I began my "books read" database in 2005 and it now contains 662 records, all crime fiction.
Of the 70 books that have scored a rating of 5,
9 are Australian:
Katherine Howell FRANTIC 2007
Gabrielle Lord DIRTY WEEKEND 2005
Barry Maitland NO TRACE 2004
P.D. Martin FAN MAIL 2008
Michael Robotham THE NIGHT FERRY 2007
Michael Robotham SHATTER 2008
Michael Robotham BLEED FOR ME 2010
Peter Temple THE BROKEN SHORE 2005
Peter Temple TRUTH 2009
and 25 are British
Kate Atkinson Case Histories 2004
Mark Billingham Scaredy Cat 2002
Mark Billingham Lifeless 2005
Stephen Booth ONE LAST BREATH 2004
Stephen Booth SCARED TO LIVE 2006
Simon Brett THE HANGING IN THE HOTEL (Audio) 2004
Ken Bruen The Killing of the Tinkers 2003
Tracy Chevalier The Virgin Blue 2002
R.J. Ellory A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS 2007
Nicci French Secret Smile 2004
Reginald Hill THE WOOD BEYOND 1996
Reginald Hill THE DEATH OF DALZIEL 2007
Reginald Hill A CURE FOR ALL DISEASES 2008
P. D. James The Lighthouse 2005
Lynda La Plante ABOVE SUSPICION 2004
Peter Lovesey THE SUMMONS 1995
Peter Lovesey THE VAULT 1999
Peter Lovesey THE HOUSE SITTER 2003
Peter Lovesey THE CIRCLE 2005
Peter Lovesey THE SECRET HANGMAN 2007
Peter Lovesey SKELETON HILL 2010
Ian Rankin EXIT MUSIC 2007
Peter Robinson STRANGE AFFAIR 2005
C.J. Sansom Dissolution 2003
Barbara Vine THE MINOTAUR 2005
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Peter Lovesey. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Peter Lovesey. Sort by date Show all posts
16 July 2009
Forgotten Book: WOBBLE TO DEATH, Peter Lovesey
This week's contribution to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books.Peter Lovesey is one of my favourite authors, and has been since 1970 when I read his first published novel which had recently won a prize.
WOBBLE TO DEATH is the first in his Sergeant Cribb series.
From Lovesey's site:
Drawing on my interest in the history of athletics, I set this first novel in the Agricultural Hall, Islington, in 1879, where a bizarre six-day endurance race takes place. “Wobbles” became popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1880s.
A strange collection of so-called “proven pedestrians” starts at 1am on a November Monday morning. By Tuesday one of them is dead. Tetanus from infection of a foot blister is suspected at first, but when Sergeant Cribb from Scotland Yard is called in he discovers that strychnine was being given as a stimulant. This is only the first of a series of revelations.
Winner of the Macmillan/Panther First Crime Novel Prize, 1970Until then Peter Lovesey was a teacher, and at that time I felt I had a lot in common with him.
WOBBLE TO DEATH was a beautifully written book, crime fiction set in an unusual and rather bizarre location, and somewhat of a departure from my usual Christie-like fare.
When I was first setting up this blog, I identified Peter Lovesey as my first "favourite author".
I still haven't yet managed to read THE HEAD HUNTERS, even though I've had it in my sights for well over a year. All my Peter Lovesey tags.
12 February 2008
Favourite Authors- #1 Peter Lovesey
Do you have a favourite crime fiction author - one whose books you pick up knowing you'll probably love it.
Looking at my database (which only goes back just over 3 years) I'd have to say Peter Lovesey comes out tops.
I clearly remember the publication of WOBBLE TO DEATH back in 1970 and I've been hooked ever since.
I have listed 6 of his novels in the last 3 years and only one did not get a rating of 5.
They are listed below in the order in which I read them and the last one is the one that I didn't give a 5 to.
I'm just not sure that I wrote all the descriptions of the early ones (one or two may have come from book blurbs - I stopped doing that about 2 years ago).
But if you are looking for a cracking British author to read - you can't go wrong with Peter Lovesey.
THE SUMMONS
Peter Diamond—the famous stout detective—has come down in the world since he rashly quit the police force. He's living in a London basement flat and bemoaning his fate: that one of the world's best homicide cops is considering a job as a nude artist's model. Then a murderer breaks out of jail, kidnaps a cop's daughter, and makes his ransom demand: he must speak to Peter Diamond at once.
