An audio book.
Connie Johnson (in her 30s) is in prison, awaiting trial. She is still running a drug ring. She's inside because of Bogden and Ron Richie. She plans to take revenge.
Ron Richie, Ibrahim (a psychologist), Joyce (78) and Elizabeth are old people who meet on Thursdays to solve cases that have stumped the police. They're interested in the Bethany Waites case. They think that talking to Mike Waghorn, a TV newsreader, might help. Pauline, his make-up artist, a widow for 6 months, joins in. Bethany was a TV reporter who uncovered VAT fraud. Her car went off a cliff. Her body was never found. She'd told her colleague Mike that she had discovered something important. Mike doesn't tell people that he suspects that Fiona (an ambitious colleague of Bethany then, now famous on TV) might have had something to do with it. Heather Garbut was imprisoned for the VAT fraud. Jack Mason, her boss, got away with it.
Elizabeth (ex MI6) and slightly demented husband Steve are kidnapped by "the Viking", an expert on money-laundering. Elizabeth is told to kill Victor (his money laundering rival) else Joyce will die. Victor, ex KGB now living in London, was nicknamed the Bullet. He and Elizabeth had been almost lovers. Elizabeth fakes his death, firing into the ceiling instead of into Victor. He stays in hiding with Joyce.
Bogdan and Donna (a policewomen) have sex on their first night. Bogdan does jobs for Elizabeth and plays chess with Steve. Donna's colleague is Chris. The Kent boss of police is Andrew (who writes novels).
Ron starts dating Pauline. Ibrahim visits Connie in jail and gets her to interview Heather. Soon after, Heather's dead. Ibrahim becomes Connie's therapist. Elizabeth and Joyce entertainingly interview Fiona. Ron chats with Jack. The Viking, by looking at the bullet-hole that in Victor's penthouse, realises that Elizabeth has tried to fool him. He tries to kill Victor, but is drugged by Joyce. He agrees to help Elizabeth. Mike has always been grateful to Bethany for helping him come to terms with being gay. Jack is found dead.
Ibrahim et al realise that the laundered money had gone to people with the names of characters in Andrew's story. 2 days later, Andrew is set up to meet The Viking. He'd been told that the Viking could recover the laundered money (£10 million). The meeting is broadcast live on Fiona's feed. Victor appears, and then Mike. Andrew confesses.
We then get Bethany's PoV from Dubai. She faked her death (with the unknowing help of Pauline) when she received a bullet in the post. She used some of the illicit money.
I like the style. Osman handles old people's loves, dementia, etc, with understanding, and can do man-talk. He can switch the tone convincingly. Plot credibility and entertainment are well balanced. He uses fewer intellectual/literary allusions than Kate Atkinson does.
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