The Thursday Murder Club ending explained: Who is the killer and why?

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The Thursday Murder Club ending spoilers follow.

Following a brief stint in movie theaters, the mystery series “The Thursday Murder Club” is now streaming on Netflix. You may have some queries regarding its conclusion, and here’s where you can find answers to those questions.

As a gaming enthusiast diving into this adventure, let me share that the movie is crafted around the initial novel in Richard Osman’s popular book series. While it largely stays true to the original story, there have been some clever adjustments to the motive behind the murder, even though the culprit remains unchanged. Let’s delve deeper into this intriguing mystery together!

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The Thursday Murder Club ending explained: Who is the killer?

We’ll cut to the (Coopers) chase: Bogdan killed Tony Curran and John Grey killed Ian Ventham.

Elizabeth’s husband Stephen is the one who initially figures out that Bogdan was responsible for Tony’s death, as Bogdan eventually confessed this secret to him. Upon arriving in the UK, Bogdan had a dispute with Tony over his passport, which Tony kept and refused to return. In this altercation, Tony attacked Bogdan, forcing Bogdan to defend himself due to the attack.

It seems that Bogdan believes he’s successfully escaped the consequences since Stephen, due to his dementia, has forgotten their discussion. Nevertheless, Elizabeth, having deduced that Bogdan was responsible for Tony’s death based on her talk with Tony’s business associate Bobby Tanner, quickly returns to Coopers Chase to prevent Bogdan from causing harm to Stephen.

It emerges that Stephen meticulously documents each of his chess matches to decipher Bogdan’s tactics, and there exists a recording of Bogdan admitting to the crime. However, Donna apprehends Bogdan, but he persists in claiming it was an unintentional incident. The murder scene isn’t shown through flashbacks, leaving you to decide if Bogdan is being truthful about his actions.

In a nutshell, there are significant differences from the novel, yet Bogdan remains the character responsible for Tony’s death. Let’s delve deeper into those differences shortly.

Before that, let’s deal with the other murder which is mostly the same as in the book.

John murdered Ian in order to safeguard his wife Penny, a former detective who, along with Elizabeth, founded The Thursday Murder Club. In the past, Penny took matters into her own hands and ended the life of Peter Mercer, a man who had gone unpunished for killing his girlfriend.

She interred his remains in a tombstone at the cemetery; John lent a hand. Later, Ian aimed to unearth the cemetery, prompting Bogdan to start digging, ultimately resulting in Bogdan uncovering Peter’s skeleton from the grave.

As a devoted supporter, I found myself unaware that Ian’s body had been unearthed. To shield Penny from the distressing news and prevent the graveyard from becoming a dig site, in the heat of the protest, I felt compelled to administer a lethal dose of fentanyl to Ian, with the hope it would bring an end to his life.

With Elizabeth solving the two murders, she allows John a chance to bid farewell to Penny, understanding that he plans to administer two lethal doses of fentanyl, one for himself and one for her.

The Thursday Murder Club book changes

It’s not surprising that condensing a 400-page book into a two-hour film required some simplification. As a result, supporting characters such as Father Mackie’s subplots were eliminated, and others, like Gordon Playfair, were completely left out of the movie adaptation.

Mackie’s additional storyline can be found in a brief special titled “Not Really a Priest” on Netflix.

In the book, Bogdan, contrary to expectations, escapes arrest for the murder of Tony. Instead, it is still Stephen who solves the case, but without the dramatic, eleventh-hour intervention by Elizabeth to prevent Bogdan from harming Stephen. Furthermore, there’s no documented confession from Bogdan in the storyline.

It appears that Elizabeth and fellow club members may have figured out that Bogdan was involved, yet they seem accepting of this situation. Interestingly, Bogdan’s valuable contributions to the team now pose a challenge for any potential sequels. (For further details, check out the article here.)

In the film adaptation, Bogdan perceives things differently because the storyline connecting Tony’s history with organized crime, stemming from an incident where he murdered someone in a bar that was witnessed by a cab driver named Kaz, and subsequently having Kaz killed by an acquaintance called Turkish Gianni, is absent.

Kaz was close friends with Bogdan. When Kaz figured out what transpired, he immediately took Gianni’s life and concealed his actions. Later, he waited patiently until he had installed Tony’s security system improperly, providing him an opportunity to secretly enter the house and murder Tony.

Apart from the initial account, it turns out that John wasn’t involved in helping Penny bury Ian’s body. It was later on, as Penny’s dementia progressed, that she confessed to killing Peter. This is why John became aware of the body being buried in the grave.

The film introduces additional alterations, one of which involves the storyline where Cooper’s Chase is threatened with closure because of Ian’s plot. However, it’s primarily the modifications to Bogdan’s character that stand out significantly from the original novel.

The Thursday Murder Club is available to watch now on Netflix.

The latest print edition from Digital Spy has arrived! You can grab a copy of “Oasis – Live in ’25” from newsstands or online for only £8.99!

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2025-08-29 09:20