His old bosses beg him to come back to Bath. All Diamond has to do is free the hostage, and he may be able to return to his old job. But the kidnapper, convicted of murdering a beautiful reporter whose mouth was filled with roses, insists he's innocent. Diamond's mission is to find the real killer. Now, with no clues and a cold trail, Diamond is in the rough, risking his future, his reputation, and perhaps his life to crack a nearly impossible case. This is just vintage Lovesey. Such easy reading but lots of good threads and red herrings.
THE CIRCLE
Encouraged by his fourteen-year-old-daughter who recognises his lonely widowhood, Bob Naylor decides to join a writers' circle, believing he might gain some expert help with the poetry which keeps spilling out of his imagination. He discovers a motley collection of wannabe authors who he doubts he has anything in common with, but just as he is deciding not to formally join the group he learns that a publisher who addressed their last meeting has been killed and he stays to see what might develop. The Senior Investigating Officer, Henrietta Mallin, soon has all the members of the group under suspicion and, under pressure from her superiors, arrests their Chairman. Bob, the only writer who had not met the victim, is persuaded by other members of the group to do some investigating of his own. And that is when the trouble really starts, because another death turns the spotlight of suspicion on to him.
THE VAULT
Skeletal remains are found in a cellar below Bath's Georgian tearooms. To Peter Diamond's delight they are not all of medieval origin, a radius proves to be only twenty years old and bears the marks of a sharp weapon. While a police team painstakingly sift through the cellar looking for the rest of the body, Diamond is distracted by the search for a missing American tourist, the wife of an English Professor who has been behaving very oddly. What Diamond doesn't know is that the professor believes he is on the point of locating the diaries of Mary Shelley written whilst in Bath finishing the manuscript of FRANKENSTEIN. Suspecting the professor of disposing of his wife but unable to prove anything, Diamond concentrates on trying to identify whose remains have been found in the cellar, and by solid old-fashioned detection he does so with shocking result. But before he can begin to work out who might have been the killer, the owner of the city's largest 'antique' emporium is found brutally murdered and the last person known to have seen her alive is the Professor.
THE HOUSE SITTER
#8 in the Peter Diamond series and one of Lovesey's best. "If you were planning a murder and wanted a place to carry it out, a beach would do nicely"" - so the first chapter begins. It is not until the tide begins to come in late on Sunday afternoon that the few remaining people on Wightview Sands, busily packing up their belongings, realise that the water is lapping the feet of the woman behind the blue beach shelter. So not only is the crime scene unable to be preserved, but no-one knows who the woman is. Trying to find out who she is leads SIO Mallin into collaboration with Peter Diamond, whose reputation precedes him, and they venture together into highly classified material. Don't worry if you haven't read any Lovesey before - this one will get you looking for more.
THE SECRET HANGMAN
It is 3 years since Peter Diamond's wife was killed and he is being stalked by a woman who wants to become better acquainted. ACC Georgina Dalley's friend's daughter has gone missing . A woman's body is discovered hanging from a public playground swing, at first sight a suicide, but then it seems she may already have been dead when hung there. The discovery of a second body seems to signal that they have a ""hangman"" on the loose. Very very readable.
THE REAPER
If the title in the context of crime fiction makes you think "grim reaper" then you are on the right track.
This is a macabre cosy if there is such a thing. A rompingly entertaining read, but not one of Lovesey's best.
Otis Joy, the rector of St. Bartholomew's in the Wiltshire village of Foxford, a young man in his late 20s, is a dynamic relative newcomer to the village. He seems everything a vicar needs to be, even if he is unmarried. Underneath though he is a very nasty bit of work indeed. Nobody believes lugubrious old Owen Cumberbatch when he says that the Rev. Joy's last parish is without its Sexton/bellringer because he crossed Otis Joy. Snooping old Skidmore simply disappeared.
But we do know from almost the first page of the story that Otis Joy is responsible for the death of the bishop, Marcus Glastonbury, who had found out that he had been embezzling funds at his previous parish (where the Sexton disappeared).
We learn also that he has come to an "arrangement" with his current Parish treasurer, Stanley Burrows, ex-headmaster, to have a private contingency fund which appears nowhere in the church's accounts. And then Stanley says he would like to hand the job over to a younger person, that he is getting too old, and the responsibility of the parish books is too great...
