Grandma’s Book Club Solves Crimes, Not Crochet

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Welcome to Second Emulation: Emily’s intro & what to expect

 📍 Hi, hello, welcome to Second Emulation! Okay, you are just so lucky right now, because you are literally about to spend, like, the best time with my amazing friend, Shawn.

He is, like, the expert on all things movies, anime, and gaming, and he just has, like, the best opinions. Seriously, talking to him is, like, a whole thing, in the best way.

So, get comfy, maybe with a little drink I don't know, a kombucha, a latte, whatever is your thing because Shawn is going to take you on, like, a total journey.



Welcome to Second Ation. 

Episode setup: The Thursday Murder Club (book + Netflix movie)

I'm your host Sean, and I want to thank Emily for that intro and welcome new and current listeners who happen to come across this podcast. Today we're gonna be unraveling the murder mystery. Club book written by Richard Osmond, and this was recently also made into a movie on Netflix.

Now, this is the second type of episode of this caliber that we're doing, in regards to books as part of new content. The most recent one was Sunrise as a reaping, which is gonna, are prequel into the installment of, the Hunger Games. 

Book summary & quick facts (tags, premise, publication info)

Now here are some tags that are used to kind of like describe the book in one word.

So here they are. Mystery fiction, crime book club, audio mystery thriller, contemporary murder, mystery, cozy. Mystery. Now these are, when I did look up the book, on Good Reads, these were like tags used to describe the book overall. Now the summary of this book is gonna be, read as any peaceful retirement village.

Four unlikely friends meet once a week to investigate unsolved murders, but when a brutal killing takes place in their very own doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first life case. Elizabeth Joyce, I, Abraham and Ron My. Be pushing 80, but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Ken are unorthodox, but brilliant Game Catch the Killer before it's too late. Let's get started Now. 

Why Sean picked it + mystery structure & Sherlock Holmes influence

I actually chose this book after I watch the movie because normally, not typically when I choose a book to read if I encounter a movie or a show that. To that would, have a book prior or the show itself is de, you know, derived of a book.

I normally do my research to see like what that book is, and if there are, more than one in that. Typically series mostly, you know, sometimes they'll just be one-off books. But in this case, murder. The Murder, murder Thursday. The Thursday Murder Club actually is a series. So this right here is the first book in that installment of a series, which I'm excited to read.

But today we just talking about the first book. Now the book was published in September 3rd, 2020 by Penguin Books. This is about 328 pages. You can find this on Kendall. It's on e-readers and also on Barnes and Noble. And they have a physical copy that you could also read. Now just like any type of mystery book, it is going to be following a structure.

I like to use Sherlock Holmes as like, you know, the outline and structure because a lot of mystery derives from the model that sir. Nan Doyle created when he created Sherlock Holmes. So you're gonna see a lot of like, influence in these type of books just because like certain Nan Doyle is a archetype of just, establishing a character as Sherlock Holmes.

And we will see those type of influences, you know, not in just literature. Books, but also in TV shows because that type of archetype character and his methods are very very popular and famous. So in here we're gonna see, a lot of that being displayed, which is nice. And my first impressions were that I didn't know this was an actual book until I watched the movie and then found out that it was now.

What worked: the retirement-home sleuth team & multi-perspective fun

What I find very unique about this is that a lot of these type of stories and books feature, you know, a solo person normally who wants to be a consultant normally, you know, trying to help the cops in some capacity. Way, it's, it could be the character could be male or female. And we've even seen cases where like, it's a, young kid or teen who's very bright.

This actually takes a different approach and it kind of spreads. The different type of skill sets that you would use to make one character across the board of three. These are, I wanna say grandpas and grandmas in a retirement home who have a. I want to say they have an infin for mystery and murder, like solving cold cases, and it kind of gets, gets them excited and each one has different, various of experience doing certain things.

And they come together and this kind of just buys their time. So instead of like them doing, you know, what you would typically see at a, a retirement home or a retirement community, these, individuals kind use this to pass their timing. Help keep like, they view it as like a mental puzzle, keeping their brain strong to a certain extent.

Now, what worked? I think one of it's also the characters feeling like, you're going after for particular age range and a lot of it could be seen like, oh, this is not ageism. These are people who can, are very capable of doing, solving a, a murder or solving, not just murder, but being able to actually, do the all, all the tasks that go involved into solving that murder as similar to a pi to an extent.

