It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal.
Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.
Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill…or be killed.
As the cold case turns white hot, Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), while Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim chase down clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?

IN A NUTSHELL
A slow, lacklustre start and a premise that pushed into the realms of fantasy made this a slightly disappointing read. At times, the plot seemed more important than the people. 
BUT: the humour still worked, I liked the characters, especially Bogdan, and I’m happy to continue with the series. 

I delayed reading ‘The Bullet That Missed’ because reviews suggested that it was not as good as its predecessors. At the start of the book, my hesitation seemed justified, and I wondered if it was going to be worth reading. It felt too mannered – too conscious of itself. The story didn’t pull me in. It seemed to be winking at me like the third season of a much-loved SitCom where the subtext is:”Aren’t you happy that we’re back? Think how much fun we’re going to have.” 

What I liked most about the first book was how grounded it was in closely observed reality amplified by optimism, luck and friendship.  This book felt like it had lost most of that. Now we’re dealing with spies and mercenaries and organised crime. It was still fun, but it was a more facile, less original fun, and that disappointed me.

The book got better in the second half, mostly thanks to the humour. But it stayed way off in fantasy land.

Bogdan emerged as my favourite character. The way he responded to Stephen’s questions about whether he, Stephen, is ‘going doolally’ was wonderful.

I’m going to stick with the series in the hope that the next book is better.

The first two books in the series were narrated by Lesley Manville, who created the voices I hear in my head when I think of the members of the Thursday Murder Club. ‘The Bullet That Missed‘ was narrated by Fiona Shaw. I missed Leslie Manville, but I thought Fiona Shaw did a good job. I think I prefer her version of Joyce. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample.