Thursday Murder Club Mysteries & We Solve Murders Series By Richard Osman 5 Books Collection Set (The Thursday Murder Club,Man Who Died Twice,Bullet That Missed,Last Devil To Die,We Solve Murders)

Why it's worth it

This set collects all four Thursday Murder Club novels plus the We Solve Murders spinoff. Richard Osman writes murder that's genuinely charming rather than grim, which makes this the safest recommendation on the list for a reader who hates dark fiction.

If you don't want to be disturbed, buy this one. Osman's murders happen off-page. There's no forensic detail, no dread, no chapter you'll regret reading before bed. What you get instead is four residents of a retirement community — Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron — solving cold cases with a lot of wit and a total absence of anything left to lose. It's the gentlest thing here by a wide margin.

Five books is a lot of book. If you want something to disappear into for a month, this covers it, and the per-book math works out well against buying them one at a time. Owners consistently mention burning through the whole run faster than they expected, and several came to the books after watching the screen adaptation rather than before.

From our review of 8 mystery and thriller books, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +If you don't want to be disturbed, buy this one
• +Five books is a lot of book
• +One thing to know going in: We Solve Murders isn't a Thursday Murder Club prequel
• +It also travels well across ages

What to know

• –The plotting is the weak part
• –There's no menace. None