Do you remember the voice analyst who listened to the taunting tape believed to have been sent by Peter Sutcliffe, aka The Yorkshire Ripper, and who pinpointed the very area of Sunderland where the voice (aka Wearside Jack) came from? He correctly identified the cadences, the accent and dialogue and we were all amazed. Oh, to revel in language, to appreciate the nuances and lilts, to recognize the precise accents and rhythms. The opening of this delightful novel celebrates just that, or at least how experts can now also identify writers through the style of their written word. It seems AI has found a place in the form of ChatGPT, which can mimic writing styles and so hide the identity of the real author. An important weapon in the armoury of the cunning arch criminal, Francois Loubet, who wishes to remain anonymous.

After the roaring success of The Thursday Murder Club series, soon to premier on the screen, this novel was much anticipated and you can immediately detect the voice of Osman, with its subtle humour, tongue-in-cheek comments and close observation of people.

Andrew Fairbanks is dead. Who? He had had his moment of fame which he had always craved – but he was no longer around to enjoy it. Someone wanted him dead and someone had been successful. And Andrew Fairbanks is not the first.

Faced with ‘a bear of a man in a singlet and speedos’, Rosie regrets not ordering pancakes.

Amy Wheeler is a private protection officer, currently protecting the famous and highly successful novelist, Rosie D’Antonio, from being murdered by a notorious Russian oligarch who did not like being featured in one of her novels. Amy and Rosie are the only inhabitants of a private island off South Carolina, except for Kevin, an ex Navy Seal who is there to help - and who makes a pretty good souffle. All set for a cracking plot you might think but there’s more.

Amy’s father-in-law, Steve Wheeler, is a retired police officer who will never get over the death of his wife, Debbie, to whom he still ‘speaks’ every day. He lives in the quiet village of Axley, in the heart of The New Forest, with his cat, Trouble. He enjoys retirement and the gentle village life but still also enjoys a little dabbling so has set up in business as ‘Steve Investigates’ – the subtlety is not lost given he’s a private investigator. While he may exercise his little grey cells on less exciting cases these days, he has not lost the copper’s instinct.

When Amy discovers there is a target on her back, she seeks advice from the person she trusts most - Steve. She needs his help if she is to avoid being killed. The machinations are in motion.

The villain is known to them as Francois Loubet, a big-time money smuggler/launderer who uses micro-influencers for fake advertising jobs, to carry his money across the water. These influencers are all protected by the same firm which employs Amy and are the ones who end up dead. When Amy happens to be in the vicinity of each of the first three murders, the evidence begins to stack up against her. She is innocent and realises that she too is in danger either because the police will somehow (she knows) find irrefutable evidence against her or because ultimately, someone will want to tie up all the loose ends, of which she will be one.

While Amy and her ‘team’ try to solve the puzzle – difficult when they have yet to identify the villains they are chasing - there is more mayhem when Jeff, Amy’s boss, also has to flee from gun-toting men in black balaclavas. The game is most definitely on!

She is a real character, wicked in the most appealing and mischievous way - someone we’d all like in our lives.

With Amy away, Jeff does not know who he can trust in his hour of need so turns to the person he knows Amy trusts most, Steve, but their arranged meeting does not quite go as planned and by the end of Part One, Steve finds himself en route to America to meet Amy, leaving behind the safe comfort of the weekly pub quiz, ‘the sofa that’s been moulded to the shape of his backside’, the creaky third stair and the photo of Debbie on his bedside table. No sleepy retirement village this time, our intrepid detectives race all over the world, racking up the miles in their attempt to identify the real culprit behind all the death and disorder. Francois Loubet is elusive - and just who is Joe Blow?

Throughout, Osman inserts small details and asides, comments which may seem banal but which add a wonderful, quirky humour and you just can’t help laughing out loud. So too, he adds poignancy in Steve’s conversations with Debbie, not least when he apologises for ‘not living (with her) when I had the chance’ and in the stilted conversation between a father and son who no longer know how to talk to each other.

...you can immediately detect the voice of Osman, with its subtle humour, tongue-in-cheek comments and close observation of people.

Osman is particularly good at characterisation (and caricatures when necessary). Max Highfield, Eddie Flood, Mickey Moody, Rob Kenna, Ferdy and Carlos all take their place with Amy, Steve, Jeff, Susan, Tony, Felicity, Bonnie …the list goes on. Rosie, thought to be about 80, certainly cannot be ignored or forgotten. She is a real character, wicked in the most appealing and mischievous way - someone we’d all like in our lives. Of necessity, she goes along for the ride and provides an interesting commentary. As ever, Osman’s characters are all stars in their own right. Whether central to the plot or just playing a cameo role, each adds a flavour to the dish. To be honest, for me, the plot became secondary as the interaction with the characters became more and more addictive.

It’s a complicated tale with a lot of paths leading to the inevitable conclusion but the gentle humour is consistent and keeps the interest alive as the gang travel the world, avoid gunshots (mostly), track the money (lots of money), and eventually realise just who is behind it all, without getting too sidetracked by the odd red herring carefully placed along the way.

PS. If you knew you were going to die, what would you order for breakfast? Faced with ‘a bear of a man in a singlet and speedos’, Rosie regrets not ordering pancakes.

PPS. ‘There’s a very good reason for letting Amy win at board games.’

We Solve Murders is published by Penguin Viking