We Solve Murders features a different cast of characters than the Thursday Murder Club, and they get around quite a bit more than that crew (hopping private jets to Dubai, St Lucia, and even exotic South Carolina), but the winning formula stays pretty much the same: take some earnest, relatable folks, drop them into the world of career criminals who smuggle drugs, launder money, and put out hits on people who get in their way, and then root for the home team as they sort things out in pursuit of justice.
I had no problem getting swept up in the action, and for most of the book I loved both the pacing and the characters every bit as much as I’d expected when I first picked it up. Surprisingly, as the climax loomed closer things started to fall apart for me, and when the conclusion finally arrived it fell unsatisfyingly flat.
The biggest letdown was that the various puzzle pieces planted throughout the story didn’t all click together neatly into a final solution. A couple of them were just conveniently dropped altogether, in fact, sparing the need to slot them into the big picture at all. And then the “bad guys” – who weren’t depicted as masterminds, exactly, but at least as savvy and experienced crooks – started to make some odd choices, and ended up really handing the case over to our heroes with a nice bow on it.
Honestly, I look back over how things went down in the final chapters, and without the deus ex machina assist, I feel like four times out of five our MC’s end up either behind bars or six feet under despite their best efforts. So as far as the mystery itself goes: I loved it right up until I didn’t, and I walked away feeling a bit meh about the plotline overall.
But I still think it’s a four star book, if only just. Much like Thursday Murder Club, the real star of We Solve Murders is Osman’s narrative voice. His dry, deadpan wit is a treat to read, and it sets the tone perfectly for a mystery that feels cozy and charming even when hitmen are shooting out car windows and feeding unlucky victims to the sharks. The main characters have a touching vulnerability, and We Solve Murders is as much about building relationships, navigating grief, and figuring out how to live your best life as it is about catching bad guys. The plot may not have paid off the way I’d hoped, but the characters are keepers. I’ll be back for the sequel when it drops later this year.
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