The Man Who Died Twice

The Man Who Died Twice is a crime novel written by the British comedian and presenter Richard Osman. It was published by Penguin Random House's Viking Press in September 2021 and is the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club. Background Following the publication of The Thursday Murder Club, Osman said that he had decided to continue writing due to its success outside the United Kingdom, saying, "I was very worried about that thing, 'Oh it's a celebrity writing a novel', which, of course, is one of the worst phrases in the English language." His mother, who lives in a retirement home like the characters, had initially worried that the previous book had contained elements of her indiscretion; after discovering that was not the case, she reported enjoying the sequel a lot more, having read The Thursday Murder Club "in a blind panic". Characters and plot Like The Thursday Murder Club, the plot revolves around a quartet of pensioners living in Kent who solve murders: Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim, and Joyce. When composing the team, Osman had said he was inspired by the television show The A-Team, which he had watched in his youth. Elizabeth Best, the leader of the group, is a former MI5 agent; Ron Ritchie is a former trade union leader; Ibrahim Arif is a retired Egyptian psychiatrist; Joyce Meadowcroft is a retired nurse. Elizabeth's former husband, Douglas Middlemiss, a secret service agent, had broken into the home of a criminal banker, Martin Lomax. Soon after, £20 million of diamonds go missing from that house, with the banker suspecting him; the banker threatens to give the diamonds' owners, mobsters from New York and cartel members from Colombia, details on her husband should the diamonds not be returned. Ibrahim is assaulted during a street robbery, prompting depression and seclusion. Due to a lack of proof, the police's hands are tied and the remaining trio is told to seek retribution themselves.