Thursday Murder Club, #1
The Thursday Murder Club
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 64: Joyce
Overview
Joyce’s chapter offers a domestic pause from the murder investigations as Joanna visits, giving Joyce a chance to enjoy her daughter’s company and hear that Joanna has decisively ended a bad relationship. Elizabeth’s absence from the planned evening drink suggests that the investigation continues offstage, maintaining the sense that the murders are still driving the club’s actions.
Summary
Joyce pauses the murder narrative to record Joanna’s visit to Coopers Chase. Joanna has driven down in her new car, later identified by Joyce as an Audi A4, and mother and daughter go to Fairhaven, stopping at Anything with a Pulse.
Joyce is pleased that the outing goes well. Joanna does not criticize the café or compare it unfavorably to places near her home, and Joyce savors their relaxed time together over green tea and sweets.
Joanna is in the area for a work meeting about “optimization,” which leads Joyce to reflect affectionately on how much her daughter has changed since childhood. Joyce also learns that Joanna’s boyfriend is now an ex: Joanna discovered incriminating messages and implied photographs on his phone after using his thumbprint to unlock it while he slept, then packed his suitcases before he woke.
Joyce notes that Joanna seems amused rather than heartbroken, and enjoys having her daughter happy and resting in her bed. Joyce has invited Elizabeth to drink the bottle of wine Joanna brought, but Elizabeth declines because she has “other plans,” which Joyce assumes must be connected to the murders.
Who Appears
- JoyceNarrates her pleasure at Joanna’s visit while keeping the murders in mind.
- JoannaJoyce’s daughter; visits, attends a work meeting, and reveals her breakup.
- ElizabethDeclines Joyce’s invitation for drinks because of undisclosed plans, likely investigative.
- Joanna’s ex-boyfriendUnnamed former partner whose phone messages prompted Joanna to throw him out.