The Thursday Murder Club messes up its biggest change from the book

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The Thursday Murder Club spoilers follow.

The beloved crime-solving duo, now seniors, have made their debut on Netflix, and “The Thursday Murder Club” largely retains the charm of its acclaimed book series.

In the original plan, it was anticipated that certain aspects from Richard Osman’s debut book needed adjustments for a two-hour film adaptation. However, an unexpected alteration to a character’s finale emerged, which at first glance might seem minor, but ultimately disrupts the continuity of the series in the long run.

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In the narrative of “The Thursday Murder Club,” the storyline mirrors that of the initial book when a property developer named Tony Curran, portrayed by Geoff Bell, gets killed at his own residence. This unfortunate event presents the Thursday Murder Club with their first real-time murder case to investigate.

At the public demonstration, Ian Ventham – once business associate of the late Tony – unfortunately met a similar fate as Tony’s, being murdered in full view of many witnesses. However, it is not this murder that marks a significant shift.

In the novel, it was John Grey (played by Paul Freeman) who ended Ian’s life, doing so to prevent him from unearthing graves in the nearby cemetery. This action aimed to keep secret the fact that John’s wife Penny had once hidden a murderer’s corpse in one of those graves, a crime she had committed decades earlier.

In keeping with the book, it’s true that Tony Curran was murdered by Bogdan, a Polish construction worker. However, the book doesn’t depict the motives accurately, and in the storyline, Bogdan is not portrayed as being arrested for the murder.

If you haven’t yet read the book, you might be curious about the excitement surrounding it. While engaged in a game of chess, Bogdan admits to killing Tony to Stephen, who happens to be Elizabeth’s husband and records all of his games as a way to analyze Bogdan’s strategy. Naturally, after this confession, Bogdan is taken into custody.

If you haven’t read the book, you may wonder why people are so excited about it. While playing chess with Stephen (who is Elizabeth’s husband), Bogdan admits to murdering Tony. Since Stephen records all of his chess games to analyze strategy, he was able to capture this confession on tape. As a result, Bogdan gets arrested.

In the book, unlike other scenarios, Bogdan doesn’t get arrested for the murder of Tony. He admits his guilt to Stephen once he deduces the crime, but no one else becomes aware of this secret. Everyone, including Elizabeth, Joyce, and possibly others, seem untroubled by it.

Despite discovering that Bogdan might be a murderer, the team remains surprisingly unfazed and even welcomes him as an integral member thereafter in “The Man Who Died Twice” and beyond. From this novel onwards, Bogdan lends a hand to the team whenever they require assistance to solve their current case, and has since garnered a strong following among fans.

Maybe it’s due to understanding the motive for the murder that Elizabeth and her associates can tolerate Bogdan, despite being aware that he is a killer.

In the novel, Tony is portrayed as a murderer who, many years ago, had Kaz, a friend of Bogdan’s, killed. This was due to Kaz witnessing Tony commit a murder in a pub. Tony manipulated one of his associates, referred to as Turkish Gianni, into convincing Kaz to drive him into the forest under the pretense that he needed to bury something. However, the “something” to be buried turned out to be Kaz himself.

In a turn of events, Bogdan took Gianni’s life swiftly following his realization, but chose to remain patient with Tony. During the installation of Tony’s latest security system, he intentionally installed it improperly, rendering it useless in capturing any footage. One fateful day, after obtaining a key and having access made, he ended Tony’s life for ordering Kaz’s assassination.

In the film version, the background details were left out for a more straightforward narrative. Instead, Tony took Bogdan’s passport and refused to return it to him.

Due to Bogdan’s mother being terminally ill in Poland, he requested to take a leave so he could visit her, however, Tony declined and they ended up having an argument. According to Bogdan, it escalated to the point where Tony physically attacked him, leaving Bogdan with no other option but to defend himself: “I was forced to act; it was either me or him.

Rewording that sentence in a more natural and easy-to-understand way:

In the book, Bogdan is portrayed as a calculated murderer when it comes to Tony. However, if we change Tony’s death into an “accident,” it lessens the impression of Bogdan being a cold-blooded killer. Some may even argue that this shift in perspective – from murder to accident – can be seen as more justifiable, given that Tony was not entirely innocent (due to his criminal activities like passport theft). But it’s important to note that this change also means that an otherwise innocent man was not deliberately killed.

The movie mishandles the significant shift by deviating too far from the book’s essence. Implicitly, Bogdan plans to poison Stephen to prevent him from revealing anything, and even Elizabeth hastens back to Coopers Chase upon realizing who killed Tony, fearing for Stephen’s real safety.

In a simplified and conversational manner: Elizabeth, being a character known for her sharp insight (as a spy), seems unfazed about trusting Bogdan in the story. On the other hand, the friendship between Bogdan and Stephen is one of the most heartwarming relationships in the series. Although some new readers might not find it odd that Bogdan could potentially harm Stephen, long-time fans may find this suggestion disconcerting, as it goes against their perception of the characters’ bond.

In just a short while, it becomes clear to Elizabeth that Bogdan wouldn’t possibly harm Stephen. However, this realization might help mend their friendship. Nevertheless, there remains an issue: Bogdan being arrested will not make him available as a helpful member and resource for the Thursday Murder Club in future investigations.

It’s possible that a sequel could find a way to bypass this issue, yet it has placed the writers in an unnecessarily challenging situation for the potential sequel. Alternatively, Bogdan may not be present in future films, which isn’t our preferred scenario.

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

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2025-08-28 14:20