Richard Osman shares update on fifth Thursday Murder Club book

Virgin Radio

12 Sep 2024, 14:40

The first novel in his brand new series is out now, but Richard Osman certainly hasn’t forgotten about his Thursday Murder Club pals.

With We Solve Murders introducing a whole new story involving a different bunch of characters, the author joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show to talk all about it, and to let us know what is happening with his massively-popular other series of books.  

“I've literally just started the fifth Thursday Murder Club now, which will be out next year,” he told Chris. “They're just like such old friends of mine, and I'm just joining them again at the start of this next one. And I'm the same as anyone. I'm thinking, ‘I wonder what you've been up to?’ 

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Richard continued: “And so they're in the process of telling me what they've been up to now. And we start with a wedding in the fifth book. And there's a lot of fun, I think, in that fifth book, but it's lovely coming back to them.” 

While we have to wait for more from The Thursday Murder Club, Richard’s new story, We Solve Murders, is out today (12th September). The narrative follows Amy Wheeler, who is working as a private security officer on a remote island when she is required to reach out to the only person she trusts, her father-in-law Steve. A breakneck race around the world begins, as Amy and Steve try to stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy.

Richard told Chris that, while the new book series is separate from The Thursday Murder Club, it exists in the same universe. “It's lovely knowing that somewhere down the road, Steve and Amy are an hour and a half away in the New Forest, that everyone exists in the same world.”

Speaking about the relationship between Amy and Steve, he said: “She grew up in care, which we sort of hint at. I'll go further into that in other books, which is why her and Steve are so close. Steve is a widower, she grew up in care, so they would never, ever admit it to each other, but they love each other, and they lean on each other. And, you know, they say a lot. We'd never talk about grief or trauma, but of course they talk about it all the time, just in different words.”

Regarding the name of the new book, its author explained: “It was absolutely a working title at first. And I said to my publisher, ‘Look, at the moment, it's called We Solve Murders. Of course, it's not going to be called that.’ And she went, ‘Well, why not? That's a great title.’ I was like, ‘Okay, We Solve Murders.’ And listen, it does what it says on the tin.

On the creative process, he continued: “I try to make the chapters short. I try to come from different people's perspectives. There's one great note you ever get from an editor, and it's just occasional. You just see it twice in an entire manuscript, it'll just be ‘(bored)’. That's the only note you ever want. Because you're like, great and then you look, you go, ‘Okay, why are you bored? Oh, because that scene was too long. And actually, I should move that after that.’ But, I'm good at getting rid of stuff immediately if it's sort of wanging on a little bit, but with humour and pathos and all that stuff, there's lots of places to go. So hopefully people never get bored.” 

On his journey as a writer, Richard said: “I certainly understand how to write books a bit more easily. And I've made mistakes before, which I'm not making again.” 

He explained: “Little things, you know, like there being too many subplots. Or just everything has to come from truth. Everything has to come from character. And if you ever try to artificially put something in there, because you go, ‘Oh, this is a fun scene. This is a lot of fun,’ it always has to come out. So just letting the story tell itself a bit.

“The key as a writer is absolutely get out the way of your characters. So you should never hear your own voice at any point. If you're laughing, you're laughing because of something the character said rather than something the author has said. And if you're shocked, you're shocked because it's something someone did rather than something the author wrote. That's, that's the way I always think about it. Absolutely, get yourself out of the way of the book.” 

The House of Games host said: “It's the hardest thing I've ever done, writing a book. It’s so difficult.

“Honestly, of anything I've ever done, it's incredibly difficult, but it's the thing I'm proudest of.”

Read more about what Richard had to say about the characters in his new book here.

We Solve Murders is out now. 

For more great interviews listen to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.