Richard Osman Books in Order: Thursday Murder Club and We Solve Murders Explained

If you've watched the Thursday Murder Club film, spotted Richard Osman's novels dominating the bestseller charts, or simply want to know where to start with his crime fiction, this guide sets out both of his series in the correct order. It's for readers new to Coopers Chase and the wider Osman universe, as well as anyone who wants to catch up properly before the next book arrives.

Richard Osman's two series, explained

Richard Osman writes two connected but separate crime series. The first, and the one most readers start with, is the Thursday Murder Club series, following four retirees in a Kent retirement village who investigate cold cases and current ones for fun. The second is We Solve Murders, a newer series with a different cast of characters, though it shares some of the same tone and wider fictional world. Knowing which series a book belongs to matters, because the two casts don't overlap and each series should be read in its own order.

The Thursday Murder Club books in order

The Thursday Murder Club series now runs to five books, and all five are published and available to buy now:

• The Thursday Murder Club (2020) – the introduction to Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim, and the case that brings them together properly for the first time.
• The Man Who Died Twice (2021)
• The Bullet That Missed (2022)
• The Last Devil to Die (2023)
• The Impossible Fortune (2025)

These are best read in publication order, since relationships, running jokes and character backstories build steadily across the series. If you're building a collection or buying for a crime-fiction fan, you'll find the full run in our Crime, Thriller & Mystery collection, and several titles also appear in our Bestselling Fiction Books collection.

Should you watch the film first?

The Thursday Murder Club film, starring Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley and Celia Imrie, was released on Netflix in August 2025 and introduced the characters to a much wider audience than the books alone had reached. The film adapts the first novel only, so if you've watched it and enjoyed the cast and setting, starting with book one and reading through in order is the natural next step. There's plenty of plot in books two to five that the film doesn't touch at all, so the story doesn't run out once the credits roll.

It's also worth knowing that the film takes some liberties with casting and pacing compared with the books, as adaptations often do, so even readers who've already seen it tend to find the novels a fairly fresh experience rather than a retread.

The We Solve Murders series in order

We Solve Murders is Osman's second series, featuring private security operative Amy Wheeler, her father-in-law Steve, and Rosie D'Antonio, the world-famous, larger-than-life bestselling novelist they get tangled up with. Book one, We Solve Murders, was published in 2024 and is available to buy now in our Fiction collection and Top Fiction collection.

A second book, We Chase Shadows, has been confirmed, but it is not out yet. Its publication date is 10 September 2026, so at the time of writing it can only be pre-ordered rather than bought as a finished, ready-to-read book. If you're planning to buy the series as a gift, it's worth checking that We Chase Shadows has actually been published before ordering it for a birthday or other date nearer the release, since pre-order books can occasionally shift. For now, the only We Solve Murders title you can buy and start reading immediately is the first one.

Which series should you start with?

If you want the fuller, more established world with five books already to get through, start with The Thursday Murder Club. It's the longer-running series, so there's more to read back to back, and it's the one the Netflix film is based on, which makes it an easy entry point if you've already seen the adaptation. If you'd rather try something newer with only one book currently available — useful if you don't want a long series hanging over you, or you're happy to wait for book two next September — We Solve Murders is the shorter commitment for now.

Either way, both series share Osman's mix of gentle humour, twisty plotting and character-driven mystery, so fans of one series are very likely to enjoy the other once it has more books published.

What to expect from Richard Osman's writing

Readers who enjoy classic detective fiction, such as Agatha Christie, tend to take to Osman's books quickly, since both series lean on ensemble casts, red herrings and puzzle-box plotting rather than graphic violence. The tone is generally warmer and funnier than a lot of modern crime fiction, which is part of why the books have found such a broad readership, from teenagers through to older relatives who might not usually pick up a thriller. That broad appeal also makes the series a fairly safe choice if you're buying for someone whose reading taste you don't know especially well.

Gift ideas for crime fiction fans

Richard Osman's books make reliable gifts, particularly for readers who enjoy cosy crime or well-known screen adaptations. Buying a full run of the Thursday Murder Club series is an easy way to give someone a lot of reading in one go, and at LetsBuyBooks you can buy brand-new copies at a discount on RRP, with fast UK delivery, which is handy if you're buying close to a birthday or other date. Browse our wider Best Books to Gift collection or the Box Sets & Collections range if you want to bundle several titles together for one recipient.

If you're shopping to a budget, it's also worth checking our Books under £10 and £10–£20 collections, where individual paperbacks from both series often appear, so you can pick up one or two titles without committing to the whole set at once.

A quick recap: what's out now and what's still to come

• Thursday Murder Club series: five books published and available to buy now — The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, The Bullet That Missed, The Last Devil to Die, and The Impossible Fortune.
• We Solve Murders series: one book published and available now — We Solve Murders. A second book, We Chase Shadows, is confirmed for 10 September 2026 but has not been published yet, so it can currently only be pre-ordered rather than bought as a finished book.

Keeping that distinction in mind matters if you're buying as a gift or trying to work through a series back to back — there's no need to wait for We Chase Shadows before starting the first We Solve Murders book, but it's also worth not assuming it's already sitting on shelves before its September 2026 publication date.

Where to buy Richard Osman's books

All of Richard Osman's published novels — the complete five-book Thursday Murder Club run and the first We Solve Murders title — are available now at LetsBuyBooks, with brand-new copies at discounted prices and fast UK delivery. Head to our Crime, Thriller & Mystery collection to see what's currently in stock, or browse Bestsellers for other popular titles in the same vein while you wait for We Chase Shadows to arrive next September.