The Last Devil to Die

While Joyce may be the protagonist, Elizabeth is the clear leader of the Thursday Murder Club. A retired MI5 spy in her late seventies, Elizabeth lives in Coopers Chase with her husband, Stephen. She has traditionally been the brave and levelheaded force behind most of the club’s plans and investigations, but in The Last Devil to Die, cracks have begun to show in her armor. Even though the main victim in the novel is a friend, she’s far more concerned with how Stephen is doing than with solving the mystery. She even takes some time off for herself, which shocks her friends.

Elizabeth is still a spy at heart, though—the woman who “once had to question a Soviet general who had not uttered a single word in more than three months of captivity, and within the hour […] [she had him] singing Noël Coward songs with her” (7). Even in her darkest moments, she’s able to keep her head and put together puzzle pieces that no one else can even see. She faces Stephen’s worsening condition with the same bravery with which she faces kidnapping and murder threats.

Ibrahim is an 80-year-old retired psychiatrist who lives in Coopers Chase, although he is originally from Egypt. Unmarried and otherwise unconnected, he reveals in The Last Devil to Die that the love of his life was a young man named Marius who died tragically during Ibrahim’s student days in London. Despite Ibrahim’s penchant for intellectual monologues and long-winded explanations, he has never told his friends in the Thursday Murder Club about Marius.

While Ibrahim has a few adventures in the book and is heavily involved in the scheme to take down “Tatiana,” his main contribution is his relationship to Connie Johnson. As Connie’s psychiatrist, he sees her every week and so is able to ask her questions about the local criminal underworld. Connie questions the ethics of their relationship from time to time but also feels affection for him and credits him with helping her, implying that he is a fairly competent psychiatrist.

West Ham fan and former trade union leader Ron Ritchie is the fourth member of the Thursday Murder Club and often its most outspoken. He is a stubborn, working-class socialist who hates authority, doesn’t trust the police, and generally gets on people’s nerves. He has a lovable side, though, and he is a devoted friend and proud father to his son, Jason.

In The Bullet That Missed, Ron began a relationship with makeup artist Pauline. Over Christmas, however, they got into a fight about when to open their presents, and Ron has been too stubborn to make amends: “Ron is missing her, but is not about to apologize for something when he’s so clearly in the right” (100). However, Stephen’s death brings home the importance of relationships and The Impact of Aging, Dementia, and Mortality, causing Ron to soften a bit and rekindle his romance with Pauline. He even begins to make some small changes to his life, something unthinkable before.

Bogdan is the unofficial fifth member of the Thursday Murder Club after meeting the gang at the beginning of the series. A Polish builder and all-around handyman, Bogdan is devoted to Elizabeth and Stephen and will do nearly anything for them. He is usually Elizabeth’s first call when she needs something—whether a driver, a gun, or someone to check on Stephen—and he is one of the few people whom Stephen interacts with on a regular basis. The two frequently play chess together, although as Stephen’s condition has worsened, Bogdan has had to “teach” Stephen how to play a few times. Bogdan is also in a new but fairly serious relationship with Donna.

Police Constable (PC) Donna De Freitas is one of the Thursday Murder Club’s two main police contacts. She and her partner, Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Chris Hudson, have been involved in all of the gang’s cases, sometimes unwillingly. Donna tends to be more inclined than Chris to bend the rules and help them out. However, this changes in The Last Devil to Die; after they are shut out of the official investigation, Chris is just as interested as Donna in solving Kuldesh’s murder through other means, suggesting that the club’s unorthodox approach to investigation has rubbed off on them. Donna and Chris have both recently found love: Donna with Bogdan and Chris with Donna’s mother, Patrice.

Senior Investigating Officer Jill Regan is the head of the National Crime Agency (NCA) team that takes over the case from Donna and Chris. She is not overly concerned with solving Kuldesh’s murder, but she’s highly motivated to locate the missing heroin, as it was her sting operation that allowed the box to move through customs without being picked up. She is not very well liked among her team, so she cannot afford to botch the investigation. Though Regan initially serves as something of an antagonist, she eventually comes around to Donna and Chris’s way of thinking.

Stephen is Elizabeth’s third husband but certainly her favorite: She allows herself to care for and about him in ways that she usually does not. However, Stephen has dementia, and his condition has worsened significantly over the course of the series. Elizabeth has tried to keep this reality from him and from her friends, but Stephen knows that something isn’t right. He sends himself a letter outlining his suspicions, forcing the couple to confront their situation head on. He eventually decides that he would prefer to die by assisted suicide, so he and Elizabeth procure drugs from her former Soviet counterpart, Viktor.

Mitch Maxwell is the leading heroin importer on England’s South Coast, and Dominic “Dom” Holt is his trusted assistant. Luca Buttaci is Mitch’s business partner and in charge of distribution. It is Mitch and Luca’s shipment of heroin that goes missing after Dom drops it off at Kuldesh’s shop as planned. They have the most to lose by it not being found, as their Afghani partners plan on killing them if they don’t recover the box with the heroin in it. Unbeknownst to Mitch and Dom, Luca has been working with the police for months and is responsible for all of the difficulties they’ve been having in their business.

Connie Johnson is the South Coast’s leading cocaine dealer, but she uses the recent turmoil in Mitch and Luca’s operation to make a play to deal heroin as well. She is responsible for the murders of both Dom and Samantha Barnes. She’s also Ibrahim’s only psychiatry patient, providing the Thursday Murder Club with a convenient link to the local underworld.

Mervyn is a dull but handsome retiree whom Joyce tries to woo. Unfortunately, he already has a sweetheart named “Tatiana,” whom he met over the internet and to whom he frequently sends money.

Computer Bob is Coopers Chase’s resident tech expert. He is conscripted into aiding the Thursday Murder Club as they attempt to catch the scam artist who is catfishing Mervyn. The gang slowly brings Bob into their confidence regarding Kuldesh’s case, and eventually he and Ibrahim become very close.