And I think having those type of characters in this book kind of like propels for me personally, the success because you do have that kind of bickering that goes on between the characters that you know. Again I'll bring it back to Sherlock Holmes. That Sherlock Holmes has, you know, that kind of rapid par rapport with, Watson.

So we kind of see that in the book, across the board between all four characters while they're engaged and trying to solve this murder that happened on the premises of the retirement home. And as I mentioned, this is a. A one of many books in the series, so I can't say to like, you know, the potential growth of the characters.

Because we're introduced to them in like a specific point in their lives. And then this shaman thing happens. We do get a resolve by the end of the book, but at the same time they just normally go back to the regular lives. So I'm hoping to. Continue the series and see if there's actual progression through the entire series, or do they just kind of like, I wouldn't say bumble their way through solving this, you know, this mystery slash murder, but if that's a type of template that's utilized going forward, which will be interesting to see.

With these characters though, we also get a interesting perspective as not only do we see, the events that would be occurred for the murder. But we get different perspectives on how each character may view and come to the conclusion for the murder. So instead of looking at it from one way the whole.

Group is able to see it from different angles and per their, you know, perspective and their, background, they're able to provide more insight into, the theory that they're working. So again, it's, it's almost like a cop procedural that we're reading about that none of these, characters have any actual investigated or police experience.

Now I can't say. 

Tone check: cozy whodunit with comedy vibes (Knives Out energy)

What also kind of worked as a theme is, even though the theme is like murder mystery, the approach and the tone kind of makes it feel at times that it could be a comedy as well. And this also just feeds into the characters themselves, even though they are at times trying to be serious, they themselves.

How they're written, I wanna say that they're making light, but their approach and how they interact with each other, providing some kind of comic relief at certain points does alleviate, the situation knowing that this is supposed to be a serious, theme in the book of like, someone was murdered and now they have to solve the crime, solve that mystery.

So it does. I wanna say the themes of it, even though it's heavily rooted in, you know, a murder, a who done it type of a theme, similar to like knives out. It does have that way of, the characters kind of, you know, not, I wouldn't say borderline not being serious, but alleviate the situation just by being themselves and you as the reader, kind of getting like an insight, to these characters and seeing, like, though, they, they ugh though that they are being serious in their own quirky way. It's can be seen as like, being funny or being comedic even though they're not trying to be, it's just how they're written. In that, in that situation, the narrative that helps that story or progress the story going forward.

Audiobook notes & writing style impressions

Now, I can't speak too much on the writing style 'cause as for me, I did. Pick this up as an audio book on Barnes and Nobles. So I actually listen to the book as a podcast and have someone narrate it to me. But the, I feel like the writing style in itself is kind of like, it is pretty straightforward from what I can tell.

Your standard kind of like template for, a murder mystery. There's nothing that's like. In my opinion, unique about it. It seems like it's very straightforward cookie cutter for any type of like book in this genre. So I can't really speak on that or give much insight other than to me it just feels like, very common amongst other mystery books that I have read over the years.

What didn’t work: too many POVs, filler, and muddled focus

Now, let's pivot to what, what didn't work. In regards to this book, and I think for those who probably read it, are gonna find that, you know, when you have, that many characters who are contributing to the story and also. Contributing their part to either solving a mystery, it gets like lost in the sauce.

I feel like when you're having that many characters to kind of might manage for something like this, things can get left by the wayside. And I feel like, some of, some chapters or some parts of the book where we are having interactions with these characters that we can get more of like internal dialogue.

Some of 'em, you know. Or so wrote, written, and speaking as of the characters themselves that you kind of feel like they're, I wanna say you might end up getting like filler. And for those who don't know what that means coming from like a monga or anime, there's normally like an episode that, it's part of the story.

It's almost like slop in a sense that if he removed it, it wouldn't take away from the story at all. And I feel like in, you know, this book, overall, there were moments where characters were off track and they did things that we assumed to be, you know, helped driving the story forward. But. They didn't really contribute that much.

It felt like a nothing burger at certain times. So I feel like when you have that many people, it, you lose the cohesion of progressing that story because then, you know, ev, each one of those characters wants a moment to shine. I feel like there were moments where some did excel better than the others, and then we get to this,

these moments where there was infighting, like to me it felt like all four characters could have just been lumped into one and just be one character. Overall, and maybe that was intentional, but I felt like it didn't work because you'd have someone who was really into it. Leading the charge. Two of the characters were just, they felt like they were being dragged along for the ride and just, well, I got nothing else to do, type of phrase, well, I got nothing else to do, so might as well just, you know, be involved in this.

And you kind of get that, you kind of get that, you get that sentiment, not sentiment, but you kind of get that when you read certain chapters of just their interaction of these characters. I think a lot, what I feel like doesn't work is that there's gonna be a lot of expectations. You know, when people go into readings like.

Prior biases when you read this type of book, the Thursday Murder Club. Because if you're a fan of, you know, mystery and murder, you're going to come at this book from that lens of like the old, a old template that murder mysteries tend to follow. And this one. Tends to try to stay on script, but I feel like when you have four characters who are like fighting for the star or the star the spotlight, it gets overlooked.

And it's no shade on, on the characters themselves or their writing. It's just, it becomes hard to manage 'cause you want all each one of 'em to succeed. At the same time, you don't know who to root for. You know? Are you rooting for them as a unit? Are you rooting for the main character? I feel like there is no main character in this book.

Because Elizabeth, Joyce, Abraham, and Ron, I felt like they, they're actually just one person, to be honest. And that the, you know, they were dev, personality traits that were divided to create these characters. Another thing that I feel like it doesn't work, it, it felt like it was trying too hard now because I said it early on, that this is a, kind of like a, who done it felt like it was trying to be a version of knives out. The movie in that series where, knives out is kind of like, it is serious, but also funny because the characters in themselves take them, serious enough to a point that there might be some comic relief there in each one of the movies that has been established So, so far, and I feel like.

When the time this book came out, it was in that realm of, that gravy train of knives out. So I feel like there was a lot of inspiration pulled from knives out that you might see in this book, which kind of loses the identity of the overall series because, or overall book, because it feels like it's trying to be something that's not.

When technically the, the story should, be able to hold itself up. Now I might be speaking prematurely because again, this is only the first book in that series and I'm wanting to see where this. Where the next books takes me, just because is it gonna be another murder? Is it gonna be something different?

I'm okay with another murder mystery, but I do want, I feel like I want them to be challenged, to challenge them. 'cause the same time, I have no expectations that, you know, elderly. Individuals are gonna be capable of solving a crime. To this extent. Not to say I'm gonna have, good old grandma go out there and be a PI and try to like solve as many murder, many mysteries or murders.

But it does like, leave the realm that this. They, it makes it seem like it, you know, something like this can't happen, which is probably the, the part that makes it sometimes somewhat unbelievable. And I feel like the cop who's supposed to be like the inspector, they made her very, or made, yeah, they made the cop very like aloof.

You know, very like present, but also not present mentally. And so this was like her big break, you know, Sherlock Holmes and the inspector or Lara. Who is it? Lara The then the cop that would take reaped rewards for all of Sherlock Holmes. Crimes that he solved, and he would be, you know, reap the benefit of being famous for that.

And it would help trajectory his career. I felt like she, the character that they had as a cop was almost like their liaison while they, and kind of like helping them in a way to solve this mystery. Didn't really know much as a cop, and it was kind of like, stumbling like. The characters themselves were like helping her when she was the one that should be, you know.

Doing the crime not my fathers not doing the crime, but als I meant to say, going in and finding solutions and getting up evidence for this, missed this murder. I felt like she was very too reliant on the core group, which, you know, is the first time I kind of read a book. Like that. Now, there might be other mystery books out there that kind of have that type of template, but it was just a first for me.

Again, I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, so coming, you know, reading Sherlock Holmes books and stories that are similar to that, and then coming to this is a very different for me. 

Adaptation talk: movie-first expectations & what got cut

I think what also didn't work for me was that I saw the movie first and then I went back to read the books. Now there's been only two instances where I've either watched something first and then read the book, and then my per my perception of that story changed because you're dealing with two different mediums and two different writing styles. One's a film and the other one's the book. And we do get a lot in media where, books are, films are adapted from books where there's a lot of stuff that's cut out. And I think that's one thing about this is that you could tell if you probably read the book, that there were certain things that they, they.

They just didn't make the cut, maybe 'cause they were just like, added fluff or didn't, you know, connect or progress the story further. So those were like, some things that I wouldn't say that I had an issue with, but you can tell that if, it was a, maybe might be a key part and then you know that it's not in the film can kind of like.

I don't wanna say rub you the wrong way, but make you think like, okay, well where's this actually going? And hopefully they'll be able to like bring it full circle at the end of the book, which in most cases they do. But if there's like a series, then you know, this might be one small part in a bigger picture.

