The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman
Nov. 22nd, 2023 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Shocking news reaches The Thursday Murder Club.
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
As the gang spring into action, they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.
With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out?
And who will be the last devil to die?
It’s Boxing Day, a short time after THE BULLET THAT MISSED.
Ron is still seeing TV make-up artist Pauline Jenkins, although a disagreement about the proper way of doing Christmas Day has led to trouble in paradise. Ibrahim is still regularly visiting drug dealer and crime supremo Connie Johnson (first seen in THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE) to provide counselling and he thinks he’s showing signs of progress even if she does still want to kill Ron for his part in setting her up.
Joyce has been trying to draw out newcomer to Coopers Chase, Mervyn Collins but discovers that he’s got a Lithuanian sweetheart called Tatiana, who has endured a stunning run of bad luck that’s resulted in him having to send her a lot of money. Elizabeth, however, has not been able to join the festive season because Stephen’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse and it won’t be long before a decision has to be made about his long-term care.
When a body is discovered in a car parked down a remote farm track, PC Donna De Freitas and DCI Chris Hudson realise that the victim is Kuldesh Sharma, the Brighton antiques shop owner and old friend of Stephen’s who helped the Club in THE BULLET THAT MISSED. Kuldesh has been shot in what looks to be a professional hit, but Donna and Chris are pushed out of the investigation by Senior Investigating Officer Jill Reagan from the National Crime Agency, for reasons that no one has seen fit to explain to them.
Given Kuldesh’s connection to the Club, they’re keen to find his killer and set about digging into what Kuldesh was up to in the lead up to his murder and soon find themselves in a world of international drug dealing, on-line fraud and art and antiquities forgery …
The fourth in Richard Osman’s bestselling THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES is a clever and emotional story that shows neat continuity with the earlier books and also fleshes out Ibrahim’s backstory. Although there are no surprises here, it’s considered and moving without being mawkish and ends in a satisfying way that allows Osman to go off and set up a new and different series of books while also allowing a return to the pensioner at a later date.
I have very much enjoyed the preceding three books in the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES and having heard that THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE is going to be the last one for the time being as Osman releases a separate series about two private eyes (which I’m looking forward to), was looking forward to seeing how he would leave it. I don’t want to give any real spoilers in this review, but I do think that Osman gives an effective resolution to what has happened to the 4 pensioners so far, while also leaving plenty of scope for more stories going forward.
One thing I think Osman does particularly well is how he handles continuity between the books. I have a bit of a character crush on the smart and ruthless drug dealer, Connie Johnson, and there is a lot of fun to be had in how Ibrahim has become her psychiatrist and is trying to influence her behaviour. The scenes where he visits her to discuss her behaviour but also seek her advice in relation to their case are some of my favourites in the book, not least because there are signs that Connie is giving serious thought to what’s they’ve been discussing in their sessions and what drives her own behaviour (even if Ron is not completely off the hook yet). I also really enjoyed the fact that we finally get a bit more about Ibrahim and his background - some of which was not a surprise but all of which really helps to flesh out the character and what drives him.
The central mystery here relates to Kuldesh Sharma’s murder, something which did make me a bit sad as I’d enjoyed his scenes in THE BULLET THAT MISSED and particularly his friendship with Stephen. It rattles along at a decent pace, taking in the worlds of international drug dealing and antique fraud and introducing some bizarre but interesting characters (most notably the very tall Canadian Garth who has a talent for violence and a taste for antiquities, who I would not mind seeing return in a future book as there is something quite chaotic about him). The ‘B’ mystery relates to a very nasty romance scam being played on Mervyn and how Joyce and the Club try to convince him that Svetlana doesn’t exist and just wants his money. This storyline reads very true, especially Mervyn’s refusal to listen to attempts by Donna to gently get him to think about what’s been happening to him. Having known someone who was taken by a romance scam like this, I must confess that I was highly delighted by the way Osman resolves that storyline.
