The Last Devil To Die by Richard Osman (Literary Mystery)

Number four in Richard Osman’s deservedly popular comic mystery series. Four retirement village pensioners tackle a Romance Fraud, some missing heroin, and the professional looking murder of an elderly antiques dealer who happens to be a friend. A reminder on the four pensioners from my previous reviews: Elizabeth, with the mysterious background and friends in high and low places who all seem to owe her favors; Ibrahim, the retired psychiatrist, who pores over the cases he failed; Ron, the former trade union leader who loves a chance to get back on the stage; and Joyce, who has the often under appreciated skill of bringing everyone together while remaining invisible herself.

While the book has all the hallmarks of Osman’s previous work — tight, content rich prose, laugh out loud moments every few pages, and irreverent mystery solving — this title is different. With one of the regular characters progressing steadily into ever increasing dementia, there is a philosophical turn and one of the most poignant scenes I’ve ever read. I was honestly weeping (correct term) for quite some time. Osman shows a different side of his prodigious writing abilities in blending this very real, and yet unfortunately very ordinary, experience to an otherwise fun, comic, and artfully written romp celebrating friendship and the purposeful embrace of old age.

Some quotes:
“Friendship, and Joyce flirting unsuccessfully with a Welshman who appears to be the subject of a fairly serious international fraud. Elizabeth could think of worse ways to spend the holidays.”

“Mervyn is not one of lifes hand-takers. He lives life at a safe distance.”

“The easiest way to make a small fortune in antiques is to start with a big fortune and lose it.”

“In my business you hear a thing or two about love. I find it easy to replicate. It is largely a willing abandonment of logic.”

“There comes a point when you look at your photograph albums more often than you watch the news.”

“ That’s the thing about Coopers Chase. You’d imagine it was quiet and sedate, like a village pond on a summer day. But in truth, it never stops moving, it’s always in motion. And that motion is aging, and death, and love, and grief, and final snatched moments and opportunities grasped. The urgency of old age. There’s nothing that makes you feel more alive than the certainty of death.”