RICHARD Osman is in the middle of a mammoth round of press interviews when we talk. He's just got off the phone to Australia - the Aussies, needless to say, wanted to chat about the obsessive Fulham fan's love of sport and someone's been making him cups of tea between calls to keep him going.
If it all sounds a bit overwhelming, it's hardly a surprise. Since the 2020 publication of his debut novel The Thursday Murder Club, featuring a quartet of retired cold-case enthusiasts, the former host of hit BBC quiz show Pointless has become one of the world's biggest authors - selling a staggering ten million copies of the four-part series. Today he looms large quite literally, at 6ft 5in tall-over popular fiction.
His brilliant new novel, We Solve Murders, featuring a fresh cast of unforgettable characters, of whom more shortly, has unsurprisingly romped to number one in the book charts this weekend, despite taking a new tack. "If I was publishing a fifth Thursday Murder Club book, it would feel like a different vibe," he admits.
Earlier this year, Osman, 53, told the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate, supported by the Daily Express, that he felt like he was "cheating" on his beloved Thursday Murder Club characters by writing his new thriller.
He's more sanguine today, telling me: "The first four books work as a quartet, so I thought I'd give them a bit of rest and recuperation and come into this new world and new characters and hopefully create something else readers will love."
And it's already clear he has - by taking the warmth of the original series global.
This story is from the September 21, 2024 edition of Daily Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 21, 2024 edition of Daily Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
IDEAL TONIC FOR ARTETA
Bug-hit Gunners roar back as quick double floors Bees
Pickford loving good old days
JORDAN SAVOURS THE GOODISON FAREWELL
The 12-minute workout that keeps Dame Helen looking fabulous at 79
DAME Helen Mirren says people on a new year health kick needn't splurge on gyms - she still swears by a 12-minute daily routine at home.
WILSON'S A WINNER FOR BLACK CATS
Sunderland home in on top
Kop that! Bunting weaves his magic
TITLE GLORY AND ANFIELD IN SIGHT
RAI HAS 'GREAT' SHOT AT CALL-UP
Donald says Aaron is on f right track for Ryder Cup
HENDO FINDS A GOOD PLACE
LUCKY PLACE impressed with a Relkeel Hurdle triumph at Cheltenham - and is now 10-1 (from 25-1) for the Stayers' Hurdle at the National Hunt Festival in March.
After years of treating my body badly, I now treat it well
Dylan Simkin, 49, had been overweight since his 20s and had a liver transplant in 2021. But after the op he hit 19 stone, so the maths tutor, from Atherstone, Warks, turned to his local Slimming World for help
Can Gen Z's new noise trend bring me calm?
Lying on a hard dance floor with just a thin mat and cushion under my knees for comfort, my back cannot get comfy and my hair gets stuck in my headphones.
'My secret for a long life? Don't get married!'
Kath reflects on love of freedom as she turns 103