Unlike the previous books though, it does feel that the mysteries here are very much second fiddle to Elizabeth and her relationship with Stephen as they decide what to do with his deteriorating faculties. I have to save that I think that the way Osman has handled Stephen’s Alzheimer’s over the 4 books has been superb. He’s conveyed Stephen’s slow decline in a heartbreaking way (especially through his deteriorating games of chess with Bogdan such that by this book, he no longer knows how to play at all) but at the same time gives you glimpses of the man he was and who Elizabeth loves. Again, I won’t give any real spoilers here other than to say that I think the way he resolves the situation is sensitively handled and I think it was very moving. If I was looking for something to criticise then perhaps the direction of the resolution is slightly too heavily sign posted and I can see some people criticising that decision (albeit I think it fits for what we know of the characters).
Because there is a lot going on in this book, it is perhaps inevitable that there is less of Donna, Chris, Ron and Bogdan than I would have liked but equally they do all make an appearance and have a role to play in the mystery storylines. Osman pushes the idea that with Elizabeth preoccupied with Stephen, Joyce has to step up in terms of leading the Club in uncovering the truth and I’m not completely sure that this comes off. I think that Osman does do well in showing that there’s more to Joyce than the kind of scatty vibe she gives off (indeed, I think there’s a bit of a Miss Marple sense to her character in terms of how she uses people’s perceptions of her but there’s a core of steel underneath) and she does come up with some of the main plans used by the Club here but I think I was put off by the fact that in her narrated sections she talks so much about how she has to step up, whereas I thought it should perhaps have been a bit more subtle (but that’s just me). I can’t say though that this put me off the book at all and I would actually be interested in seeing whether this affects the dynamic with Elizabeth going forward.
All in all, this is a fitting pause to the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES and I look forward to reading Osman’s new series and also, where he takes the pensioners when he chooses to come back to this.
The Verdict:
The fourth in Richard Osman’s bestselling THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES is a clever and emotional story that shows neat continuity with the earlier books and also fleshes out Ibrahim’s backstory. Although there are no surprises here, it’s considered and moving without being mawkish and ends in a satisfying way that allows Osman to go off and set up a new and different series of books while also allowing a return to the pensioner at a later date.
An old friend in the antiques business has been killed, and a dangerous package he was protecting has gone missing.
As the gang spring into action, they encounter art forgers, online fraudsters and drug dealers, as well as heartache close to home.
With the body count rising, the package still missing and trouble firmly on their tail, has their luck finally run out?
And who will be the last devil to die?
It’s Boxing Day, a short time after THE BULLET THAT MISSED.
Ron is still seeing TV make-up artist Pauline Jenkins, although a disagreement about the proper way of doing Christmas Day has led to trouble in paradise. Ibrahim is still regularly visiting drug dealer and crime supremo Connie Johnson (first seen in THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE) to provide counselling and he thinks he’s showing signs of progress even if she does still want to kill Ron for his part in setting her up.
Joyce has been trying to draw out newcomer to Coopers Chase, Mervyn Collins but discovers that he’s got a Lithuanian sweetheart called Tatiana, who has endured a stunning run of bad luck that’s resulted in him having to send her a lot of money. Elizabeth, however, has not been able to join the festive season because Stephen’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse and it won’t be long before a decision has to be made about his long-term care.
When a body is discovered in a car parked down a remote farm track, PC Donna De Freitas and DCI Chris Hudson realise that the victim is Kuldesh Sharma, the Brighton antiques shop owner and old friend of Stephen’s who helped the Club in THE BULLET THAT MISSED. Kuldesh has been shot in what looks to be a professional hit, but Donna and Chris are pushed out of the investigation by Senior Investigating Officer Jill Reagan from the National Crime Agency, for reasons that no one has seen fit to explain to them.
Given Kuldesh’s connection to the Club, they’re keen to find his killer and set about digging into what Kuldesh was up to in the lead up to his murder and soon find themselves in a world of international drug dealing, on-line fraud and art and antiquities forgery …
The fourth in Richard Osman’s bestselling THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES is a clever and emotional story that shows neat continuity with the earlier books and also fleshes out Ibrahim’s backstory. Although there are no surprises here, it’s considered and moving without being mawkish and ends in a satisfying way that allows Osman to go off and set up a new and different series of books while also allowing a return to the pensioner at a later date.
