Read time: 4 minutes
Richard Osman’s third Thursday Murder Club novel is the one where the series fully hits its stride. The writing is sharper, the plotting is tighter, and the humor is earned rather than assumed. But what sets this book apart from the previous two, and what keeps me thinking about it long after the last page, is how quietly philosophical it is. The Bullet that Missed blends humour, humanity, and heart like no other. Between the blackmail plots and the ex-KGB twist, Osman slips in lines that land like small truths you didn’t know you needed. Whether it’s Elizabeth’s sharp wit, Joyce’s tender observations, or Bogdan’s quiet loyalty, these lines linger long after the final chapter.
Life, Time, and What truly matters:
These are Osman’s quiet truths, the kind that sneak between laughs and linger in the heart. Grab it while you can:
“It was best to grab everything while you could. Who knows when your final swim might come, your final walk, your final kiss?”
“Life is about understanding opportunities. Understanding how rarely they come along, and then rising to meet them when they do.”
“Night-time is for questions without answers.”
“There are scars, yes, but that at least means the bleeding has stopped.”
“When you look backwards, everything is inevitable.”
“That’s all it was in the end. People were always trying to tell you something, and all you really had to do was let them.”
Love, Loss, and Little Ironies
Joyce’s voice, as always, carries equal part humour and heartbreak. She’s the emotional core of the club.
“Oh, I didn’t fall in love with him. Nothing like that. I just walked into a room and there he was, and he looked at me, and I looked at him, and that’s all there was to it. Like I had always been in love with him, no falling necessary. Like finding the perfect pair of shoes.”
“Not rollercoasters, not skyscrapers, just the accumulation of small moments that turn acquaintance into friendship.”
“The prophet is often unheralded in his own land.”
“In chess, you’re only really ever as good as the person you play against.”
Regret and Hindsight:
Osman’s writing brims with quotable insights. These small truths feel like conversations over tea with clever friends. It’s all about looking back without getting stuck:
“Everyone wants to feel special, but nobody wants to feel different.”
“If you are disappointed with your face, eventually it shows.”
“Very few things are so important you would risk your life for them.”
“He remembers what he remembers,” says Bogdan. “And for now he doesn’t really know what he forgets.”
“But you can’t be ruled by hindsight, can you? That is a wise thing to say.”
“There are scars, yes, but that at least means the bleeding has stopped.”
Humour and Human Nature
“Nothing like lying in your grave with a bullet hole through your head to make you think about your life.”
“However tempting it is to kill people, it is also bad. And difficult.”
“Spies are like dogs. They cannot stand a closed door.”
“Humans can’t be fixed,” says Ibrahim. “We’re not lawnmowers.”
“Some people need everything to stay the same… But some people need everything to change. That chaos is where you are able to hide yourself.”
If you’ve read The Bullet That Missed, you probably laughed out loud at least once and then got unexpectedly teary a few pages later. That’s what makes Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series so special — the way it turns ordinary people, later in life, into heroes of both logic and love.
Which quote hit you hardest? Share your favorite Bullet That Missed line in the comments. I’d love to feature a few reader favorites in a follow-up post.
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