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.