The Man Who Died Twice

The opening of the novel is critical in establishing mood and tone. The Prologue is deliberately oblique in its lack of context. Readers do not know who Sylvia Finch is or how she relates to the story. An immediate sense of mystery is created, which will only be resolved in the final chapter.

After the sense of mystery and tension, the novel adopts a lighthearted tone. This contrast between suspense and humor is maintained throughout the story. The novel’s parts—“Your Friends Are Sure to Visit,” “At Times, You Won’t Believe Your Eyes,” and “So Many Day Trips for You to Enjoy”—evoke an advertisement for Coopers Chase retirement village. The dramatic irony of these subtitles becomes clear as the novel progresses. The inhabitants’ visiting “friends” turn out to be police officers, MI5 agents, and assassins, while their day trips include a blindfolded van journey to an MI5 isolation cell. Readers’ expectations about a rural retirement home are humorously subverted.

The first three chapters introduce the main characters and establish the dual narrative voices of the novel. Chapters alternate between a third-person perspective from multiple characters and the first-person diary entries of Joyce Meadowcroft.

Chapter 1 introduces the key members of the Thursday Murder Club and their character traits. The easy rapport of their conversation establishes their friendship as they discuss the pros and cons of Joyce adopting a dog. Ibrahim’s warning that “[y]ou must die before your children, of course […] but not your dog” introduces the ongoing theme of aging and mortality (8), and illustrates Ibrahim’s cautious nature.

Elizabeth’s interior monologue concerning the letter from Marcus creates intrigue. It also introduces the storyline that drives the novel: Douglas’s diamond theft. Elizabeth’s observation that the letter appears to be from a dead man is a reminder of her former profession as a spy and seems to suggest that Marcus Carmichael is the titular “man who died twice” (although this later proves to be a red herring).

The cold case the Thursday Murder Club discusses in Chapter 1 foreshadows the novel’s examination of justice, revenge, and retribution. It is a case of a newsagent who killed an intruder with a crossbow, and it highlights the morally gray issue of taking justice into one’s own hands. While the newsagent’s right to defend his property appeared justified, it later emerged that the “intruder” was his daughter’s boyfriend.

Chapter 2 introduces the second plotline of the novel: the police pursuit of drug dealer Connie Johnson. The portrayal of the relationship between Chris and Donna subverts the common crime novel trope where sexual chemistry exists between a male and female police officer. The friendship between Chris and Donna is strictly platonic, and in The Thursday Murder Club, Donna introduced Chris to her mother, Patrice. In the sequel, Donna’s matchmaking negatively impacts her friendship with Chris, as he is preoccupied with Patrice.

Joyce’s first-person narrative opens the third chapter. Throughout the novel, her diary entries provide a shift in tone from fast-paced action to a more reflective pace. Her sections often seem relatively uneventful yet offer crucial information and insight. In Chapter 3, Joyce’s narrative follows her train of thought. Wondering why “Elizabeth was in a funny mood,” she conjectures, “Perhaps something is wrong with Stephen? You remember, her husband? Or perhaps she’s still not over Penny” (19). Through this stream of consciousness, Joyce conveys her empathy for others. Her confiding tone addresses the reader like a friend. Joyce’s thoughts reveal that Elizabeth’s husband has dementia and her former friend, Penny, is dead. This is one of several examples of exposition in the early chapters recapping events from the first novel.

Joyce’s declaration, “I do wish something exciting would happen again” (18), is an example of foreshadowing and dramatic irony. Given the genre of the novel, readers know that Joyce’s wish will soon come true. While many of Joyce’s observations appear inconsequential, several of her asides take on vital significance as the novel progresses. Her enthusiasm for knitting friendship bracelets and selling them to everyone she meets symbolizes her open-heartedness. The motif of the friendship bracelet also plays a crucial part in the plot, eventually identifying Siobhan as an accomplice to the murders.

Also notable in this section are Joyce’s comments about Ibrahim. Referring to events from the previous novel, she observes that her friend “has really come out of his shell since everyone started getting murdered” (19). Consequently, she hopes to persuade him to drive her to the animal rescue center. These observations foreshadow the impending attack on Ibrahim, which causes him to retreat into his shell and refuse to leave Coopers Chase. Joyce’s lift to the animal shelter is delayed until the novel’s end when Ibrahim has healed physically and emotionally.

Chapter 5 introduces the third plot thread of the novel: Ryan Baird’s assault on Ibrahim. At the beginning of the chapter, Ibrahim’s determination to be less cautious and “Use It or Lose It” demonstrates how his adventures in the previous novel have proved life-enhancing (30). Inspired by the spontaneity of friends Ron and Joyce, he drives into Fairhaven making exciting discoveries such as contactless payment and parking apps. However, Ibrahim’s joie de vivre disappears when he is assaulted and hospitalized. This frightening experience of life outside Coopers Chase begins a reverse character arc where Ibrahim becomes increasingly withdrawn and reclusive.

Traumatized, Ibrahim claims he cannot “remember much” before giving a forensically detailed description of his attackers, their clothing, and their bicycles to Chris. Chris warns Ibrahim that, despite the accurate description, Ryan will get away with the crime—the novel’s first reference to the inefficacy of the legal system. Chris’s suggestion that there may be other ways to achieve justice alludes to the theme of revenge, foreshadowing the group’s decision to seek retribution.

Elizabeth’s second meeting with Douglas in Chapter 9 brings to light several critical clues. When Douglas points out a hollow tree trunk as a “[p]erfect dead-letter drop” (a hiding place where one agent leaves an item for another) (49), he draws attention to the location where Elizabeth later finds his letter. Douglas’s apparently mistaken memory of a similar tree in East Berlin gives Elizabeth a further clue. Recalling that the tree was in West Berlin, Elizabeth later realizes she must invert the number of the locker Douglas originally provided. This chapter also marks the converging of two storylines. Elizabeth agrees to help protect Douglas in exchange for information on Ryan, effectively linking the story of the stolen diamonds with the Thursday Murder Club’s plan for revenge.