Having read and enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman last summer, I was pleased when my neighbour lent me the sequel The Man Who Died Twice over Christmas. As others have commented on the cover, this one is even better.

They are both set in the kind of old people‘s home we would all like to end up in, one set in beautiful grounds, with nice staff, lovely rooms, good food, interesting activities to participate in, and friendly and highly intelligent residents. The Thursday Murder Club has morphed into strong friendships between Elizabeth, ex-M15, Joyce, whose diary entries are a joy to behold, Ibrahim, a retired therapist, and Ron, a former union powerhouse. Not sure how any of them can afford to live there, but I’m happy to overlook that. What would certainly make it more than possible is the twenty million pounds worth of diamonds that have gone missing and which cause Elizabeth’s ex-husband Douglas to turn up for help.

Things get very interesting very quickly and it’s not long before the friends get the local police Donna and Chris involved (Chris is now very sweetly dating Donna’s Mum and has given up the chocolate in favour of carrot batons), along with their friend Bogdan. They are soon paying visits to various villains, from local seaside drug dealers to serious money launderers who work for the mafia, using their elderly charm to fool the criminals into thinking they are harmless.

Will they find the diamonds? Who is and is not dead and will Elizabeth get to the bottom of what her ex-husband is up to? It’s definitely worth reading to find out.