I think Peter Lovesey, one of my favourite authors, had great fun in writing this book. It is almost as if he decided to write a spoof on the village cosy. There are some really sardonic descriptions, almost cruel, of village personalities. One that comes to mind readily is Cynthia Haydenhall, Chair of the Women's Institute - my mental vision of her is of a dark haired strident Penelope Keith - who sees herself as the social hub of the village. And there are others..
This isn't going to exercise your little grey cells too much. But if you enjoy the occasional cosy, then hunt it down. In style it reminds me a bit of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.
Looking at my database (which only goes back just over 3 years) I'd have to say Peter Lovesey comes out tops.
I clearly remember the publication of WOBBLE TO DEATH back in 1970 and I've been hooked ever since.
I have listed 6 of his novels in the last 3 years and only one did not get a rating of 5.
They are listed below in the order in which I read them and the last one is the one that I didn't give a 5 to.
I'm just not sure that I wrote all the descriptions of the early ones (one or two may have come from book blurbs - I stopped doing that about 2 years ago).
But if you are looking for a cracking British author to read - you can't go wrong with Peter Lovesey.
THE SUMMONS
Peter Diamond—the famous stout detective—has come down in the world since he rashly quit the police force. He's living in a London basement flat and bemoaning his fate: that one of the world's best homicide cops is considering a job as a nude artist's model. Then a murderer breaks out of jail, kidnaps a cop's daughter, and makes his ransom demand: he must speak to Peter Diamond at once.
His old bosses beg him to come back to Bath. All Diamond has to do is free the hostage, and he may be able to return to his old job. But the kidnapper, convicted of murdering a beautiful reporter whose mouth was filled with roses, insists he's innocent. Diamond's mission is to find the real killer. Now, with no clues and a cold trail, Diamond is in the rough, risking his future, his reputation, and perhaps his life to crack a nearly impossible case. This is just vintage Lovesey. Such easy reading but lots of good threads and red herrings.
THE CIRCLE
Encouraged by his fourteen-year-old-daughter who recognises his lonely widowhood, Bob Naylor decides to join a writers' circle, believing he might gain some expert help with the poetry which keeps spilling out of his imagination. He discovers a motley collection of wannabe authors who he doubts he has anything in common with, but just as he is deciding not to formally join the group he learns that a publisher who addressed their last meeting has been killed and he stays to see what might develop. The Senior Investigating Officer, Henrietta Mallin, soon has all the members of the group under suspicion and, under pressure from her superiors, arrests their Chairman. Bob, the only writer who had not met the victim, is persuaded by other members of the group to do some investigating of his own. And that is when the trouble really starts, because another death turns the spotlight of suspicion on to him.
THE VAULT
Skeletal remains are found in a cellar below Bath's Georgian tearooms. To Peter Diamond's delight they are not all of medieval origin, a radius proves to be only twenty years old and bears the marks of a sharp weapon. While a police team painstakingly sift through the cellar looking for the rest of the body, Diamond is distracted by the search for a missing American tourist, the wife of an English Professor who has been behaving very oddly. What Diamond doesn't know is that the professor believes he is on the point of locating the diaries of Mary Shelley written whilst in Bath finishing the manuscript of FRANKENSTEIN. Suspecting the professor of disposing of his wife but unable to prove anything, Diamond concentrates on trying to identify whose remains have been found in the cellar, and by solid old-fashioned detection he does so with shocking result. But before he can begin to work out who might have been the killer, the owner of the city's largest 'antique' emporium is found brutally murdered and the last person known to have seen her alive is the Professor.
THE HOUSE SITTER
#8 in the Peter Diamond series and one of Lovesey's best. "If you were planning a murder and wanted a place to carry it out, a beach would do nicely"" - so the first chapter begins. It is not until the tide begins to come in late on Sunday afternoon that the few remaining people on Wightview Sands, busily packing up their belongings, realise that the water is lapping the feet of the woman behind the blue beach shelter. So not only is the crime scene unable to be preserved, but no-one knows who the woman is. Trying to find out who she is leads SIO Mallin into collaboration with Peter Diamond, whose reputation precedes him, and they venture together into highly classified material. Don't worry if you haven't read any Lovesey before - this one will get you looking for more.
THE SECRET HANGMAN
It is 3 years since Peter Diamond's wife was killed and he is being stalked by a woman who wants to become better acquainted. ACC Georgina Dalley's friend's daughter has gone missing . A woman's body is discovered hanging from a public playground swing, at first sight a suicide, but then it seems she may already have been dead when hung there. The discovery of a second body seems to signal that they have a ""hangman"" on the loose. Very very readable.
