The Thursday Murder Club caught my wife's and my eyes when the Netflix preview for it made it seem like a British version of Only Murders in the Building.

The comparison is an apt one, mostly because it involves a group of unlikely residents trying to solve murders in their home -- in this case, Cooper's Chase, an upscale English retirement community. While most of the residents there are content with the usual activities, such as water aerobics, jigsaw puzzles and knitting classes, an unusual foursome of amateur sleuths study cold murder cases looking for clues the police overlooked.

The club's members are Elizabeth (Helen Mirren), a retired government spy; Ron (Pierce Brosnan), a retired trade union leader; Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley), a retired psychiatrist; and Penny (Susan Kirkby), a retired police officer. Penny, however, is in a coma in the hospice wing, and Elizabeth recruits a new resident, Joyce (Celia Imrie), a retired nurse, to assist in their current case.

Their cold case investigation is interrupted, however, when Tony Curran (Geoff Bell), a part owner of the community, is found murdered. Curran was the residents' best ally against efforts by his ambitious partner Ian Ventham (David Tennant) to raze the facility to make way for luxury apartments, and with Curran gone, Ventham's plans begin to move rapidly.

Ventham, of course, seems like the obvious suspect, but a sudden plot twist clears him of all suspicion.

The story is drawn from the first in a series of novels by Richard Osman. Fans of the books seem largely disappointed in the movie adaptation because of plot points left out of the story or changes to various character arcs. (The conclusion, apparently, is quite different.) Speaking as someone unfamiliar with the books, I can only judge the movie on its own merits ... and I think it succeeds quite well.

It's not a terribly complex plot, and viewers are unlikely to be able to solve the case on their own, based on information provided on screen, but it's a cozy British murder-mystery that's carried by an immensely talented cast. Mirren, Brosnan, Kingsley and Imrie are witty, eccentric and charming in their roles, making their characters believable and likable.

The cast also includes Tom Ellis as Jason, Ron's notoriously famous son; Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Bogdan, a Polish immigrant handyman; Richard E. Grant as Bobby Tanner, a drug lord whose apparent death was a ruse; and Jonathan Pryce as Stephen, Elizabeth's husband, whose struggle with dementia adds a sweetly heartbreaking touch to the story. DCI Chris Hudson (Daniel Mays) and Donna de Freitas (Naomi Ackie) are the police officers assigned to the case.

The Thursday Murder Club does not offer the serpentine plot of, say, Knives Out, but on the other hand it never strives to be that type of film. It's funny, but it's never pushed as a screwball comedy, either. It's laid-back, although there are a few bursts of energy. It's deeply touching at times. And it offers a few surprises at the end.

Forgive me, book fans, but I think it's a delightful movie.