Award
WHSmith Book of the Year
The Thursday Murder Club
WHSmith named Osman’s debut its 2020 Book of the Year.
The honours board
Awards and bestseller milestones
A dated ledger that distinguishes juried prizes, readers’ votes, sales awards and chart snapshots—because they are not the same kind of achievement.
Verified record
Selected milestones
The Bookseller ↗
Award
British Book Awards — Author of the Year
Richard Osman
Osman received the Author of the Year award following the success of his debut novel. This is an author award; The Thursday Murder Club did not win the Crime & Thriller category that year.
Readers’ award
Books Are My Bag Readers’ Choice
The Thursday Murder Club
Readers across the UK and Ireland selected the novel in the award’s open-vote Readers’ Choice category.
Sales milestone
Fastest-selling adult fiction hardback record
The Bullet That Missed
Penguin’s series record states that the third Thursday Murder Club novel broke the fastest-selling adult fiction hardback record in September 2022. Trade reporting put its first-week volume above 127,000 copies.
Sales award
Nielsen Bestseller Awards — Platinum
The Bullet That Missed
Nielsen BookData’s 2024 awards release says Osman received his second Platinum award for the novel.
Honour
OBE in the 2026 New Year Honours
Richard Osman
Appointed for services to literature and broadcasting in the honours supplement published on 30 December 2025.
Investiture
OBE received at Windsor Castle
Richard Osman
The Princess Royal presented Osman’s honour at Windsor Castle. This ceremony is distinct from the New Year Honours appointment.
Chart snapshot
The Impossible Fortune leads the 2026 bestseller list
The Impossible Fortune
A Bookseller analysis using NielsenIQ BookScan’s Total Consumer Market placed the paperback first at that point in 2026. This is a dated mid-year snapshot, not a final annual result.
Award
A named prize or category conferred by an award organiser. Shortlisting and winning are recorded separately; an author-level award is not reassigned to a particular book.
Sales award or record
A threshold or comparative record supported by the publisher, Nielsen or a named trade-data source. Approximate publicity language is not converted into an exact number.
Chart snapshot
A position at a stated date. It does not become a year-end result unless the final chart later confirms it.
Continue exploring
See how these milestones fit the wider writing and broadcasting career.
Richard Osman career guide →
Check the books
Publication dates and edition facts remain on the individual book pages.
Books in order →
Follow new announcements
Future awards and chart results enter the news archive before this permanent ledger.
Confirmed news →Honours entries added 9 October 2026; earlier ledger entries reviewed 8 September 2026. Sales and chart statements retain their original measurement date.