Donna De Freitas

A police officer who wants a proper case

Donna De Freitas is a young police officer who has moved from London to Fairhaven in Kent. She is bored by work that does not make full use of her intelligence or ambition. A visit to Coopers Chase to give the residents a routine safety talk brings her into contact with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. They are considerably more interested in discussing murder than in the presentation she has been sent to deliver. That meeting is important for both sides: Donna encounters people who take her seriously, and the club finds a police officer willing to listen.

Chris and the official investigation

Chris Hudson is Donna’s senior police colleague and the experienced detective with whom she works. Donna brings energy, observation and a willingness to try a different approach; Chris brings the responsibilities of an official investigation. Their partnership becomes one of the continuing pleasures of the series. Working with the quartet requires Donna to think about what information she can share and how much trust she can place in people who are not police officers. The residents are helpful but not easily managed. An apparently friendly conversation may already be part of an enquiry she has not been told about.

Patrice and life beyond work

Patrice De Freitas is Donna’s mother. Their relationship gives Donna a family life beyond the murder cases and connects the police characters with the wider social circle. Patrice’s relationship with Chris creates a particularly awkward overlap between home and work in the continuing novels. Donna has to meet him as a colleague while also recognising that he is part of her mother’s life. The comedy comes from that closeness rather than from a lack of professional competence. Alongside the club’s friendship, these connections make the books feel like stories about an extended community, not only a succession of investigations.

What makes Donna a useful ally

Donna is observant, resilient and prepared to revise her first impression of the residents. She recognises that age does not make the quartet irrelevant to a case. At the same time, her police training gives her access and responsibilities the amateurs do not have. She is not simply there to carry out Elizabeth’s requests. Their unofficial cooperation works because both sides possess something the other needs. The club can draw on its village relationships and unusual experience; Donna can approach the same problem as a serving officer. Her ability to move between those perspectives makes her an essential member of the surrounding cast.

Where to start

The Thursday Murder Club is the best starting point for Donna because her introduction to the village gives the reader an introduction too. The safety-talk encounter establishes the residents’ irreverence and her frustration with being underused. Follow the novels in order for the development of her working relationship with Chris and her growing place in the Coopers Chase circle. Her story offers a younger perspective alongside the retired quartet, with professional ambition and family awkwardness continuing beyond the solution to any one crime. Readers who enjoy police characters adapting to an eccentric community should give her scenes as much attention as the club meetings.

On screen

Naomi Ackie plays Donna De Freitas in the 2025 Netflix film. See the full actor-to-character cast guide and the film guide.

Read the books and extracts

Start with The Thursday Murder Club. Our reading order follows the novels’ publication sequence. The publisher’s extracts below let you meet the characters in Osman’s own prose; review and cast links offer further background.

• The Thursday Murder Club: opening chapter
• Penguin’s guide to the four club members
• Netflix’s character and cast guide