Me, Sussex and crime go way back, says Richard Osman

Richard Osman's hit debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, was inspired by the residents of his mother's real-life retirement village in Burgess Hill.

In addition, his four-times great-grandfather was an amateur sleuth who became a key witness in a notorious 19th Century Brighton murder case - a fact uncovered on BBC One's Who Do You Think You Are? in 2022.

So it is little wonder the former Pointless presenter-turned-bestselling author feels such an affinity with Sussex.

"I feel very rooted there," said the 55-year-old, who was brought up in Haywards Heath. "In fact, you could say that me, Sussex and crime go back a long way."

Released in 2020, The Thursday Murder Club surpassed one million sales in the UK alone within its first 12 months.

A prolific writer, Osman has since gone on to pen several sequels, along with We Chase Shadows, his latest mystery in a separate series of novels which came out last month.

But, while the mismatched detective trio in that most recent tale travel the globe in order to catch a killer, it is the flavour of the South East which runs through his work that gives him the most pride.

"These books are my heart and soul and their setting means a huge amount to me," said Osman.

"It makes me very proud to think that these stories, which mention places like Brighton, are being read in countries as far away as Japan and Brazil.

"That's a very special thing."

Talking to the BBC at a recent signing at Sevenoaks Bookshop in Kent, he explained why setting The Thursday Murder Club among the silver-haired budding Sherlocks of West Sussex helped make it such a success.

"Whenever I go to my mum's retirement community I meet these incredible people with incredible life stories," said Osman, who was awarded the OBE for services to literature and broadcasting in 2026's New Year Honours list.

"But, with age, they've tended to become slightly invisible and overlooked.

"And I realised very early on how that, along with a lot of wisdom, can make someone an absolutely perfect detective."

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