The Bullet That Missed is the third book in The Thursday Murder Club series
Plot
It is an ordinary Thursday and things should finally be returning to normal. Except trouble is never far away where the Thursday Murder Club is concerned. A decade-old cold case leads them to a local news legend and a murder with no body and no answers.
Then a new foe pays Elizabeth a visit. Her mission? Kill…or be killed.
As the cold case turns white hot, Elizabeth wrestles with her conscience (and a gun), while Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim chase down clues with help from old friends and new. But can the gang solve the mystery and save Elizabeth before the murderer strikes again?
Review
There are multiple plots within this book.
– the disappearance of Bethany Waites 10 years ago
Reporter Bethany Waites emailed her South East Tonight co-host Mike Waghorn to say she had almost cracked an amazing story and was off to meet a risky contact…….she was never seen again.
Now the Murder Club have selected the disappearance as their latest cold case investigation. Joyce wanted to investigate this case as she has always wanted to meet Mike Waghorn. However it is Ron Ritchie who is selected to be interviewed on TV by Mike about life at Coopers Chase.
At the studio Ron meets make up artist Pauline, who also knew Bethany Waites. Mike and Pauline both pay a visit to Cooper’s Chase and disclose Bethany had been getting threatening notes and that her scoop was supposed to be “absolute dynamite”. While they do not know who she was meeting on that fateful night, Bethany was last seen in her car with an unidentified male near Shakespeare Cliff. The car was later found at the foot of the cliff, but Bethany’s body was never found, presumably thrown clear of the car, and washed out to sea. Was it murder or suicide ?
– the “Viking” wants Elizabeth to kill his rival Viktor Illyich
Elizabeth and Stephen get kidnapped and, bound and tied, transported to a posh mansion. Finding themselves in a library stuffed full of priceless first editions, and antiquarian rare treasures, Stephen is intrigued. They are there at the bidding of a huge bearded man with a Swedish accent, who Elizabeth nicknames “the Viking”. He wants Elizabeth to kill his money laundering rival, the ex KGB section head, Viktor Illyich.
A kill or be killed situation. And if Elizabeth does not kill Viktor, The Viking will kill Joyce.
– Connie Johnson, in prison awaiting trial due to Ron and Bogdan
Heather Garbutt went to jail over her connection to the VAT fraud case Bethany had been investigating. Now Heather is in the same prison as Connie Johnson. Connie is in Durwell prison due to Ron and Bogdan, but Ibrahim, posing as a “journalist” goes to ask Connie if she can befriend Heather to get information from her for their case.