The Last 'Devil' to Die: A Thursday Murder Club Mystery
by Richard Osman
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0593299426
- ISBN 13
- 9780593299425
- Seller
-
Carrollton, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Orange and beige boards with dark red writing on spine; top and bottom of book spine slightly rumpled. Top corner of front board bumped; very slight shelf wear to bottom of dust jacket spine. Tight binding and pages still look in excellent condition; 0923 and cover price of $29.00 on front dust jacket flap.
Pamela Dorman Books First Edition; First Printing as indicated by "1st Printing" on copyright page. Signed by author on tipped-in page by publisher.
Osman's fourth book in his Thursday Murder Club series; film rights to the first book in the series were acquired by Steven Spielberg. Hardcover and original unclipped dust jacket protected by archival Mylar cover.
Reviews
The Last Devil To Die is the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club series by British TV presenter, producer, director, and novelist, Richard Osman. When Stephen's good friend, antiques dealer Kuldesh Sharma is murdered in a country lane at the end of December in what looks very much like a hit, of course the Thursday Murder Club is going to get involved.
It seems Kuldesh was playing a reluctant part in an import/distribution scheme involving an ugly terracotta box containing 1.2kg of heroin, and when he strayed from the script, he met a quick, efficient end. And despite being politely warned off by Kent Police's finest aka DCI Chris Hudson and PC Donna de Freitas, Elizabeth and Joyce are soon trying to check out the ransacked Kemptown Curios and, with help from Ibrahim and his incarcerated (and only) patient, learning quite a bit more than the police.
Ironically, Chris and Donna are booted off the case by a new SIO, Jill Regan, and her National Crime Agency team, making them more favourable to the idea of sharing information with Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron. Soon enough, the TMC are staking out an import warehouse on the South Coast, chatting to a historical archaeology professor, questioning an antiques forger, and even hosting drug dealers and forgers to a Coopers Chase Sunday lunch.
Closer to home, Joyce has been trying to include a new resident at Cooper's Chase, inviting him to their Boxing Day lunch. When Mervyn Collins unenthusiastically shares a few details about his new Lithuanian girlfriend, it's quickly apparent to those gathered that he has fallen for a romance scam to the tune (so far) of five thousand pounds. Trying to convince him of this is a thankless task
Elizabeth is understandably diverted by Stephen's deterioration into dementia, as his lucid moments decrease precipitously, a sensitive topic Osman handles with the utmost delicacy, but which will still make hearts ache, tears flow and throats get lumpy. That distraction sees Joyce stepping into Elizabeth's usual role with great aplomb. They also enlist the help of another resident with IT skills, who is quickly dubbed Computer Bob.
As always, Osman gives his characters laugh-out-loud dialogue, including the innocuous dinner chat that disguises the more serious topics of murder and drug dealing; other sources of humour are the chatty entries in Joyce's diary, the list of Christmas gifts exchanged, New Year's Resolutions, and even Bogdan's eulogy for Kuldesh.
There's a not inconsiderable body count, meaning that, as another likely suspect meets their fate, the reader has to adjust their thinking about who the killer might be. Before the final reveals, there are twists and red herrings clever enough to keep even the most astute reader guessing. Very entertaining.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Sherlock Joe's Book Hunting (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- OSMAN001
- Title
- The Last 'Devil' to Die
- Author
- Richard Osman
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0593299426
- ISBN 13
- 9780593299425
- Publisher
- Pamela Dorman Books
- Date Published
- 2023
- Pages
- 353
- Keywords
- richard osman; last devil to die; thursday murder club; signed
- Bookseller catalogs
- Fiction; Mystery; Signed / Inscribed;
Terms of Sale
Sherlock Joe's Book Hunting
About the Seller
Sherlock Joe's Book Hunting
About Sherlock Joe's Book Hunting
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Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Shelf Wear
- Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Copyright page
- The page in a book that describes the lineage of that book, typically including the book's author, publisher, date of...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.