Goodreads review roundup: 1★ to 4★ takes

Now we're going to pivot it into our, curated reviews. So go to Good Reads and we're gonna pick reviews from users who've also read the book and gave it a little summary. Give it a little review, and then their rating on the book itself. So our first one's going to be Cath, the user username, Kathy.

She writes, the book is sold as a murder mystery, so let's discuss. Let's discuss that because Richard Osmond doesn't really feel the need to, it's a weird Mandarin investigation that we get from multiple sides. We get the Murders Club version of the events, then we get the bumbling police detectives version of the event.

Then we get the actual, what happened, one out of five stars. And I agree with Kathy, is that throughout when I read, when I was listening to the book the audio book is that we never really got a concrete answer to what actually happened. It was almost like we were, you know, it was flashbacks the character's version of it.

Then the cop, and then we were told what actually happened and it like the. The two didn't really match up and I felt like that, the story, the narrative didn't really fit. Like it felt like, you know, everything was happening. I won't wanna say happening in past tense, but it wasn't a good, I almost, not understanding, but a good approach towards the store overall story.

It's like they, the. The characters and the cop were just fodder. And then we would just later find out what actually happened in the story. So I couldn't agree with Kathie more that my impressions were exactly like that. Like I didn't know what was going on and why we were getting thir. Two different point of views, two different recalls of events, like a game of telephone and then ret told what actually happened.

Review number two is gonna be from user Yun. She writes as the mystery itself. It started out really strong. I was completely bought in during the first half playing armchair detective while following along with each of the clues and read herrings. But then it kind of became convoluted and confusing. It seemed like the book tried to insulate Gil on every single character one by one.

I feel like this reader nailed it. She gave it four outta five, which you know, is actually pretty good for a rating. But I also have to agree that as prior from Kathie's review, this kind of was like a theme throughout the book, was that it was, it started off strong, but we got this a lot of like, not survivor's guilt, but just like it felt like guilt.

That seemed misplaced for some reason throughout the entire story, and you weren't sure you know what was going on. Like it almost made you feel like, the characters themselves were the ones who had committed the murder and they needed to be, feel sorry for what was going on. And that wasn't the case though, like, it may have dropped off, but I can completely understand where, they were going. They rated it pretty high four out of five stars, which is pretty interesting. Were prior was just only one out of five. So very kind of interesting that so far we're getting. Two mixed or very different reviews of the same book.

Now our third and final review is gonna be from Laura. This, she writes This book was enjoyable. I'm not gonna deny that. I liked reading about the crooked characters and their pension for solving murders. It was intriguing and funny premise, which did in a way, deliver. But the problem was that it was very slow, and even though there were some twists and turns, they were quite anticlimactic.

There were too many characters perspective during the book, and it just seemed unnecessary and a bit confusing. Three outta five. And I have to agree with this, user's review. And I know I've been saying like I agree with it, but that was really just very present in the book, was that. And I think I mentioned earlier, which is something I found that didn't work, was that you had so many, you had more, you had too many characters who were providing input in their version of a series of events.

And typically when you get to something like that, it just bogs down. The so-called progression of the story. And I feel like this user, Laura, really encapsulated that type of, I wanna say narrative that was happening in the book, which again caused the story to kind of slow down because not only was it not progressing, but we're gonna have a couple, like maybe a page or two or maybe a whole chapter of just these characters.

Kind of like, narrating and giving like their own recall of certain events, certain things. And I don't wanna say like, it's like writing slop it, it does progress the story at some point, but now you gotta read something that you know, could add five or 10 minutes to your reading and only for it to not go anywhere.

And I feel like that this book does a lot of that with these characters. They're not utilizing the proper way to progress the story, but more so as devices to slow down. So anytime these two characters were to interact with each other. In regards to the, the scenery and the theme of what they were doing, you just got a lot of like, you know, narrating between the two.

Then you always have to ask yourself, was this necessary? Because they could be, on a stakeout or pursuing someone and then, have, side chit chat that would not go anywhere. To progress that story or that event just side chitchat that probably didn't mean anything at the time.

And so it, it just felt very unnecessary. I'm glad she pointed that out. 'Cause that was one thing that I was like, very curious about if anyone else was gonna notice in this book, which she rated it pretty high, so we got, oh. Across the board, very mixed review. Our lowest being the one out of five, the highest being four out of five, and the kind of like the mid three out of five.

So we have a spectrum of like reviews on this book. 

