Richard Osman: The closer you get to death, the less you fear it

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Richard Osman wrote the first two instalments of The Thursday Murder Club series without realising what a gigantic hit his books were going to be – but he didn’t have that luxury third time around. When Osman published The Thursday Murder Club in 2020, it quickly sold 134,514 copies and became that year’s Christmas number one – the first debut fiction title to take the festive top spot. “I made bad things happen because of the age they were – but I let the 25-year-old them, or 45-year-old them, deal with it, because I think that’s how we go through life.” Ageing is something Osman has been thinking more about since turning 50. “I’ll definitely write some other stuff as well – there are lots of stories I’d like to tell.” But fans shouldn’t worry too much, because “The Thursday Murder Club themselves are not going anywhere.