THE REAPER
If the title in the context of crime fiction makes you think "grim reaper" then you are on the right track.
This is a macabre cosy if there is such a thing. A rompingly entertaining read, but not one of Lovesey's best.
Otis Joy, the rector of St. Bartholomew's in the Wiltshire village of Foxford, a young man in his late 20s, is a dynamic relative newcomer to the village. He seems everything a vicar needs to be, even if he is unmarried. Underneath though he is a very nasty bit of work indeed. Nobody believes lugubrious old Owen Cumberbatch when he says that the Rev. Joy's last parish is without its Sexton/bellringer because he crossed Otis Joy. Snooping old Skidmore simply disappeared.
But we do know from almost the first page of the story that Otis Joy is responsible for the death of the bishop, Marcus Glastonbury, who had found out that he had been embezzling funds at his previous parish (where the Sexton disappeared).
We learn also that he has come to an "arrangement" with his current Parish treasurer, Stanley Burrows, ex-headmaster, to have a private contingency fund which appears nowhere in the church's accounts. And then Stanley says he would like to hand the job over to a younger person, that he is getting too old, and the responsibility of the parish books is too great...
I think Peter Lovesey, one of my favourite authors, had great fun in writing this book. It is almost as if he decided to write a spoof on the village cosy. There are some really sardonic descriptions, almost cruel, of village personalities. One that comes to mind readily is Cynthia Haydenhall, Chair of the Women's Institute - my mental vision of her is of a dark haired strident Penelope Keith - who sees herself as the social hub of the village. And there are others..
This isn't going to exercise your little grey cells too much. But if you enjoy the occasional cosy, then hunt it down. In style it reminds me a bit of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.
3 November 2009
Usually Around the Mark #5
If you follow this regular feature on my blog you will notice I've changed the tag line. The general idea behind it is that even the best authors, or your favourite ones, don't always achieve the same rating with the reader. I'm not sure that the new label conveys that either, but maybe it is getting closer. What do you think?I guess what I'm trying to say is that these are authors that I will read even if the occasional offering doesn't hit the dizzy heights of excellence. They nearly always have something to offer.
The other element in my thinking is that sometimes the "difference" is in the reader. We don't always bring the same mindset to our reading, and so a book will not always please, even when by a favourite author.
And of course there is the difference between readers. My wine can taste like vinegar to you and vice versa.
My general benchmarks are
- 5.0 Excellent
4.0 Very Good
3.0 Average
2.0 Poor
1.0 Did Not Like
0 Did Not Finish
I have not read all of his novels, and completed an older one just last week, but Peter Lovesey is one of those authors I always find a reliable read, even if I my rating range from 4 to 5.
You'll find lots of references to Lovesey in this blog. In fact I identified him as one of my favourite authors in one of my very first posts.
Titles from my database in rating order.
- THE SUMMONS (1995), my rating 5
- THE VAULT (1999), my rating 5
- THE HOUSE SITTER (2003), my rating 5
- THE CIRCLE (2005), my rating 5
- THE SECRET HANGMAN (2007), my rating 5
- MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY (1973), my rating 4.4
- THE REAPER (2000), my rating 4.2
1. Wobble to Death (1970)
2. The Detective Wore Silk Drawers (1971)
3. Abracadaver (1972)
4. Mad Hatter's Holiday (1973)
5. The Tick of Death (1974) aka Invitation to A Dynamite Party
6. A Case of Spirits (1975)
7. Swing, Swing Together (1976)
8. Waxwork (1978)
The Peter Diamond series appeared from 1991- 2009, 10 titles to look for
1. The Last Detective (1991)
2. Diamond Solitaire (1992)
3. The Summons (1995)
4. Bloodhounds (1996)
5. Upon A Dark Night (1997)
6. The Vault (1999)
7. Diamond Dust (2002)
8. The House Sitter (2003)
9. The Secret Hangman (2007)
10. Skeleton Hill (2009)
In 2005 he introduced Inspector Hen Mallin and to date there are just 2 titles.
