Osman’s writing reminds me of Anthony Berkeley’s in its mixing of sparkling humor and resonant emotion. J. Novak) debut novel about a graduate student who follows her disgraced mentor to a university that gives safe harbor to scholars of ill repute, igniting a crisis of work and a test of her conscience (and marriage) . It’s to Osman’s credit, ­however, that now that the world has fallen in love with his septuagenarian sleuths, he’s starting to allow the harsher realities of old age to bite them. There may be other aged detectives in print and on television, but for wit, intelligence and humanity, the Thursday Murder Club outranks them all.

But I think I’m trying to do something else as well, which is to say I think we’re probably kinder, nicer as human beings than we’re currently being given credit for. This series is both a load of fun and an ode to how the power of friendship is important throughout one’s life but especially during the final stretch. The sleuthing pensioners of the Thursday Murder Club—Elizabeth, a former MI5 agent; Joyce, a retired nurse; Ibrahim, a psychiatrist; and Ron, a longtime union leader—are ready to enjoy a quiet Christmas season when they learn that a friend of theirs has been murdered. Their humor and lighthearted banter carry the novel through the deadly investigation to its satisfying conclusion. Richard Osman is back with everyone’s favorite mystery-solving quartet, and the second installment of the Thursday Murder Club series is just as clever and warm as the first—an unputdownable, laugh-out-loud pleasure of a read.They live in an upscale retiree village in the bucolic English countryside (money does grease the wheels of aging). This "powerful, fresh, and unflinching" reimagining from the award-winning author of the Penelope trilogy breathes life into ancient myth and gives voice to the women who stand defiant in a world ruled by ruthless men (Jennifer Saint). The modern classic of space opera that began with Children of Time continues in this extraordinary novel of humanity's battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Fun and ingenious … Osman blends humor and pathos while weaving his tangled web of intrigue and deception. The pace is breezy, the characters are intelligent and varied in their interests and backgrounds, and the humor is often pitched to readers who understand the vagaries of getting older.

What sets Devil apart from its predecessors is the deftness and humor with which Osman confronts a subject that's completely not funny: dementia. Osman’s plots play fair with the reader, carefully placing “red herrings” to fool the reader into picking the wrong possible murder suspect—a gambit that has improved with each successive book. The gang quickly launches an investigation, headquartered at their Coopers Chase Retirement Village. By the end of this book, hopefully readers would agree that the characters deserve a year off,” he jokes.

Ibrahim isn’t sure about Mervyn although he’s horrified that he’s being scammed by an online professional posing as a lonely-hearted lady. He finds himself in an international manhunt, finds himself on private jets, and all he wants to do is be back at home doing the local pub quiz.

In The Last Devil to Die , Elizabeth’s beloved husband Stephen is slipping away from her with fewer and fewer good days.

For all the fizz of jokes and romance, the books carry with them a sense of grief and sadness which becomes much stronger in The Last Devil to Die.He has been accused of stealing diamonds worth millions from the wrong men and he’s seriously on the lam.