Sean’s rating (3/5), recommendations, and who should read it

Now, me personally, I'm gonna give it, my rating after reading the book. My rating for this book is gonna be a three out of five. It's not gonna be a one because I feel like you know, the, there are some things, the story, the. There are some positives about the book, but also there are some negatives, but I still think like three out of five is a very good rating for, the Thursday murder club.

Because you can find something enjoyable about the book and possibly the series if you can just, you know, mostly your way through some of those, you know, matic dialogue that you do and get from the, each one of the characters that kind of seems unnecessary. I will probably be reading the, you know, the other books in the series to kind of see if there's any progression of the characters and in the writing or if this continuing of like how they're utilizing this way persists and the future books.

Now overall, given we've kind of been given like this broad spectrum of reviews and it's not to say that. You know, as I mentioned earlier, other. Readers have also identified these, I wouldn't call them problem points, but they could be seen as a way to like turn readers away if this is something that you're not really used to and kind of just turns you off from reading it, because sometimes you might.

Have to muscle your way through or skip chapters if something like this can like persists in a story that doesn't make it enjoyable to read. Now moving on to like certain recommendations I would offer. So if you are a fan of mystery or murder, I think the dearly beloved Dexter, which is the book that inspired the series.

Again, Sherlock Holmes. Dan Brown's series of books from, da Vinci Code Angels and Demons, Inferno Origin. He has a per of books which are kind of in this realm of mystery and maybe national treasures. And I believe, of course Sherlock Holmes. There's a, an as sermon of books off the top of my head.

I can't name at this moment, but the ones I did name I feel like, you know, may of interest. And I think another series that might, be interesting to read or I would like, would recommend would be the Dark Tower series. If you're a fan of Stephen King and this is after the heels of Welcome to Dairy.

You could probably read that series 'cause it does, apply and provide some information in the characters that we do see and dare like in the movie films, it and other iterations and books that were made into film. I feel like the Dark Tower is. Kind of like a pinnacle of that. So those would be my recommendations for those who would, like to read.

Now, who should read this book? I think if you are a mystery slash murder fan, not saying like you're a fan of murder, but if you're a fan of these type of books, I feel like this book should be on your, on your. To read lists just because, you know, if you've already seen the movie, I feel like that's a good entry point to get into the book and the series, because I'm not sure if the movie's gonna cover the rest of the books, but this does have a lot to do with like the, who done it.

I won't wanna say genre that. Knives out I wouldn't say reinvented, but provided life support to. And the way the writing style is, I feel like there's a lot of not nuances, but similarities in both. So I feel like if you're a fan of that, this should be a good read. And if you're just a fan of mystery murder books, then this is right there up there.

Not saying that's gonna be your favorite book, but it. Does deserve, a read. I would say if, if it's not worth your time, just leave it on the shelf, you know, and you could admire it from the far, but I felt like any, lover of mystery slash murder of this genre, this would be a good book to read for you.

Now, I can't say it can be tough. Just hearing from these reviews that are provided, it can be tough at times. So if you don't mind, getting through that, then this would be a book I suggest that you could pick up. 

Final verdict + podcast outro (subscribe, socials, next episode)

Now, my verdict, which I've kind of already stated already, I'm gonna give the book a three outta five.

Now, the reason for that is that. And I'm kind of like repeating myself at this point is it's good enough to read, but not like exceptional where I'm gonna like, wanna talk to people about this book just because I feel like it's one of those that you can set it and forget it, like you'll read it once.

And that'd be it. You're not gonna be coming back to this book to read again. It's not one of those, it's, you read it. And it's on your shelf collecting dust. I feel like that's this type of book and probably the series is gonna be like that where you read it once and it's forget a, like you're, you literally forget what you read the next day.

So if you're trying to make, do a 100 read books for the year. Add this to your, to your collection to read. But me personally, I don't think it's gonna be anything memorable after that. So three outta five is my verdict for the book. And as we're getting, to the end of this episode, I wanna thank you for tuning into this episode of Second Emulation, a podcast.

If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review or share it with your friends. You can follow. Our podcast on our social media links, which is gonna be the website in the podcast episode description. And if you have, you know, any type of recommendations via books, anime, TV shows you can also send us a message and, you know, tell us what you think about the episode, and also give us any type of reviews or updates or recommendations.

And, you know, we'd love to hear your thoughts. All right. I guess we'll catch you in the next one. All right. Talk to you later. Bye.



Emily’s wrap-up: links hub, YouTube, and final goodbye

 📍 Okay, wow, that was, like, so much fun! A total vibe.

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Thanks for hanging out with us! Remember: just take things one day at a time and find your joy. Okay, bye!