Culture

Interview with Richard Osman

By Silvia García HerráezMadrid, Sep 14 (EFE).- Richard Osman drew lessons from his esteemed career in TV and his from his family when he turned his hand to the world of crime fiction with is best-selling novel The Thursday Murder Club, he told Efe in an inteview Tuesday. Fans of Elizabeth, Ron Ritchie, Joyce Meadowcroft and Ibrahim Arif, four retirement village residents who set about cracking unsolved murders, have just days to wait for the highly anticipated sequel The Man Who Died Twice.This time, they turn their attention to corruption in MI5, drug traffickers and a volatile mobster. Osman discussed the origins of his idea for the novel, which places these unlikely detectives within a majorly dramatic plot. My mum lives in a retirement community and I would go and visit and chat to all her friends and hear extraordinary stories,” he told Efe. “It occurred to me that firstly it would be a fascinating place for a murder to happen and secondly theywould probably solve it.“I think that of the four characters, Joyce is very like my mum. So, Joyce, who writes the diary at the heart of the book reminds me of mum. Though she says all of her friends think she’s like Elizabeth.”TV producer, writer and the face of well-known British shows like Pointless drew on his work experience as well as his family when it came to taking the leap into the world of crime fiction. “I think my family has taught me about people and about questions. My grandfather was a police officer, my mother was a teacher. So I think my family teaches me about how to learn about the world, how to investigate and TV teaches me how to write a story that will keep people turning pages.”Osman’s first novel enjoyed a level of success not seen since J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997 and Stephen Spielburg has bought its movie rights. “When it took off in the UK it was very, very shocking to me -- and lovely. “You know, and the fact that people were laughing and crying at the book and they were loving these characters and then the fact that people in Spain and America and Russia and Brazil are enjoying these characters as well.”Work has already begun on the third, with a fourth planned.“At the moment I love writing these four characters and the characters that surround them. I’m writing the third one at the moment and they’re in even more trouble at the start of book three, they’re in real trouble, which is fun.” EFEsgh/jtQUOTES:"My mum lives in a retirement community and I would go and visit and chat to all her friends and hear extraordinary stories. It occurred to me that firstly it would be a fascinating place for a murder to happen and secondly theywould probably solve it. I think that of the four characters, Joyce is very like my mum. So, Joyce, who writes the diary at the heart of the book reminds me of mum. Though she says all of her friends think she’s like Elizabeth"."My whole Tv career, I’ve only ever made TV programs that I would watch, that’s how I work, then I don’t ever have to be cynical or worry about ‘oh I wonder what people would like’I just do what I would like. And I’ve always written, so I was going to write a novel at some point but the novels I read are crime novels and thriller novels, so that’s always the novel I was going to write because I make the sort of TV that I would love to watch so I write the kind of books that I would love to read". "I think that TV has taught me to not bore people, and to keep a story moving and to be as entertaining as possible all the time"."I think my family has taught me about people and about questions. My grandfather was a police officer, my mother was a teacher. So I think my family teaches me about how to learn about the world, how to investigate and TV teaches me how to write a story that will keep people turning pages"."No of course not, I’d be an awful human being if I thought that. I think I just wanted to sell enough copies that I could write another one because I love doing it.When it took off in the UK it was very, very shocking to me and lovely. You know, and the fact that people were laughing and crying at the book and they were loving these characters and then the fact that people in Spain and America and Russia and Brazil are enjoying these characters as well" "At the moment I love writing these four characters and the characters that surround them. I’m writing the third one at the moment and they’re in even more trouble at the start of book three, they’re in real trouble, which is fun".