Title: The Man Who Died Twice
Author: Richard Osman
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 425
Rating: 4/5
This is Osman’s second book in the Tuesday Murder Club series, and I think it’s pretty safe to say that he doesn’t suffer from second book syndrome. If anything, I preferred this one to the first one, perhaps because he learned a few lessons along the way when working on the first one.
It also has a few interesting elements, including touches of an espionage thriller and some new information on the backstories of our major characters. At the same time, there are plenty of jokes along the way, as well as some societal commentary on the way that people treat old people and the disrespect that some younger people have towards their elders, although Osman also didn’t overdo it and so it didn’t feel preachy. He showed the good as well as the bad.
Speaking of showing, I find that Osman is pretty good at that old maxim of showing and not telling, and the result is a sublimely written mystery novel that’s also a heck of a lot of fun. There’s a little something here for everyone.
Now, I read this one as a buddy read with my author friend Charles Heathcote, and the two of us have both written cosy mysteries that have elements of humour to them. Because of that, there are some similarities between our own work and Osman’s work, so that’s kind of neat. I’m yet to see what Charlie thought of this, though.
For me, at the very least I guess it helps to show that there’s a market for the kind of stuff that we’re writing, and while Osman is a talented writer with the support of a major publishing house, I don’t know if there’s a huge quality difference between his books and ours. But I’m probably a little biased.
As for The Man Who Died Twice, I thought it was a cracking read and it’s got me looking forward to the next one, which I believe has already been released. But for me, as much as I enjoyed this book and the one that came before it, I’m not going to go out of my way to get it. Osman is popular enough as an author that I’ll see it in a charity shop at some point.
And that’s about it for me. If you’ve been thinking about picking it up then I’d definitely give it a go, though.
