Library Journal Review

A murder on Boxing Day strikes close to home for the Thursday Murder Club. Antiques dealer Kuldesh Sharma knows some of his transactions are shady, including his purchase of a box, contents unknown, that he's warned not to open. He suspects his shop has become a drop-off for drugs. Following Kuldesh's murder, the box and its contents, which turn out to be heroin, go missing. The local police are thrown off the case so a national force can search for the killer and the drugs. Meanwhile, a local dealer is frantically looking for the box too. Thankfully, the four senior sleuths from Coopers Chase are already on the job. Kuldesh was involved in their last adventure, and he was a friend of Elizabeth's husband Stephen. Elizabeth is preoccupied at the moment, as Stephen's dementia worsens, so Joyce steps up to lead the case. By the time there are a couple more murders, several tragic deaths, and a computer crime or two, the club members are once again cognizant of their own mortality. VERDICT Osman follows The Bullet That Missed with a bittersweet mystery about the problems facing many older people: dementia, computer fraud, death. Humor does, however, alleviate the poignancy in this strongest, most emotional book in the best-selling series.--Lesa Holstine