‘We Solve Murders’: Richard Osman’s new murder mystery promises – and delivers – a good time

I spent a pleasant few days ensconced in Richard Osman’s latest, We Solve Murders, where a good-natured, if random, group of people (a retired policeman, a bodyguard, and a world-famous writer) traipse around the world trying to figure out who is shooting at them and why. Their travels take them from South Carolina to St Lucia, Ireland, New Forest in the UK, and Dubai. In each place, they stay in magical locales, luxury hotels, a wellness retreat, and are served sushi, perfect poached eggs at 25,000 feet, and glasses of rosé.

At the end of the novel, one of the characters asks another where their next case will be. “Nearby?” “Fairly nearby,” replies the other. “Turkmenistan.” The third member of the group says, breezily, “I’ll prepare the jet,” and off, presumably, they go.

It’s all great fun. The characters are delightful, and there’s an air of no one taking anything too seriously, even when confronting US Customs and Border Protection, running away from assassins and dodging bullets, that is hugely relaxing.

Dizzyingly fun

Nonetheless, I found myself a little dizzied by the quick turns around the world; this vertigo was accentuated by the very short chapters which give the impression of jumping from one place to the other with reckless...

Read more