Richard Osman has revealed he may have to amend his latest murder mystery after birdwatchers spotted an error in a scene involving a swift. The bestselling author, known for his Thursday Murder Club series, discussed the issue at the Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival on Saturday.
Error in We Chase Shadows
Osman's novel We Chase Shadows features a character named Vern in a Tuscan villa looking for a swift on the roof of an outbuilding. The bird is described swooping down to grab a worm in its beak, but readers pointed out that swifts do not eat worms.
Osman said: "I had a thing today that came through that was Vern - this guy in a Tuscan villa is looking for a swift which is on the roof of one of his outbuildings - and the swift is looking for food for its family."
He added: "My editor said there are a lot of furious birdwatchers out there because they're saying that swifts do not eat worms."
Possible Paperback Change
Osman suggested the mistake could be corrected in the paperback edition, possibly by changing the bird to a blackbird or a robin. He also joked that Vern might reconsider what bird he saw.
"Actually now he thinks about it, Vern is not sure it's a swift," Osman said. He apologised to ornithologists and quipped about the bird's diet, asking: "What the f*** are they eating?"
Readers had already discussed the error online. One wrote: "I've just got to the bit about the swift swooping down to eat a worm and I was just completely discombobulated." Another suggested: "Maybe they need bird advisers." A third wondered if the mistake was deliberate.
Swift Facts and Personal Revelations
In reality, swifts feed on insects and spiders caught while airborne, not worms from the ground. According to the RSPB, the UK's swift population declined to around three birds for every 10 recorded in 1995 by 2022, and the species is now on the UK's Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern.
Osman, who has written five Thursday Murder Club mysteries and sold around 17 million books, also spoke about his struggles with food addiction. He told The i Paper that discussing the issue made him uncomfortable but that opening up had encouraged others to share their experiences.
He said: "I don't want to talk about these things, I really don't. It's not comfortable. People... well, no, women come up to me and tell me their husbands heard me talking about it and then opened up about their own issues."
Osman has previously spoken about bingeing on chocolate and once joked: "If they made heroin gummies, I'd get hooked - but to the sweets and not the heroin."
