Richard Osman to write two more Thursday Murder Club books for Viking

Richard Osman, whose first novel The Thursday Murder Club this week becomes the fastest selling adult crime debut since BookScan records began, has signed a deal with Viking for two more books in the series.

The “Pointless" host's retirement-complex crime caper, bought for seven figures in a 10-way auction last year, hit number one in the charts today, with just over 45,000 copies sold in its first three days of release.

With a sequel already in the works, Viking publisher Katy Loftus has now snapped up UK and Commonwealth rights, including audio, to a third and fourth instalment from Juliet Mushens at Mushens Entertainment.

The new books will follow the untitled next novel, publishing in September 2021, the action of which begins on the Thursday after the first novel ends. Osman has promised readers: “Everyone who survives the first book will return in book number two.”

Osman is the creative director of Endemol Shine who rose to fame presenting “Pointless” with Alexander Armstrong and who also hosts his own BBC quiz, “House of Games”. He wrote his debut fiction hit in secret and said he was stunned by the response, which has seen it sold in 16 countries around the world so far.

He said: “I have honestly been overwhelmed by the reaction to The Thursday Murder Club, and am so delighted that readers are taking it to their hearts. Absolutely thrilled to be continuing this adventure with the incredibly talented team at Viking.”

Loftus added: “I knew from the second I started reading The Thursday Murder Club that Richard Osman had an innate talent for fiction and that this world he’d created was very special. So it has been truly remarkable to see the reaction to this book from all of the retailers we work with, the media, and most particularly from readers. I’ve just finished reading an impossibly brilliant early draft of the second book in the series and I can’t wait to share it, and then book three and four after that with fans.”