The Thursday Murder Club Richard Osman (2020) In a posh retirement community in present-day England, four residents meet every Thursday to discuss cold cases from the local police department. When a contractor who has worked on the site where they live is found murdered, they jump into the investigation, to the chagrin of the police. The characters in this cozy mystery are almost caricatures of themselves: the firebrand retired union organizer, the arrogant real estate developer, the brash and fearless ex-spy, the greedy builder, the cautious former nurse, the ambitious police constable, and so on. Each of them is a hoot. The narrative starts out slowly but then rapidly picks up the pace, for a rollicking, witty murder investigation. (A movie version of this novel is due out on Netflix in 2025.)
Frankie Graham Norton (2024) Crusty octogenarian Frances (“Frankie”) Howe, who lives in London, has broken her ankle. Her friend Norah hires Damien, a young home-health aide (“carer” in Brit-speak), for the night shift at Frankie’s apartment. Frankie and Damien begin to bond when they learn that they both grew up in County Cork, Ireland. Gradually, Frankie tells Damien the story of her eventful life, including a restaurant career in New York City from the 1960s into the 1980s. Well, put several gay characters in NYC in the 1980s and you get a devastating inside look at the AIDS epidemic. But this novel is primarily about Frankie, whose resilience and strength help her to survive the nasty machinations of the people she encounters over the decades. Author Graham Norton has previously worked in the genres of memoir and mystery (see my review of his mystery Holding, one of my favorite books of 2018). With Frankie, Norton has ventured successfully into historical fiction, producing a sweet and sensitive novel that kept me turning the pages with anticipation.
And here are two novels about the elderly that I’ve previously reviewed and put on my “favorites” list:
Our Souls at Night Kent Haruf (2015) A widow and a widower, neighbors in a small Midwestern town, carve out their own version of happiness in spite of setbacks. Readers can tuck this story away as a tutorial in how to cope with the inevitability of mortality. (The 2017 movie of the same name starred Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.) Click here for my full review.
Henry, Himself Stewart O’Nan (2019) This is a quiet, introspective portrait of a year in the life of Henry Maxwell, a retired engineer who lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Emily. The novelist is able to turn everyday events into drama that drives his narrative in a highly effective way. Click here for my full review.