The Man Who Died Twice
Richard Osman, 2021
Mystery, thriller & crime Graphic novels & humourContemporary fiction
Four friends in a retirement village, one of them an ex-spy, and a letter from a man she watched die. Comic mystery with real feeling. Warm, witty banter among four old friends carries a murder plot, with tenderness and a thread of unease under the jokes.
Feels like humor, tenderness and unease. About friendship, death and home.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy comic crime built on friendship and sharp, affectionate dialogue. The jokes sit alongside murder and a lingering sense of unease, so it is not entirely cosy.
Why read it
A good pick when you want a mystery that leavens death with friendship and dry jokes, plus the pleasure of funny, complicated company.
A page from the book
The friend who ends the argument by telling you what you already decided.
Elizabeth reaches for the white wine. “Ibrahim, not everything is about numbers. Ron, you would die long before the dog; male life expectancy is far lower than female life expectancy, and you know what your GP has said about your blood sugar. And Joyce, we both know you’ve already made up your mind. You’ll get a rescue dog. It’ll be sitting somewhere right now, all alone with big eyes, just waiting for you. You will be powerless and, besides, it’ll be fun for all of us, so let’s stop even discussing it.” Richard Osman.Before the novels, Osman spent two decades as a TV producer and then co-presenter of the quiz show Pointless.
Books that feel like this
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer, 2008
Also tenderness and friendship.
More by Richard Osman
The Thursday Murder Club
Richard Osman, 2020
A retirement village's cold-case club gets a fresh body — and four friends with a lifetime of noticing things turn out to be alarmingly good detectives.
The Bullet That Missed
Richard Osman, 2016
A charming detective joins a witty group of retirees to investigate a complex local mystery, but the truth may be far more complicated than a small-town murder.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Man Who Died Twice for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy comic crime built on friendship and sharp, affectionate dialogue. The jokes sit alongside murder and a lingering sense of unease, so it is not entirely cosy.
- What is The Man Who Died Twice like?
- Warm, witty banter among four old friends carries a murder plot, with tenderness and a thread of unease under the jokes. Feels like humor, tenderness and unease. About friendship, death and home.
- What should I read after The Man Who Died Twice?
- If you liked The Man Who Died Twice, try Anxious People (Fredrik Backman), Remarkably Bright Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt) and Three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog) (Jerome K. Jerome).
A taste of the feed
Why the happiest lives online look so exhausting up close.
The truth of course is that if people really were as happy as they look on the Internet, they wouldn’t spend so much damn time on the Internet, because no one who’s having a really good day spends half of it taking pictures of themselves. Anyone can nurture a myth about their life if they have enough manure, so if the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, that’s probably because it’s full of shit.
Anxious People · Fredrik Backman
Someone is quietly making plans to fix a heart that isn't his.
As a general rule, I like holes. A hole at the top of my tank gives me freedom. But I do not like the hole in her heart. She only has one, not three, like me. Tova’s heart. I will do everything I can to help her fill it.
Remarkably Bright Creatures · Shelby Van Pelt
The short list of what a life actually needs, packed in one sentence.
Throw the lumber over, man! Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends, worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
Three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog) · Jerome K. Jerome
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