Books To Read if You Love The Thursday Murder Club

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar routines. His days of adventure are over. Adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s job now. Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. She’s currently on a remote island protecting mega-bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio, until a dead body and a bag of money mean trouble in paradise. So she sends an SOS to the only person she trusts … As a thrilling race around the world begins, can Amy and Steve outrun and outsmart a killer?

Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing — a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive and Vera sort of … swipes it. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is a killer …

In 1965, Frances Adams is at an English country fair where a fortune-teller makes a bone-chilling prediction: One day, Frances will be murdered. It is a prediction that sparks her life’s work — trying to solve a crime that hasn’t happened yet. Nearly sixty years later, Frances is found murdered and her great-niece Annie is determined to catch the killer. Can Annie safely unravel the dark mystery or will dredging up the past throw her into the path of a killer?

Retired nurse, avid gardener, and renowned cake maker Miss Hortense has lived in Bigglesweigh, a quiet suburb of Birmingham, England, since she emigrated from Jamaica in 1960. A career in nursing has made her an expert in deciphering other people’s secrets with just a glance. Miss Hortense once used her skills to benefit the Pardner network — a local group of Black investors that she helped found. Until, that is, she was unceremoniously ousted from its ranks. But when an unidentified man is found dead in the home of one of the Pardner members, it is finally time for Miss Hortense to solve a mystery that will see her and the community she loves pushed to their limits. The first novel from a bold, brilliant new voice, A Murder for Miss Hortense introduces a fearless sleuth whom readers will never forget.

Older women often feel invisible, but sometimes that’s their secret weapon. They’ve spent their lives as the deadliest assassins in a clandestine international organization, but now that they’re sixty years old, four women friends can’t just retire — it’s kill or be killed in this action-packed thriller by New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated author Deanna Raybourn.

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumor — it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village. Then, on the night of the wedding, death comes to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the Ichiyanagi house. Soon, amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is on the scene to investigate what will become a legendary murder case, but can this scruffy sleuth solve a seemingly impossible crime?

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. No matter — she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. But Molly’s orderly life is upended when she enters the suite of the infamous Charles Black, only to find him dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her to search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black — but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

In this newest installment of Alexander McCall Smith’s beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, Mma Ramotswe takes on a number of perplexing situations, and while she tries to maintain her usual impartiality, it’s difficult when one of the cases involves someone so close to her heart.

Brilliantly written, It’s Elementary is a quick-witted, escapist romp that perfectly captures just how far parents will go to give their kids the very best, all wrapped in a mystery that will leave you guessing to the very end.

A real estate agent’s death sends shockwaves through the idyllic town of St. Denis, leading Bruno, Chief of Police, to suspect that there’s more to this tragedy than meets the eye.

A society matchmaker realizes she’s in danger when her clients’ weddings are sabotaged in increasingly disturbing ways — an utterly original mystery from New York Times bestselling author Aisha Saeed.

Amateur sleuth Flavia de Luce, along with her pestilent younger cousin, investigates the murder of a former public hangman and uncovers a secret that brings the greatest shock of her life. “Flavia is the best female detective I’ve ever read, full of realism, self-confidence, and emotion (in roughly equal parts), and her tales are hilarious, engaging, and occasionally heartbreaking” (Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series).

When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and has to deal with a group of matchmaking aunties who shower her with love and judgment. But when a notoriously nasty food critic (who happens to be her ex-boyfriend) drops dead moments after a confrontation with Lila, her life quickly swerves from a Nora Ephron romp to an Agatha Christie case. Armed with the nosy auntie network, Lila takes on this tasty, twisted case and soon finds her own neck on the chopping block …