Review: We Chase Shadows
If you watch hardly any British television (excuse me... telly), you have probably encountered the work of Richard Osman. He has created many programs and appeared on even more shows like Pointless, QI, Would I Lie to You, and the second season/series of Taskmaster. After writing several non-fiction books based on some of his game shows, he branched out and started writing fiction.
His first series of books are The Thursday Murder Club which revolves around four residents of a upscale retirement community who originally get together to read about cold cases and eventually begin to solve them. The books have been hugely successful and the first one was made into a movie on Netflix in 2025.
His second series are the We Solve Murders books. We Chase Shadows is the second book in this series and is scheduled to be published September 15th. The protagonists are Amy Wheeler (a bodyguard or "close-protection officer" to the rich and famous), Steve Wheeler (Amy's father-in-law, a recently widowed retired police officer who lives for the weekly pub quiz), and Rosie D'Antonio (a world famous novelist who is used to getting whatever she wants and one of Amy's former clients).
In this second book, the newly formed We Solve Murders detective agency lands their first official case. After seeing Rosie on The Graham Norton Show, a high stakes criminal who makes his money selling fake wellness supplements and devices hires them to find out who killed one of his bodyguards.
The case takes them to Italy, Sweden, Palm Springs, Málaga, and back to Steve's hometown in southern England. Besides Vern (the criminal with the dead bodyguard), we also meet Ernesto, a former footballer turned Interpol agent based in Spain. There is also a new relationship to explore as Steve's pub buddy Tony Taylor is now seeing Felicity, the former theatrical agent who is now the office manager for the We Solve Murders agency.
As usual, Osman takes us on a journey that leaves you guessing most of the time. Yes, there are many twists in the story, but the author deftly sets them up so that they are both surprising and believable. I swear every time I thought, "What about..." that question was answered on the next page or in the next chapter.
I was already a fan of Richard Osman as a very tall, super smart, and slightly geeky television personality. But I've become a huge fan of Richard Osman, the cozy mystery author who gently leads on paths of murder and mayhem, all seasoned with humor and warmth.
5 lattes out of 5
Disclaimer: This eARC was provided by Viking Penguin and Pamela Dorman Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
