We Solve Murders
by Richard Osman
Contents
Chapter 3
Overview
Chapter 3 introduces Steve, Amy Wheeler’s retired detective father-in-law, as he makes his nightly rounds through the apparently peaceful village of Axley. The chapter reveals how Debbie’s love, and then her death in a train derailment, reshaped him into a man devoted to routine, grief rituals, and small local investigations. It establishes Steve as observant, experienced, and deeply attached to a quiet life that the broader murder plot is likely to disturb.
Summary
On his usual pre-dawn walk through Axley, Steve records small observations into his Dictaphone, including an unfamiliar ginger cat and a suspicious-looking car. The chapter lingers on the village’s tidy, idyllic appearance and on Steve’s old habit, formed during twenty-five years in the Metropolitan Police, of assuming that every minor detail might matter. Although he once expected violence and hidden corruption everywhere, Steve eventually learned that Axley was genuinely kind and peaceful.
The narrative then explains how village life and Debbie, Steve’s wife, changed him. After leaving the police, Steve settled into domestic routines, pub quizzes, and the companionship of a stray cat named Trouble. Debbie also encouraged Steve to start a modest local detective business, and the chapter links Steve to the wider plot by revealing that Amy, the bodyguard protecting novelist Rosie D’Antonio in America, is Steve’s daughter-in-law and the family member he speaks to most often.
Steve’s nightly walk brings him to the pond and to a memorial bench for Debbie. The chapter reveals that Debbie died in a train derailment, a loss Steve had always feared in abstract but was still utterly unprepared for when it happened. After her death, Axley’s residents supported him, and Steve’s sense of being loved by the village became central to his survival.
Sitting on Debbie’s bench, Steve records a message to her about ordinary village matters: the pub quiz, Trouble’s latest catch, the new cat, and Amy’s work with Rosie D’Antonio. This ritual shows how Steve continues to speak to Debbie and structure his grief through routine, humor, and observation. He then resumes his walk, planning to continue two small cases the next day: finding a missing dog for wealthy campers and collecting footage that will likely prove a shopkeeper’s daughter has been stealing from the till.
By the end of the chapter, Steve reflects on aging, mortality, and the life he has chosen. Having seen enough danger and suffering, he wants no more excitement, no murder cases, and no disruption to his careful routines. The chapter closes on his resolve to live quietly and to meet the end, whenever it comes, without a fight.
Who Appears
- SteveRetired Metropolitan Police detective, Amy’s father-in-law, widower, and observant village investigator who cherishes a quiet routine.
- DebbieSteve’s late wife; her love transformed him, and her death still shapes his nightly rituals and grief.
- Amy WheelerSteve’s daughter-in-law, a globe-trotting bodyguard currently protecting Rosie D’Antonio in America.
- Rosie D’AntonioFamous author under Amy’s protection, mentioned as the celebrity client Steve wants gossip about.
- TroubleSteve’s once-stray cat, now his affectionate companion at home.
- AdamSteve’s son and Amy’s husband, mentioned mainly to establish the family connection.
- NormanLocal shopkeeper and pub-quiz participant whose visiting brother-in-law helped beat Steve’s team.