The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Osman, Richard. The Bullet That Missed. Pamela Dorman Books, September 20, 2022. Kindle.

The Bullet That Missed, by Richard Osman, is the third installment in the Thursday Murder Club Mystery series. In this novel, Joyce Meadowcraft and her friends drink, gossip, and laugh their way through solving another murder. Along the way, there is a twist because the man who confesses to the murder of Bethany Waites, a promising young news reporter, did not kill her. Instead, she faked her death and escaped to Dubai with the proceeds of her believed murderer’s tax fraud scheme.

Bethany disappeared one evening after she sent her co-anchor, Mike Waghorn, a message that she had not said thank you to him enough. She had been investigating a VAT scam and had received a message asking her to meet a source. She told no one about the message or the meeting. A CCTV camera recorded Bethany’s car, with two people inside, driving up to Shakespeare Cliff later that night. Fibers from Bethany’s clothes and her blood were found in the car, which went over the cliff. However, her body was never located.

With the help of Viktor Illyich, the former head of the Leningrad KGB, Joyce and her crew trace the tax fraud scam from Heather Garbutt, who is in jail for the crime, to her boss, Jack Mason. From Jack, they are able to trace old business accounts to Andrew Everton, the Chief Constable of Kent. Andrew is believed to be an honest cop. However, when he is pressed with questions about Bethany’s death, Andrew admits that he murdered her.

Andrew believes he is meeting with a man who can help him launder the money he has stolen. Instead, he meets with Viktor and Henrik, two friends of the members of the Thursday Murder Club. They arrange for Andrew’s confession to be live-streamed through a television celebrity’s Instagram account. Andrew denies he killed Bethany until he fears the only way to get his money is to admit he killed Bethany.

Later, Pauline Jenkins, who worked as Bethany’s makeup artist, shares with Ron Ritchie, a member of the Thursday Murder Club, that Bethany is still alive. Bethany came to her the night she was supposedly murdered and asked Pauline to make her up so that no one would recognize her. Bethany also asked to have one of Pauline’s mannequins. Pauline worked out that Bethany was planning to fake her own death, but she is not sure why.

Bethany, meanwhile, is made aware of the new interest in her case through her account on Google Alerts. She regrets leaving Mike without saying goodbye, but she feels she had no choice. Andrew had sent her a bullet with Mike’s name scratched into it.