The Last Devil to Die: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery

The Last Devil to Die is written by Richard Osman. It is Book #4 of the Thursday Murder Club series. Disturbing news reaches Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron & Ibrahim - the Thursday Murder Club. An old friend has been murdered and a ‘special’ package he was protecting has gone missing. In their desire to solve the murder, the group encounters drug dealers, art forgers, antiques dealers, antiquities experts and fraudsters of all types. As the body count increases, they don’t know who to trust. Brilliant plotting, likeable, quirky characters, a nice retirement village, lots of cakes, snacks and wine and lots of information and thoughts on dementia and end of life directives. The dialogue and diary entries (thanks to Joyce) are interesting, funny, endearing, surprising, charming, intelligent and very often deeply thought-provoking. I seem to be addicted to The Thursday Murder Club! *****

I have loved all Thursday Murder Club books, and this one is stellar. The quirky characters, the banter, the plans, life and death situations, and our favorite characters all together solving a murder mystery. The writing is splendid, and each character so well defined. Joyce gets to come out of her shell and lead a bit which is fun. I love her dear diary entries. We are taken on an emotional ride that is remarkably well done. There are so many feels in this story. Ibrahim tells a part of his past story, which is heartbreaking! Elizabeth needs to take some time to be with her Stephen, and oh the feels there are there. Ron is funny and can be stubborn, yet he does have a sweet side. They all work so well together and even Chris, and Donna concede to their plans. I love Patrice and Boghdan, and hope as Joyce does that in the next book there will be a wedding. A delightful if at times very emotional read. We will have to wait for the next installment as Richard Osman will be writing another story for us before the next Thursday Murder Club. Read or listen to these excellent stories.

I’ve already ordered and read the first four books in the series and have preordered the fifth. These retired characters are clearly drawn, each with their own personality and quirks. The plots never cease to surprise and satisfy. I do LOL at the humor because it’s very natural from the four main characters and not forced. I can’t wait for the movie this Christmas!

I have devoured this series because reading takes my spirit into Coopers Chase and the author created people and complex, ingenious, mentally/physically challenging stories that immediately accepted and encouraged me as a silent but essential participant.

I felt a warm affinity for the characters, ——heroes, villains, sociopathic criminals, 100% capable pensioners … all their traits and foilbles… even the criminal element.

The literary interplay is so extremely well done that you enjoy, smile, learn, are consumed with angst, sadness, cheer on….and the writing is vey well done, technically, to present the always flowing undercurrent and backstory spinning almost gently on every page.

Wonderful.

Let me get the obvious out of the way before I get to what makes this book phenomenal. The writing style, plot, characterization, etc., etc., is superb! I’ve read all 4 of the Thursday Murder Club books and enjoyed each one immensely, and they just get better & better. Do yourself a favor and read this!

Now, for what made it phenomenal. I can’t say much because it would spoil things, but how Osman handles the dilemma facing Elizabeth & (husband) Stephen — both from the narrator’s view and from Joyce’s journal —was absolutely amazing. I could describe it — using words like lyrical and moving — but nothing I say can do it justice. I wish every single person I know could read this book for these parts alone, if for nothing more. Amazing!!

I have enjoyed all four of the "Thursday Murder Club" series including this one, but this one least of the four. I like the way the main characters are evolving, but I feel the author is exploring more human themes and emotions, and getting a little "preachy". Also, the plots are all a bit implausible, but this one more so than the others. In his postscript he says he's going to give the "Murder Club" a rest for a bit, and return to them sometime in the future, and I think that's a good thing.