What to read next

10 books like The Impossible Fortune

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim solve problems in ways inseparable from age, friendship, grief, and the practical knowledge other detectives overlook. The picks below take that appeal in different directions.

Read our review of The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman.

Updated August 2, 2026

Cover of The Impossible Fortune

Best matches

Three strong places to start

If you only want three picks, start here.

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Best overall

The Tainted Cup

By Robert Jackson Bennett

Brisk pace

The Tainted Cup also depends on an eccentric investigator noticing what official procedure has overlooked. The assistant's practical observations keep brilliant deduction connected to ordinary evidence.

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Choose by reading mood

Where to start

The full shortlist

Why each book belongs here

See what each pick shares with The Impossible Fortune, and where it goes in a different direction.

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1Cover of The Tainted Cup

The Tainted Cup

By Robert Jackson Bennett

Pace
Brisk
Darkness
Moderate
Romance
Minimal
Difficulty
Accessible
Why this matches
Similar because
The Tainted Cup also depends on an eccentric investigator noticing what official procedure has overlooked. The assistant's practical observations keep brilliant deduction connected to ordinary evidence.
Different because
The Tainted Cup supplies a denser fair-play puzzle and stranger worldbuilding; Osman's novel offers warmer social comedy and a cast already shaped by several books.
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Read the spoiler-free review
2Cover of A Drop of Corruption

A Drop of Corruption

By Robert Jackson Bennett

Pace
Balanced
Darkness
Moderate
Romance
Minimal
Difficulty
Accessible
Why this matches
Similar because
A Drop of Corruption shares the pleasure of familiar investigators returning with established trust, private grief, and complementary habits. The case matters alongside the continuation of those relationships.
Different because
A Drop of Corruption makes deduction the main spectacle, while The Impossible Fortune is happier letting conversation and companionship outrank the mechanics of the case.
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3Cover of Mad Mabel

Mad Mabel

By Sally Hepworth

Pace
Brisk
Darkness
Moderate
Romance
Minimal
Difficulty
Accessible
Why this matches
Similar because
Mad Mabel also refuses the assumption that age makes a person harmless, simple, or easy to read. Old loyalties and family history complicate what looks like a manageable crime.
Different because
Mad Mabel also uses old age to challenge assumptions about criminal agency, but its central voice is pricklier and its family history much darker.
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Read the spoiler-free review

Side-by-side

Pace, darkness, romance, and difficulty

BookPaceDarknessRomanceDifficulty
The Impossible FortuneBriskGentleMinimalAccessible
The Tainted CupBriskModerateMinimalAccessible
A Drop of CorruptionBalancedModerateMinimalAccessible
Mad MabelBriskModerateMinimalAccessible
The Killer Isn't AliceMeasuredGentleMinimalModerate
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneBalancedGentleMinimalAccessible
Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsBalancedGentleMinimalAccessible
The Will of the ManyBalancedGentleMinimalAccessible
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanBalancedGentleMinimalAccessible
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceBalancedModerateMinimalModerate
Queen DemonBalancedGentleMinimalModerate

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