As one might do with a dessert that one wants to savor, I held off on reading this fourth book in the "Thursday Murder Club" series until I couldn't wait any longer. The four main characters in the series, Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim, all in their seventies and eighties, learn that a friend of theirs, Kuldesh, a dealer in antiques, has been murdered. Elizabeth, who was formerly in the MI-5 or MI-6 in her younger days, is especially incensed because the murdered man was a good friend of her husband, who is now suffering from dementia. When the group learns that Kuldesh had taken possession of an old box filled with heroin in his shop, which he was then supposed to resell the next day, they wonder why did Kuldesh get involved in this deal? Why didn't he inform the authorities? Instead, Kuldesh made some phone calls and hid the drugs, and then he was murdered for it. The hunt is on for the murderer, which means the group needs to follow the heroin. A number of suspects in the heroin industry emerge along with a married couple who deal in art forgeries, and some of these characters are fairly well-developed and humanized. The Murder Club invites a number of them to a meal in the private dining room at their community, and they actually show up. These gutsy old people don't seem afraid of much!
The point of view switches with each chapter. The entries from Joyce's point of view are often the most entertaining, and we see the often over-chatty retired nurse fill in capably for Elizabeth when Elizabeth is absent for a time. We continue to learn more about all of the original four retirees, and see them continue to add friends and lovers to their ranks, which makes them seem more real somehow. The story is laced with humor, action, and a share of poignancy.
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