64 pages • 2 hours read
Richard OsmanThe Last Devil to Die
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Literary Devices
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaBackground
Literary Context: The Thursday Murder Club Series
The Last Devil to Die is the fourth Thursday Murder Club novel, preceded by The Thursday Murder Club (2020), The Man Who Died Twice (2021), and The Bullet That Missed (2022). The series follows the four founding members of the club— Elizabeth Best, Ron Richie, Joyce Meadowcroft, and Ibrahim Arif—as they meet in the Puzzle Room of their retirement community each week to discuss local murders and mysteries.
Throughout the series, the four main characters settle into specific roles that highlight their individual skills and personalities. As a former spy, Elizabeth usually leads the investigations. She has a deep knowledge of the criminal world and is very cool under pressure. Joyce, who is intermittently featured as a first-person narrator through her diary entries, is more maternal. She often brings baked goods to new residents of Coopers Chase, the retirement community where the series is set, and displays other acts of kindness, but she can also be a bit naïve. Ron, a former labor union organizer and agitator, is a gruff idealist who often seems simply along for the ride. Ibrahim, a retired psychiatrist, is the group’s intellectual.
The gang has solved several murders, recovered stolen diamonds, uncovered decades-long conspiracies, thwarted billionaire money launderers, and run up against petty thieves, drug kingpins, and clandestine government agencies. In each of these encounters they’ve more than held their own, risking bodily harm and compromised dignity to solve each case.
Social Context: Life in Coopers Chase Retirement Community
Many of the scenes in The Last Devil to Die take place in Coopers Chase, the retirement community where the Thursday Murder Club live and meet. Coopers Chase boasts a rich and diverse collection of social activities for its residents. Even the residents who don’t spend their time staking out warehouses and solving murders live vibrant, active lives.
The series frequently introduces new residents, and the four main club members often include their neighbors in their activities. Coopers Chase features a community center where various clubs meet to socialize and talk about shared interests, as well as a restaurant that “has seen a former High Court judge die […] a row so blazing that a woman of eighty-nine eventually divorced her husband of sixty-eight years […] and even a hundredth birthday, which ended in […] an incident involving a male stripper” (205). These incidents reveal that the Coopers Chase residents lead rich, meaningful lives, emphasizing the series’s assertion that all individuals have breadth, depth, and worth, even the elderly.
However, one of the clearest indicators of the community’s close social ties is also one of the saddest. In The Last Devil to Die, a local fox that Elizabeth’s husband, Stephen, calls Snowy dies one cold winter night. Stephen and Bogdan, the Polish builder who helps the Thursday Murder Club with their cases, plan a burial for the fox, and many of the Coopers Chase residents attend. They all have their own individual relationships with the fox, as they have their own relationships with grief and mortality, but they come together to mourn and support one another.
Real-world retirement communities vary widely in the kind of amenities and support they provide; some are simply housing developments with age requirements, others organize social activities for residents, and others still offer support for activities that individuals with illnesses or disabilities may find difficult (e.g., bathing). Likewise, the structure of communities spans everything from fully separate residences to single facilities. That Coopers Chase is a community for older individuals who might need social support but can live independently becomes an important plot point in The Last Devil to Die, as Stephen’s dementia increasingly challenges Elizabeth’s capacity to care for him.
Authorial Context: Richard Osman
Born in 1970 in Essex, England, Richard Osman is a British television presenter, producer, and author. He began his career in television production and became known for his affable and witty persona. Osman ventured into writing with the release of The Thursday Murder Club in 2020. The novel, a cozy mystery set in a retirement village, became an instant bestseller and received widespread critical acclaim for its charming characters, intricate plotting, and dry wit. It topped the UK bestseller charts for several weeks and has since been translated into numerous languages.
Osman’s success as an author continued with his second novel, The Man Who Died Twice, further solidifying his reputation as a writer with a knack for crafting stories that blend humor, intrigue, and heart. His third novel, The Bullet That Missed, tied back to his television roots. Its main mystery involves the disappearance of a young television journalist who was on the brink of breaking a major story. Her co-anchor works alongside the Thursday Murder Club to solve the cold case, reviving his career and securing a job hosting a television game show in the process.
Beyond his writing and television work, Osman is known for his philanthropy and advocacy for various charitable causes. He remains a beloved figure in British entertainment, admired for his wit, intelligence, and warmth both on- and off-screen, characteristics that are also evident in his Thursday Murder Club series.
Related Titles
By Richard Osman
