MURDER MOST

If you've enjoyed Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, and can't wait for his septuagenarian sleuths' fifth outing in book form later this month, MATT NIXSON suggests what to read next...

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THE MARLOW MURDER CLUB BY ROBERT THOROGOOD (2021) There was only one blot on the horizon when Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood published his inventive debut cosy crime novel, The Marlow Murder Club.

Richard Osman's similarly titled debut, The Thursday Murder Club, also featuring crime-solving pensioners, had come out three months earlier. “Richard’s a brilliant writer and I love his books,” says Robert.

“Yes, they are a gang of older people solving crime but there are lots of differences. The one thing I felt a bit eggy about was the title. Mine was homage to Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple story, The Tuesday Club Murders, and I'm sure Richard had the same idea. I did consider changing it but I thought there was space in the world for two very similarly titled books.”

And there is. Robert’s books now form the basis for the hit UKTV adaptation starring Samantha “Moneypenny” Bond as Marlow’s crossword-setting sleuth Judith Potts.

THE UNEXPECTED INHERITANCE OF INSPECTOR CHOPRA BY VASEEM KHAN (2015)

Best known for his post-Partition, Bombay-set Malabar House novels, featuring India’s first female detective Persis Wadia and Met Police criminologist Archie Blackfinch, Vaseem Khan’s earlier “Baby Ganesh” series is equally enthralling. Set in modern-day India, Inspector Ashwin Chopra is due to retire after a lifetime’s crime fighting in Mumbai.

But on his last day, he inherits a strange new case — that of a drowned boy no one else seems to want to see solved — and also a baby elephant! As sidekicks go, Ganesha (named in a clever nod to the iconic Hindu god) is about as unique as you can imagine. But don’t worry, settle back and enjoy the ride. You're in safe hands.

THE WINDSOR KNOT BY S J BENNETT (2020)