There’s enough mystery floating around out there about political things–international relations, international trade, Elon Musk’s grasp on reality etc. I think I’ll take a brief vacation from that and write about something I usually find more absorbing–mystery novels.

Now you will, maybe, remember that I’ve already remarked on two novels by Richard Osman, “The Thursday Murder Club” and “The Bullet That Missed.” These are his first and third and he is now up to five and rising. He looks like becoming a landmark British mystery writer, like Sayers or Christie. And he just may do it. His work is so obsessively entertaining(in the sense of seizing your interest, not just amusing you)that his book are, I think often truly hard to put down.

A brief rehash–“The Thursday Murder Club” is the title of his first book and also the name of a sort of club of residents at an expensive retirement home near London, Cooper Chase. There are 4 people in the club, Elizabeth, a retired MI-6 spy; Joyce, a retired nurse and inveterate and insightful diary keeper who gives us the only first person narrative in the books; Ibrahim, a compassionate and always curious retired psychiatrist, and Ron who has a history of labor politics and leftist rabble rousing, but seems to have no trouble fitting in–with the other three or with the larger community.

These four have agreed to get together and, using old files to which Elizabeth(if the group has a “leader” she’s it)has access, and try to solve old cases. It will surprise no one, I’m sure, to hear that they frequently wind up getting involved in a current day mystery, and we follow them and their friends(and sometimes rivals)Donna DeFreitas, a 20ish police woman and her professional partner and supervisor, Chris Hudson, a 40ish bachelor. But the emphasis is on our four residents at the Chase with Chris and Donna popping in sometimes, something which is likely to be of assistance or sometimes an annoyance.

These are the main characters, though some others appear on more than one book. One of the more interesting, if not admirable, is Connie Johnson who is making at least her second appearance in “The Last …. .” She is a drug dealer who couldn’t get out of serving some jail time, but, because she is attractive, intelligent and succesful manages to pretty much keep running her business from her cell while looking forward to getting out. She is sometimes helpful when it suits her own purposes.

These things are much the same in all of the books I’ve read so far, though there are differences too. But what does not change is the cooperation of these four retirees in doing justice and doing it with style when possible. Their friendship and their dedication are both remarkable.

When I reviewed the first of this series, simply entitled “The Thursday Murder Club,” I mentioned that I dissented from the views of some of the people who have reviewed it professionally or(more often)simply sent in internet comments. And I said that while I agreed with nearly all of them that it was a terrific book, I dissented with some people’s descriptions of it. There was a tendency to refer to it as a “cozy” or as a “comedy-mystery.” I objected to both of these terms, though admitting at it had elements of each, particularly the latter.

Without going into the details of these two types of mysteries(see the internet for explanations) I’ll just re-assert that Osman’s books have elements of the above two, but exist above them in that group of mystery novels which mainly please, well, mystery fans, but also take note of the human condition, usually as seen in some of the characters.

What only a few commented on was that there was an element of wistfulness or even sadness in Osman’s writing too and I strongly agreed. Although there are parts that are very funny, Osman often slips into a different mood and we get to explore-if we don’t already know–the other side of aging, the sense of loss as years go by, the awareness of mortality and time and the loss of things and people that we love. Even if we do know, the sharing of thoughts is somehow comforting and agreeable, particularly from such a talented, intelligent and youthful(54–barely out of adolescence)writer.

I think this may have increased a little in each book, but I’m really not sure of that one. What is clear to me is that in this, his 4th book, he goes further into it than before. Don’t worry–the mystery is still there. But the characters, particularly the two gentlemen, seem willing to share a bit more about themselves than before. And Joyce, that expert chronicler of other people’s behavior gives us more about her own feelings and what gladdens and saddens her heart as she ages.

But it is Elizabeth, always the dominant character of the four, who commands the most of our attention. I do not wish to go into her problem in great detail, for I feel I should let you search it out for yourselves. But I will say it has to do with her husband, Stephen, and with aging, particularly one aspect of it. How the leader, acknowledged or not, of the group handles this and what she goes through in her own heart but shares very little of with the others is close to devastating.

It is rare to see a hero of this stature in a mystery/suspense novel attain such altitudes of reflection and of revelation of pain. It makes this the most searching and the most emotionally bruising of these novels and, I would have to say, the best so far. But it would not be successful if it didn’t have a substantial and puzzling mystery to solve, one with both questions and emotions behind it. It serves doubly as the main plot of the book and therefore a sometimes needed escape from Elizabeth’s sadness, and as a diverting and often fascinating look at how a search for the apparently unknowable goes on and where it goes.

The plot itself has to do with a local shopkeeper, an immigrant know to the club, who runs an antique business. Early in the book he agrees to keep a box for a short time which someone else will later pick up. He will be paid well for this sleight of hand storage but will be killed if he doesn’t produce the box when asked. Shortly after that he is dead, shot while sitting in an automobile. It looks like a professional job and the authorities know nothing of it–at the beginning.

This leads both our friends in the club and their police buddies into an extensive chase of a missing box. It almost certainly, they believe, contained heroin or some other kind of drug and is worth millions But where is it and why did the shopkeeper get killed?

As you might guess this leads to a fascinating attempt to track down the truth. There are talks and interviews with various people on both sides of the law. One of them is Connie, who sees possible profit here and who is, predictably, charming, sexy and dangerous. There are others who belong on the periphery of the case but may have something important to add. And most interestingly, there is a search for how the box got to the UK and insights into the international illegal trade business, particularly in drug trafficking.

In the end the truth is finally untangled and justice of a sort, is done. I think you’ll enjoy finding out how it gets done and what transpires, with the case and also just with the people involved, along the way. Each of them has his own story to tell and they do that with style, insight, and the graceful, sophisticated confidence of people who know the score but keep on going. In a sense they’re similar to Anne Lamott who knows the facts , but says “Hallelujah Anyway.”