I have very much enjoyed the preceding three books in the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES and having heard that THE LAST DEVIL TO DIE is going to be the last one for the time being as Osman releases a separate series about two private eyes (which I’m looking forward to), was looking forward to seeing how he would leave it. I don’t want to give any real spoilers in this review, but I do think that Osman gives an effective resolution to what has happened to the 4 pensioners so far, while also leaving plenty of scope for more stories going forward.
One thing I think Osman does particularly well is how he handles continuity between the books. I have a bit of a character crush on the smart and ruthless drug dealer, Connie Johnson, and there is a lot of fun to be had in how Ibrahim has become her psychiatrist and is trying to influence her behaviour. The scenes where he visits her to discuss her behaviour but also seek her advice in relation to their case are some of my favourites in the book, not least because there are signs that Connie is giving serious thought to what’s they’ve been discussing in their sessions and what drives her own behaviour (even if Ron is not completely off the hook yet). I also really enjoyed the fact that we finally get a bit more about Ibrahim and his background - some of which was not a surprise but all of which really helps to flesh out the character and what drives him.
The central mystery here relates to Kuldesh Sharma’s murder, something which did make me a bit sad as I’d enjoyed his scenes in THE BULLET THAT MISSED and particularly his friendship with Stephen. It rattles along at a decent pace, taking in the worlds of international drug dealing and antique fraud and introducing some bizarre but interesting characters (most notably the very tall Canadian Garth who has a talent for violence and a taste for antiquities, who I would not mind seeing return in a future book as there is something quite chaotic about him). The ‘B’ mystery relates to a very nasty romance scam being played on Mervyn and how Joyce and the Club try to convince him that Svetlana doesn’t exist and just wants his money. This storyline reads very true, especially Mervyn’s refusal to listen to attempts by Donna to gently get him to think about what’s been happening to him. Having known someone who was taken by a romance scam like this, I must confess that I was highly delighted by the way Osman resolves that storyline.
Unlike the previous books though, it does feel that the mysteries here are very much second fiddle to Elizabeth and her relationship with Stephen as they decide what to do with his deteriorating faculties. I have to save that I think that the way Osman has handled Stephen’s Alzheimer’s over the 4 books has been superb. He’s conveyed Stephen’s slow decline in a heartbreaking way (especially through his deteriorating games of chess with Bogdan such that by this book, he no longer knows how to play at all) but at the same time gives you glimpses of the man he was and who Elizabeth loves. Again, I won’t give any real spoilers here other than to say that I think the way he resolves the situation is sensitively handled and I think it was very moving. If I was looking for something to criticise then perhaps the direction of the resolution is slightly too heavily sign posted and I can see some people criticising that decision (albeit I think it fits for what we know of the characters).
Because there is a lot going on in this book, it is perhaps inevitable that there is less of Donna, Chris, Ron and Bogdan than I would have liked but equally they do all make an appearance and have a role to play in the mystery storylines. Osman pushes the idea that with Elizabeth preoccupied with Stephen, Joyce has to step up in terms of leading the Club in uncovering the truth and I’m not completely sure that this comes off. I think that Osman does do well in showing that there’s more to Joyce than the kind of scatty vibe she gives off (indeed, I think there’s a bit of a Miss Marple sense to her character in terms of how she uses people’s perceptions of her but there’s a core of steel underneath) and she does come up with some of the main plans used by the Club here but I think I was put off by the fact that in her narrated sections she talks so much about how she has to step up, whereas I thought it should perhaps have been a bit more subtle (but that’s just me). I can’t say though that this put me off the book at all and I would actually be interested in seeing whether this affects the dynamic with Elizabeth going forward.
All in all, this is a fitting pause to the THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES and I look forward to reading Osman’s new series and also, where he takes the pensioners when he chooses to come back to this.
The Verdict:
The fourth in Richard Osman’s bestselling THURSDAY MURDER CLUB SERIES is a clever and emotional story that shows neat continuity with the earlier books and also fleshes out Ibrahim’s backstory. Although there are no surprises here, it’s considered and moving without being mawkish and ends in a satisfying way that allows Osman to go off and set up a new and different series of books while also allowing a return to the pensioner at a later date.
