The Bullet That Missed

The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman was originally published in 2022. It is the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series, which follows a group of seniors living in England as they gather each week in their retirement community to investigate unsolved murders. Osman’s books are cozy mysteries that look at contemporary issues. The Bullet That Missed is a New York Times bestseller, and it was Amazon’s best-selling book in 2022. It was also shortlisted for two British Book Awards—Crime & Thriller Book of the Year, as well as Best Fiction Audiobook.

The Bullet That Missed has two mysteries, one involving VAT fraud and the other involving cryptocurrency. The main case of the Thursday Murder Club is investigating the disappearance of Bethany Waites, a journalist who uncovered VAT fraud and is presumed dead. The second mystery involves a member of the club, Elizabeth, being threatened and kidnapped by someone who wants her to kill a former KGB agent who opposes cryptocurrency. The novel’s themes are The Importance of Friendship, The Importance of Books, and The Role of Television and Other Media.

This guide cites the 2023 Penguin paperback edition.

Plot Summary

The Thursday Murder Club operates out of Coopers Chase, a retirement community in England, and has four main members: Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim. Joyce, whose diary entries are included throughout the novel, suggests that the club investigates the disappearance of Bethany Waites. Bethany was a newscaster at South East Tonight and is presumed to be murdered because her car was found below Shakespeare’s Cliff.

The novel moves between the perspectives of many characters as the case develops. Ron and other members of the club begin by going on South East Tonight to talk about Coopers Chase and meet Mike, who is the show’s cohost. Ron and the show’s makeup artist, Pauline, form a mutual attraction and begin dating. Mike tells the murder club that Bethany was receiving threatening notes at work, and she had vaguely mentioned a discovery in her VAT fraud story to him. Only one person involved in the fraud, Heather, is in prison for it. Journalists assume Jack, a local criminal, is also involved, but he was not convicted. Ron plays snooker with Jack, who believes Bethany is dead and that her death was unnecessary.

As Bethany’s mystery unfolds, Elizabeth receives threatening text messages and is kidnapped along with her husband, Stephen. Her kidnapper, who is referred to as the Viking for most of the novel, wants Elizabeth to kill Viktor, a retired KGB spy. Stephen takes note of the books in the Viking’s library where they are held. The Viking threatens to kill Joyce if Elizabeth doesn’t kill Viktor. Stephen, whose dementia is worsening, investigates the books and discovers the kidnapper is Henrik, who works in cryptocurrency, which Viktor opposes.

Ibrahim visits Connie, a prisoner being held in the same location as Heather, but with VIP status. Connie agrees to talk to Heather and to have therapy sessions with Ibrahim. Shortly after Connie talks to Heather, Heather dies by suicide, but Connie replaces her suicide note with one that makes her death appear to be a murder. Connie wants revenge on Ron for events that occurred in a previous novel. This visit causes police chief Andrew to arrange a reading of his latest book at Coopers Chase so he can talk to Ibrahim. Ibrahim refuses to break patient-doctor confidentiality, and Joyce begins reading Andrew’s books. Joyce and Elizabeth go to a filming of Stop the Clock to meet and question Fiona, the show’s host and a former cohost of South East Tonight.

Police officers Donna and Chris assist the Thursday Murder Club with their investigation. From CCTV footage, they discover that Bethany visited an apartment complex called Juniper Court on the night of her disappearance. They spend their time trying to figure out who she visited there. Donna begins dating Bogdan, a handyman who helps with Thursday Murder Club cases, who is also a friend of Elizabeth and Stephen, and Chris continues dating Donna’s mother, Patrice. Bogdan also plays chess with Stephen, who eventually forgets how to play due to his dementia and helps Elizabeth get a gun. Chris screen-tests for South East Tonight, but Donna ends up being the one who goes on the program multiple times.

Elizabeth takes Joyce and the gun to Viktor’s building in London. Out of Joyce’s sight, in the bathroom, she pretends to kill Viktor and has Joyce destroy her SIM card. This keeps the Viking from tracking her. After they sneak Viktor out in a body bag, the Viking visits Viktor’s place and sees the bullet in the ceiling. The Viking then attempts to kill Joyce, but she drugs him with the sleeping pill Viktor uses while traveling via body bag. When the Viking regains consciousness, Stephen reveals that he knows Henrik’s identity and Henrik agrees to stop attempting murder and help out with Bethany’s case.

After Viktor and Ron talk to Jack together, Jack is murdered, but his death is staged as a suicide. Ibrahim discovers that Heather’s suicide note is not in her handwriting. Several names come up in the VAT files, including Carron Whitehead, Michael Gullis, and Robert Brown MSc. Ibrahim figures out that the first is an anagram of the name of the protagonist in Andrew’s books (Catherine Howard). Joyce notices that Michael Gullis is the name of an antagonist in one of Andrew’s books. Ron figures out that Robert Brown MSc stands for Bobbie Brown mascara.

Fiona allows the group to livestream to her Instagram. They set up a camera and Henrik (off screen) offers to help Andrew with his money problems. Andrew admits to being involved in the VAT fraud and wants to access his money. He also claims he killed Bethany after Viktor interrogates him. Mike comes on the livestream as Andrew is taken off screen by Bogdan and asks the public to remember Bethany’s name more than Andrew’s. However, Andrew’s books are becoming best sellers after the livestream. Mike is grateful to Bethany for helping him come out as gay and wonders if she is still alive.

Ron asks Pauline about the Bobbie Brown mascara connection (since it is the kind she uses). Pauline admits that Bethany visited her in Juniper Court and sent her money for help with her disguise but swears Ron to secrecy. Bethany, after receiving a bullet from Andrew with Mike’s name, faked her own death. During her investigation, she learned how to access the VAT money and used it to escape to Dubai. The police are able to get DNA evidence from their medals of honor that Andrew presented to them, which shows that he killed Jack. Donna discovers that a producer on South East Tonight had threatened Fiona and Bethany. Joyce begins writing detective fiction stories with a protagonist named after her late husband, Gerry. The novel ends with the friend hanging out in Viktor’s fancy London apartment and Elizabeth and Viktor talking about following the money trail to Dubai.