in the world of television, to draw on my former career a little bit. So much happens behind the scenes in television, and I have met so many extraordinary on-screen personalities who are definitely potential murderers. This book begins with our first meeting with local news legend Mike Waghorn. He was the perfect character for me. Nearly seventy years old, he is incredibly famous in his local area. He has a great mystery for the gang to solve, and I knew Joyce would immediately have a crush on him. Alongside that story line, as I always like to make Elizabeth’s life as difficult as possible, I gave her a near-impossible task in this book, just to see how she coped with it.
 
2. What has surprised you most developing the Thursday Murder Club series? Has your writing process changed over three books as you continue to build the world of Elizabeth, Rob, Ibrahim, and Joyce?
 
I love how close readers have become to the characters. Everybody has a favorite, though my favorite changes day by day. They are all kind, but also all tough, and they each have their own ways of making us laugh and cry. I love the people who are drawn to them too, and how important they have become to the books. I’m always surprised how important Bogdan, Chris, and Donna, who are now honorary members of the gang, have become to the books. If I didn’t put enough Bogdan in a book, for example, I know that my editors and my readers would be furious. Quite right too. There are a couple of new additions in The Bullet That Missed too, who I think will be sticking around for the next adventure. I just love throwing trouble at all of these completely different characters and seeing which one comes up with a solution this time.
 
3. Friendship and its importance are recurring themes in The Bullet That Missed as our sleuths reflect on the relationships they have built later in life. As newcomer Viktor reflects: “People drift in and out of your life, and, when you are younger, you know you will see them again. But now every old friend is a miracle.” Why was it important to explore this now?
 
In The Thursday Murder Club, Joyce makes the observation that you always know when you’re doing something for the first time, but you rarely know when you’re doing something for the last time. Friendships are a very important example of that. There will always be people in our life who we are never going to see again. You don’t choose your family, but you do choose your friends, and I love the strength of the friendships between Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim, and the lengths they will go to protect one another and to protect their friends. They know that one day they will lose one another, and they make the most of the days they have.
 
4. The cold case that the Thursday Murder Club is investigating in The Bullet That Missed involves the disappearance of a local TV anchor. How did your experience as a television producer and host inform the mystery?
 
There is a sequence in The Bullet That Missed where Joyce and Elizabeth visit the recording of a daily quiz show, and I adored writing it because I have been presenting daily quiz shows for many, many years. I loved writing it through their eyes. Though I should say that, without giving away spoilers, no audience member has ever brought a gun into one of my TV recordings before.
 
5. Every installment introduces readers to new “fan-favorite” characters. The gang’s fixer, Bogdan, mob boss Connie, and this book’s newcomers: ex-KGB officer Viktor and the mysterious Viking. How do you breathe so much life into each and every character?
 
When I introduce new characters, I try to imagine they’re the lead characters in their own novel. Probably the only new major character in this book that I wouldn’t want to write a whole novel about is Joyce’s dog, Alan. Although, now that I say that, I’m kind of tempted to try. Dogs solving crimes, is that a profitable niche?
 
6. You just discovered that one of your ancestors formed an amateur crime-solving gang in nineteenth-century Brighton. Can you tell us a bit about these crime solvers? Will your discovery find its way into a Thursday Murder Club story in future?
 
Yes, I discovered on a British TV show that my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Gabriel Gillam, a fisherman and smuggler, uncovered the body in one of England’s most notorious nineteenth-century murder cases. Even better, he was aided by his wife and mother, as they formed their very own band of plucky amateur detectives. I was able to visit the site of the murder, the old inn where the inquest took place, and the crown court where the murderer was convicted and sentenced to death. I would love to write a story one day about Gabriel, Mary, and Elizabeth (yes, the gang even had their very own Elizabeth) solving crimes in 1820s Brighton.
 
 
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION
 
1. How do you think the relationships among the members of the Thursday Murder Club have changed through the series? Have any dynamics remained the same? Discuss.
 
2. Who is your favorite of the new characters introduced in The Bullet That Missed, and why? Would you want to see them again in future books?
 
3. Elizabeth makes a rare mistake in keeping to the same routine, which leads to her capture by the Viking. What other flaws does Elizabeth have? What could she have done differently?
 
4. Joyce is shocked to discover that Elizabeth could be capable of killing someone. How far do you think Elizabeth would go to protect her friends? How far do you think Joyce would go?
 
5. During one of their therapy sessions, Ibrahim asks Connie if she has any secrets then refuses to answer the same question when it is turned back on him. Why do you think he avoids this question?
 
6. Joyce and Elizabeth are best friends—and yet even they don’t tell each other everything. Do you think it’s necessary in any relationship to keep a few secrets from each other? Why or why not?
 
7. Donna and Chris were each romantically uninvolved before they met the Thursday Murder Club and their network. How have they changed since then? And what do you think the future holds for Donna and Bogdan, Chris and Patrice?
 
8. What were your suspicions about the truth behind Bethany’s disappearance? Were you surprised by the ending? Discuss.