The Impossible Fortune: back with the Thursday Murder Club

A return, rather than a starting point

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim return in the fifth Thursday Murder Club novel. A wedding and a threatened guest draw the group into another investigation, with a fortune at stake. This is the ensemble option in our 2025 mystery selection.

The most useful buying question is therefore not simply whether the case sounds intriguing. It is whether you want to spend time with an established group. A continuing cast carries shared history into a new crime, and that history can be part of the pleasure or an obstacle for a newcomer.

Where to begin

If you have never read Osman, start with The Thursday Murder Club and follow publication order. An individual case may be approachable on its own, but later books necessarily reveal who remains in the group's life and how relationships have developed. Avoiding the murder solution is not the same as avoiding every series spoiler.

Returning readers can use the publisher's sample to reconnect with the voice before buying a particular edition. We have not assessed the complete novel, so we do not rate the cleverness of its final explanation.

A different kind of suspense

Consider this title when your interest lies in people solving a problem together. The premise invites attention to different kinds of expertise: who notices a social detail, who asks a practical question and who is comfortable taking a risk?

For discussion, try separating the most useful clue from the most useful conversation. Does being underestimated create opportunities for a detective? How does an investigation change when its participants have long lives behind them rather than careers just beginning?

Check your shelf before ordering

This is book five, not a box set and not the first Thursday Murder Club novel. Our panel links the English US hardcover from Pamela Dorman Books. If matching an existing collection matters, compare publisher, ISBN and format when choosing your copy.