Richard Osman's The Last Devil to Die Book Review

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 The Last Devil to Die 

(Thursday Murder Club #4)

By Richard Osman


Published Year: 2023

Page Count: 417 pages 

Medium Used: Kindle Scribe 

Genre : Mystery, Murders, Suspense, Heroin smuggling, Cozy Mystery, 2025-read. 

Rating : 5/5 😇




Well, let's see. This book felt different. This is my first book with the author and the series. I remember starting book 1 in the series but not finishing it - due to some time constraints. Now that I have read this one and enjoyed it, I might give the full series a retry. There are many scenes where I would go over the sentence and come back to it in a blink like what the hell has just happened? There are multiple murders in the plot and some of them are revealed in regular chats and conversations.. like totally taking me by surprise. There are cops in the story but they are sidelined by NCA (National Crime Agency) looking into the murders and so these cops tag along with the members of a Thursday Murder Club. The Murder Club consists of a bunch of old people who make it their business to prod and solve murder mysteries. They are Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, Ibrahim and Mervyn. The ring leader to this unusual bunch is Elizabeth clearly. 


An antique dealer,Kuldesh Sharma, who also happens to be a long term friend to Elizabeth's husband Stephen is murdered the day he receives a hundred thousand pound shipment of Heroin. He was supposed to sell it to someone the next day but both he and the stash go missing. This brings into the picture many of the prominent drug dealers .. and they also start being taken off .. one by one .. until Elizabeth and her team figure out what is so special about  hundred thousand bucks that so many thugs ought to die. The Club figures out the connection between these murders and finally track the location of the heroin stash in a very novel and fortuitous way. They also uncover an international antique smuggling in the process.


I wouldn't call this mind blowing. But it is very cozy and takes away the attention from the usual disturbing elements of gore and murder. To get to know these old people .. even if they are only fictitious.. felt pleasant. Elizabeth and her loss of Stephen, Joyce and her connection with her dog Alan, Ron and his mission to help Mervyn from an online romance fraud, his former life relationship with a man that ended with the lover's death, Ibrahim and his assistance to drug dealer Connie in prison ward .. are all very sumptuous. I drank this story like a toddler who is being shown something new for the first time. Death is natural, human life is trivial in the face of an endless time! Superb!! 

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