Stephen King, referencing Netflix’s Lou, said “And how cool to see a tough older woman kick some serious ass.” Of course, Elizabeth kicks ass cerebrally and her victims don’t know what hit them. Her brains, her former *hush hush* spy career, plus her ability to see four moves ahead on the chess board of life result in a woman who sparkles with ferocious capability.

Elizabeth is the undisputed star of the group. Suffice it to say, though, that murders and investigations and what have you wouldn’t be unfamiliar work for her.”įold in humor, pathos, the reality of aging, family relationships, and the eternal need for love and acceptance, it’s no wonder readers can’t get enough. (He has a West Ham team tattoo on his neck.) Ibrahim Arif is a mostly retired psychiatrist, thoughtful and deliberate and, if he does say so himself, a “handsome” man.Īs for Elizabeth Best, as Joyce (whose diary entries form some chapters) said in the first book, “I’m not supposed to say what Elizabeth used to do for a living, even though she does go on about it herself at times. Ron Ritchie had a long and public career as a trade union leader now his main passion is football.

Joyce Meadowcroft is a retired nurse who lives with Alan, an “indeterminate terrier” she got from a rescue group. Those lively characters, all Coopers Chase residents, are the key to the series’ success. They live in an upscale retiree village in the bucolic English countryside (money does grease the wheels of aging). The four retirees who comprise the Thursday Murder Club are wily, thoughtful of each other, and run rings around non-retirees.

The bullet that missed paperback