Richard Osman
Photo credit: Conor O’Leary
Richard Osman is represented by Juliet Mushens
Richard Osman is the Creative Director of Endemol Shine. Richard rose to fame presenting Pointless with Alexander Armstrong and presents his own BBC quiz, House of Games, along with Insert Name Here and Child Genius. He is also a regular on panel shows such as Have I Got News For You and Would I Lie To You.
His debut novel, The Thursday Murder Club, was acquired by Katy Loftus at Viking for seven-figures following a ten-way auction. The Thursday Murder Club follows Joyce, Ibrahim, Ron and Elizabeth, four octogenarians living in a retirement home, who meet on Thursday evenings to investigate unsolved killings. But when a local property developer is found dead, the Thursday Murder Club finds themselves in the middle of their first live case.
Viking published The Thursday Murder Club in September 2020 and it instantly charted at #1 on the Sunday Times Bestseller list and became the fastest ever selling crime debut since records began. It has also become a bestseller in the US, Brazil, Japan, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, and Germany. It was nominated for Best Novel at the Edgar Awards 2021.
Richard’s second novel in the series, The Man Who Died Twice, was published in September 2021 and immediately became a #1 Sunday Times bestseller, selling over 100,000 copies in its first week.
The Bullet that Missed and The Last Devil to Die have had similar chart success, with both books also hitting the top spot in the Sunday Times bestseller chart. In its first week of sales,The Last Devil to Die became the fastest-selling hardback title by a British author to date. In September 2023 The Thursday Murder Club series hit 10 million copies sold worldwide.
Praise for The Thursday Murder Club:
‘A superb debut. Thrilling, moving, laugh-out-loud funny and packed with characters you will want to see a LOT more of’ — Mark Billingham
‘Robert Galbraith meets Tom Sharpe. Plot driven with great characters, I'm doing actual lols on every page. I don't ever want to finish this book!’ — Philippa Perry
‘Compelling. Mystery fans are going to be enthralled.’ — Harlan Coben
‘So smart, so funny, so warm, and such a wonderful mystery. If we're lucky Richard Osman will keep these characters alive forever’ — Caroline Kepnes
‘A properly funny and totally charming murder mystery steeped in Agatha Christie joy. Also the best crime solving foursome and full of a type of Britishness that makes you smile.’ — Araminta Hall
‘Smart, compassionate, warm, moving and so VERY funny. I smiled a million times. This book will make a lot of people very, very happy.’ — Marian Keyes
‘A little beacon of pleasure...SUCH FUN!’ — Kate Atkinson
‘So smart and funny. Deplorably good.’ — Ian Rankin
‘Diabolically clever, very funny, highly entertaining - utterly delightful. I completely fell in love with it’ — Shari Lapena
‘Funny, clever and achingly British - what else would you expect from a book by Richard Osman?’ — Adam Kay
Rights Sold:
The Thursday Murder Club Series
The Thursday Murder Club: Viking (UK), Pamela Dorman Books (US), Polis (Albania), Raff (Arabic), Newmag Publishing (Armenia), Intrinseca (Brazil), Soft Press (Bulgaria), Columna (Catalan), Jiela (China), Egmont (Croatia), Jota (Czech), Gyldendal (Denmark), Rahva Raamat (Estonia), Otava (Finland), Lattes (France), Ullstein (Germany), Psichogios (Greece), Agave (Hungary), Drapa (Iceland), Tchelet (Israel), SEM (Italy), Hayakawa (Japan), Foliant (Kazakhstan), Sallim (Korea), ABC (Latvia), Jotema (Lithuania), il-Fondazzjoni Lingwisti (Malta), Kultura (Mecedonia), Cargo (Netherlands), Gursli Berg (Norway), Agora (Poland), Planeta (Portugal), Crime Scene Press (Romania), Mann, Ivanov and Ferber (Russia), Vulkan (Serbia), Slovart (Slovakia), Mladinska (Slovenia), Planeta (Spain), Thrimana Publications (Sri Lanka), Albert Bonniers (Sweden), Faces (Taiwan), Biblio (Thailand), Bilgi (Turkey), Family Leisure Club (Ukraine), 1980 Books (Vietnam), Amblin (Film).
The Man Who Died Twice: Viking (UK), Pamela Dorman Books (US), Raff (Arabic), Intrinseca (Brazil), Soft Press (Bulgaria), Columna (Catalan), Jieli (China), Egmont (Croatia), Jota (Czech), Gyldendal (Denmark), Rahva Raamat (Estonia), Otava (Finland), Lattes (France), Ullstein (Germany), Psichogios (Greece), Tchelet (Israel), SEM (Italy), Hayakawa (Japan), Zvaigzne (Latvia), Jotema (Lithuania), Cargo (Netherlands), Gursli Berg (Norway), Agora (Poland), Planeta (Portugal), Crime Scene Press (Romania), Mann, Ivanov and Ferber (Russia), Vulkan (Serbia), Slovart (Slovakia), Mladinska (Slovenia), Planeta (Spain), Albert Bonniers (Sweden), Faces (Taiwan), Biblio (Thailand), Bilgi (Turkey), and Family Leisure Club (Ukraine).
The Bullet That Missed: Viking (UK), Pamela Dorman Books (US), Raff (Arabic), Intrinsic (Brazil), Soft Press (Bulgaria), Columna (Catalan), Jieli (China), Egmont (Croatia), Rahva Raamat (Estonia), Otava (Finland), Lattes (France), Ullstein (Germany), Psichogios (Greece), Agave (Hungary), Drapa (Iceland), SEM (Italy), Cargo (Netherlands), Gursli Berg (Norway), Agora (Poland), Planeta (Portugal), Crime Scene Press (Romania), Mann, Ivanov and Ferber (Russia), Vulkan (Serbia), Slovart (Slovakia), Mladinska (Slovenia), Planeta (Spain), Bonnier (Sweden), Faces (Taiwan), Turkey (Bilgi) and Family Leisure Club (Ukraine).
The Last Devil to Die: Viking (UK), Pamela Dorman Books (US), Raff (Arabic), Intrinseca (Brazil), Soft Press (Bulgaria), Columna (Catalan), Jieli (China), Egmont (Croatia), Rahva Raamat (Estonia), Otava (Finland), Lattes (France), Ullstein (Germany), Psichogios (Greece), Agave (Hungary), SEM (Italy), Gursli Berg (Norway), Agora (Poland), Crime Scene Press (Romania), Mann, Ivanov and Ferber (Russia), Vulkan (Serbia), Slovart (Slovakia), MK Zaloba (Slovenia), Planeta (Spain), Bonnier (Sweden), Faces (Taiwan), Bilgi (Turkey) and Family Leisure Club (Ukraine).
We Solve Murders Series
We Solve Murders: Viking (UK), Pamela Dorman Books (US), Columna (Catalan), Gyldendal (Denmark), Rahva Raamat (Estonia), Otava (Finland), Ullstein (Germany), Agave (Hungary), SEM (Italy), Cargo (Netherlands), Gursli Berg (Norway), Planeta (Portugal), Crime Scene Press (Romania), Planeta (Spain), and Bonniers (Sweden).