There's nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.' As Richard Osman puts it wisely via Joyce, 'The urgency of old age. In fact, couched in all that humor and sleuthing is the ever-present specter of death coming for everyone, especially when you are of a certain old age.Īnd yet, reading about these four friends who take life by the horns when it would've been much easier to just coast and fade out is so inspiring and invigorating. Osman doesn't shy away from talking about growing old and dying. I have to warn you though, this book feels like the series' most intimate and emotional one yet, so get the tissues ready. It's cheeky and lighthearted, and it never comes at the expense of the characters' humanity. Richard Osman has this gentle way of poking fun at the folly of human nature and growing old. Humor is subjective, and what one reader finds funny may not click with another. I can't talk about the series without talking about its humor, and that's on full display here. We also have a little side mystery going on to catch an online scammer, just to add a bit of extra zing to the whole thing.

I feel like all the side characters were particularly charming, and I even started to like Connie if you can believe it. We see Joyce really come into her own here, stepping in for Elizabeth who is otherwise indisposed. This was an entertaining mystery, with more chaos and mayhem (hehe) than you'd expect old people to get themselves into. I read it slowly, immersing myself in these characters who over the course of four books now feel like friends rather than just characters on a page. But this series feels like one to savor, and this installment is especially so. After all, I want to pick up clues as fast as I can, put it all together, and get to the whodunnit pronto. I usually try to bam my way through murder mysteries like nobody's business. With their trademark forthrightness and humor, Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim stick their noses where they don't belong, and are soon caught up in the world of heroine dealers, antiques, and fake art. In this installment, murder hits close to home when a friend of Stephen's is killed. My favorite Thursday Murder Club to date, The Last Devil to Die gave me so many emotions and a riveting mystery to boot. Everyone chasing the thing they don't have. 'There's always something just out of reach. Pleasepleaseplease cast Helen Mirren as Elizabeth when you bring these stories to the big (or small!) screen. If you haven't started on your journey with Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, & Ibrahim, then I'd suggest you get a move on. <-this is what we're all here for, right? But the friendships ring true and the dialogue is hilarious. Yes, this group has insanely outlandish adventures. The very skinny gist is that you have four pensioners who take on some very dangerous people in order to solve the murder of a friend of Elizabeth's husband, Stephen.Īnd we know they're going to come out on top because that's what they do. And even though I did 'get' why everyone was after that box of heroin almost immediately, it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book at all.īecause of course, there is always more than one mystery to solve in these, and the little reveals at the end are usually even more fun than the BIG REVEAL. The mystery takes a back seat to the emotional journey the characters go on, but this still has all the fun of a Thursday Murder Club story. I love you so much Richard Osman but you're killing me! If you've read the book you know what I'm talking about.Īnd maybe part of that is because I've been wholly sucked into the world of Cooper's Chase and into the lives of these characters. Honestly, this had one of the most touching scenes I've ever read in my life. Because there's just no good way to explain that you look like a soppy fucking mess over a book without appearing like a slightly unhinged drama llama. I can't believe how hard this one hit me in the feels.ĭriving down the road listening to the audiobook, tears streaming down my face, making gurgly choking noises, and just praying nobody was going to be home when I walked through the door.

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