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We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Mystery

We Solve Murders

by Richard Osman

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Quick take

An odd duo turns mystery-solving into a new family business during a globetrotting effort to outsmart a killer.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Quirky

    Quirky

  • Illustrated icon, International

    International

  • Illustrated icon, Whodunit

    Whodunit

  • Illustrated icon, Underdog

    Underdog

Synopsis

Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He does the odd bit of investigation work, but he prefers his familiar habits and routines: the pub quiz, his favorite bench, his cat waiting for him when he comes home. His days of adventure are over: adrenaline is daughter-in-law Amy’s business now.

Amy Wheeler thinks adrenaline is good for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t stay still long enough for habits or routines. She’s currently on a remote island keeping world-famous author Rosie D’Antonio alive. Which was meant to be an easy job…

Then a dead body, a bag of money, and a killer with their sights on Amy have her sending an SOS to the only person she trusts. A breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a lethal enemy?

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of We Solve Murders.

We Solve Murders

You must leave as few clues as possible. That’s the only rule.

You have to talk to people sometimes; it’s inevitable. There are orders to be given, shipments to be arranged, people to be killed, etc., etc. You cannot exist in a vacuum, for goodness’ sake.

You need to ring François Loubet? In an absolute emergency? You’ll get a phone with a voice-changer built in. And, by the way, if it’s not an absolute emergency, you’ll regret ringing very soon.

But most communication is by message or email. High-end criminals are much like millennials in that way.

Everything is encrypted, naturally, but what if the authorities break the code? It happens. A lot of very good criminals are in prison right now because a nerd with a laptop had too much time on their hands. So you must hide as well as you can.

You can hide your IP address—that is very easy. François Loubet’s emails go through a world tour of different locations before being sent. Even a nerd with a laptop would never be able to discover from where they were actually sent.

But everyone’s language leaves a unique signature. A particular use of words, a rhythm, a personality. Someone could read an email, and then read a postcard you sent in 2009 and know for a fact they were sent by the same person. Science, you see. So often the enemy of the honest criminal. That’s why ChatGPT has been such a godsend.

After writing an email, a text, anything really, you can simply run the whole thing through ChatGPT and it instantly deletes your personality. It flattens you out, irons your creases, washes you away, quirk by quirk, until you disappear.

“ChatGPT, rewrite in the style of a friendly English gentleman, please.” That is always Loubet’s prompt.

Handy, because if these emails were written in François Loubet’s own language, it would all become much more obvious. Too obvious.

But, as it stands, you might find a thousand emails, but you would still have no way of knowing where François Loubet was, and you would still have no way of knowing who François Loubet is.

You would, of course, know what François Loubet does, but there would be precious little you could do about it.

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Why I love it

Life and literature are all about banter. I love a good book where characters can go verbally back and forth more rapidly and entertainingly than an Olympics ping-pong match. Richard Osman is the king of immensely witty novels that feature just such banter. We Solve Murders, the first novel in his new mystery series, is no exception.

Amy Wheeler works in private security. Her latest assignment is protecting mega-bestselling author Rosie D’Antonio, whose latest novel features an unflattering portrait of a character based on a Russian oligarch. This quickly poses a security risk as the oligarch sics henchmen to dispatch Rosie and anyone who gets in their way. Amy will do whatever it takes to protect her client, including enlisting the support of her father-in-law, Steve Wheeler, a retired cop and investigator. Steve, still wracked by grief at a recent loss, is reluctant at first but eventually is cajoled into joining the high-stakes security effort. This initiates an action-packed and hilarious globetrotting adventure. And the banter between Steve, Amy, and Rosie had me delightedly reading along the whole way.

If you are looking for an escapist late summer read that is also full of heart, look no further. From countryside firefights to helicopter chases, We Solve Murders delivers on every page. Don’t miss out on the fun!

Member ratings (67)

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New and recent add-ons
View all
Intermezzo
The Stone Witch of Florence
What Does It Feel Like?
The Last One at the Wedding
The Book of George
We Solve Murders
The Bog Wife
Here One Moment
The Night We Lost Him
The Crimson Crown
Someone in the Attic
Middle of the Night
A Sorceress Comes to Call
Four Weekends and a Funeral
The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love
The Seventh Veil of Salome
Leather & Lark
Hum
The Life Impossible
Vilest Things
The Love of My Afterlife
Home Cooking