Richard Osman mixes it up a bit in this latest installment of The Thursday Murder Club Series. First, he has not just murder happening, but other crimes, too, that muddy the waters. Second, the murders are happening at an alarming pace, and this creates not so much a web, but a tangled knot. Third, he chooses to take an important event that most authors would have saved for the end of the book and integrates it into the middle of the narrative. Fourth, he shakes up the power dynamic and roles of our four favorite English pensioners with Joyce stepping up and a few other changes. Fifth, the cadence of this book felt a little different with some deliberate slow-downs in the middle for pondering and an extended resolution rather than a single climatic conclusion.

Osman is to be applauded for this thoughtful portrayal of Steven and his descent as he further succumbs to Alzheimer’s. Anyone who has been close to someone with Alzheimer’s can vouch for how authentic the details felt. Dementia and Alzheimer’s is such a real part of aging that it seems appropriate it be given weight and time in this setting; the reader is given the opportunity to sit with it.

The gang is a marvelous as ever, and they continue to suck others into their orbit. With this group it is inevitable–best to just go with it.

The audiobook was again, delightful. There is a Canadian character though, who didn’t seem particularly Canadian in his portrayal, but not being an expert on accents–or Canadians, perhaps it was dead on. The Last Devil to Die is highly recommended as a read or a listen.

Review of the unabridged audiobook

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 5 religious exclamations; 2 religious profanities.

Note: British profanity/language not tallied.

Violence/Gore: Character is shot and killed, no details; reference to past murders; reference to two men have a fight and one ending up in the hospital with broken bones; scene of murder where police and forensics are looking at the body of a person who was killed by gun shot several days prior, mention of blood and some description; verbal threats of harm and death, some at gunpoint; slashing of car tires and smashing of window; animal found dead, natural causes; character tells how they got in a fight in prison and hurt someone; character is found dead with a bullet shot to the head, mention of blood, a little description; character is knocked over the head and falls to death; character is thrown from height to their death; threats at gunpoint; character administers drug to self (euthanasia); character shot, killed; character explains how they watched YouTube videos to learn how to shoot and kill someone.

Sex/Nudity: Friend gives the book Kuma Sutra to another friend as a joke; one female character is interested in handsome men and this is referred to throughout the book; innuendo; passing reference that co-workers spent a drunken night together in the distant past; reference to menopausal sex; woman says she was shagging a man; man tells another man about a romantic relationship he had in the past with another man; character observes a girl kissing another girl; verbal expressions of love between wife and husband; married couple kiss, embrace, stroke face, etc.; man and women are in bed talking, previous sex implied.

Mature Subject Matter:

Murder, drug-dealing (heroine & cocaine), antique forgery, romance fraud/cat-fishing, dementia, euthanasia, death, looting, illegal trade, trespassing.

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Adults drink wine and other alcohol frequently, socially; heroine dealer and frequent reference to drug operations; adult smokes; cocaine dealer, references to drug operations; winery tour; euthanasia by injection; reference to smoking marijuana and baking marijuana into brownies.