The Impossible Fortune
DETAILS: Series: The Thursday Murder Club, #5 Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books Publication Date: September 30, 2025 Format: Hardcover Length: 352 pg. Read Date: November 24-26, 2025
Elizabeth is being mysterious.
It’s something of a relief, of course, because it has been some while since she’s been mysterious. She tells me we are taking the minibus to Fairhaven tomorrow morning, and it’s also been a while since we’ve done that. What are we to do there? Information has yet to be forthcoming. “A nice stroll along the front” is what Elizabeth said, and if you believe that you’ll believe anything.
What’s The Impossible Fortune About?
Joyce’s daughter, Joanna, is getting married. During the reception, Elizabeth is approached by someone wanting help. He’s heard about Elizabeth from Joanna and would rather go to her for help than anyone else.
Then he goes missing. The Club mobilizes to try to find him—with some help from Joyce’s daughter and new son-in-law, too.
Ron’s a little distracted by some family trouble (trouble he doesn’t realize the depth of, either), but that won’t be enough to derail the Thursday Murder Club, will it?
Elizabeth
“Screenshot the messages,” says Joanna. “We have to find Nick.”
“Screenshotting them,” says Paul. “I’ll send them straight to the police.”
Joanna puts her hand on his.
“Honestly? God bless the police, but it’ll be quicker all round if we just show them to Elizabeth.”
The core of this book is Elizabeth moving on from full-time grieving. She’ll be grieving for the rest of her (hopefully long and sequel-filled) life. But equipped with a puzzle—and potential danger to others—some of her old spark comes back.
Something noted by the rest of the Club—and Donna, too.
This doesn’t mean she’s as sharp as we’re used to—she notes that herself. By the end of the book, that’s done with. Still, even an out-of-practice Elizabeth is better than the police assigned to this case (sadly, not our friends—nor are they likely to be seen again).
We are treated to seeing her alone—or almost alone sometimes—and vulnerable. It’s Elizabeth at her most human, which is wonderful to see (even if we all probably prefer Elizabeth the super-hero).
Joyce and Joanna
The relationship between Joyce and her daughter has been a frequent topic to return to, and change has been slow—if not imperceptible. But we get some strong movement here—and some frustrating delays in it, too (designed to be frustrating, this isn’t Osman flubbing things).
Overall, we see the two of them working together here—on the wedding and on the case. It warms the heart to see. They both make some healthy compromises—and conspire together in way that’ll make you smile.
So, what did I think about The Impossible Fortune?
Danny Lloyd has had guns pointed at him before, but never by a woman. It makes, he notes to himself now, very little difference. The gun is the thing. Well, the bullets inside the gun are the actual thing, arent they?
Keep the bullets inside the gun, that’s the trick.
Frankly, it feels like Osman was a little off his game with this one. And it makes sense—after the big events of The Last Devil to Die, almost everything is going to feel like a letdown. He also needs to re-establish the feel for the books now.
We’ve added a new character or two, made some pretty big changes for some (at least one of which is going to stick with the books for a while). Just the sheer amount of time we spend with Johanna and Ron’s son, Ritchie, makes this feel different. I don’t want to get into the Ron-and-his-family storyline, but man, it’s good.
My biggest concern is Ibrahim’s depiction. He didn’t get that much space—which makes sense; there’s a lot of competition this time. But in most of the space he was given, he seemed…off. He felt sillier and dafter than usual, almost like the novel was gently mocking him. But that eventually went away, and he really came through for the team more than once in pivotal ways. Also—he’s great, as usual, with Ron’s grandson.
All the charm, all the wit, all the heart is there—so whatever I (or you) may think about the quality of the book as a whole, it doesn’t matter that much. Everything that makes a Thursday Murder Club book a Thursday Murder Club book is there. There’s just a little less luster than usual.
Now that Elizabeth has her groove back (mostly), I expect this to be a minor aberration and that we’ll get back to his usual level.
Still, this was about as entertaining as you can want in a mystery—if you haven’t gotten to it yet, fix that.
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