1. The Circle (2005)
2. The Headhunters (2008)
And then there are 10 stand-alone titles
- Goldengirl (1977) (writing as Peter Lear)
- Spider Girl (1980) (writing as Peter Lear)
- The False Inspector Dew (1982)
- Keystone (1984)
- Rough Cider (1986)
- The Secret Of Spandau (1986) (writing as Peter Lear)
- On the Edge (1989)
- The Reaper(2000)
- In Suspense (2001)
- Dead Gorgeous (2002)
- Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1988) : Rough Cider
- Anthony Awards Best Novel winner (1992) : The Last Detective
- Dagger Awards Best Novel nominee (1995) : The Summons
- Dagger Awards Best Novel nominee (1996) : Bloodhounds
- Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1996) : The Summons
- Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (1997) : Bloodhounds
- Macavity Awards Best Novel winner (2004) : The House Sitter
14 October 2011
Review: STAGESTRUCK, Peter Lovesey
- published in Great Britain by Soho Press 2011
- ISBN 978-1-84744-444-8
- 327 pages
- Source: library book
A Peter Diamond Mystery
Clarion Calhoun is a fading pop star wanting to launch an acting career. The audiences at her debut at Bath’s Theatre Royal are expecting a dramatic evening, but what they get is beyond their wildest imagination. When Clarion is rushed to hospital with third-degree burns, rumours spread through the theatrical community and beyond. In the best theatrical tradition, the show goes on, but the agony turns to murder.
The case falls to Peter Diamond, Bath’s top detective, but for reasons he can’t understand, he suffers a physical reaction amounting to phobia each time he goes near the theatre. As he tries to find its root in his past, the tension at the Theatre Royal mounts, legends come to life and the killer strikes again.
My Take
Peter Lovesey is a much loved author and STAGESTRUCK came up to expectations.
As always there's much more seething just under the surface than the initial scenario and STAGESTRUCK is a cautionary tale for artistic impresarios who decide they want to change horses.
In #11 in the Peter Diamond series, the head of Bath's CID is still at the mercy of Georgina Dallymore, the assistant chief constable, who has recently joined BLOGS (the Bath Light Operatic Group) and has a personal interest in anything related to the Theatre Royal. She foists Sergeant Horatio Dawkins, dance tutor to BLOGS, on to the CID team much to Diamond's dismay. But Dawkins has hidden talents.
STAGESTRUCK will particularly appeal to those who have attended performances in the Theatre Royal, exploring back stage workings, and theatre hoodoos such as the grey ghost and dead butterflies. But wound through it all is a cleverly and tightly written plot, two deaths, and a range of believable characters. And throughout, Peter Diamond is trying to discover what event in his past gave him an aversion to theatres.
Lovely reading.
My rating: 5.0
Other reviews of Lovesey titles on MiP
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
See a full list of Peter Lovesey's books
Check Peter's awards
30 July 2012
Review: COP TO CORPSE, Peter Lovesey
- Published by Sphere in 2012
- ISBN 978-1-84744-571-1
- 362 pages
- source: my local library
Hero to zero.
Cop to Corpse.
One minute PC Harry Tasker is strolling up Walcot Street, Bath, on foot patrol. The next he is shot through the head. No scream, no struggle, no last words. He is picked off, felled, dead.
Bath detective Peter Diamond takes on the most dangerous assignment of his career when he goes in search of the Somerset Sniper, a killer who is targeting policemen in West Country towns. After a constable from Diamond’s own police station is murdered in the small hours of a Sunday morning a desperate hunt follows. Action, menace and courage in the face of extreme danger are the driving forces of this story laced with the surprises that always lie in wait in a Lovesey novel.
My Take
When Peter Diamond says he suspects the Somerset Sniper is actually one of their own, his investigating team all but turn against him. When he asks them to check duty rosters for coincidences, his lieutenant refuses and Peter ends up doing it himself.
For Peter it is a pretty eventful case: he gets shot at; mown down by a motor bike; and attacked by someone who should be on his side. But nothing stops him, and despite his injuries, and the fact that his team thinks he's on the wrong track, his mind keeps working. He proves yet again why he is at the top of his game: he sees connections no-one else does, but he isn't always right.
Another very readable tale. I think Peter Lovesey is incapable of writing a bad one, particularly if you delight in police procedurals like his.
And look, if you haven't read a Lovesey before, start with this one. It'll get you hooked! And then there are 10 earlier ones in the Peter Diamond series that you can try.
My rating: 5.0
Other reviews to check
- The Neff Review: she got hooked
- Crime Space: off to read earlier ones
- Martin Edwards: smooth readability
Other reviews of Lovesey titles on MiP
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
31 March 2016
Review: THE STONE WIFE, Peter Lovesey
- This edition published in 2014 by Soho Press
- ISBN 978-1-61695-393-5
- 358 pages
- source: my local library
- #14 in the Peter Diamond series
At an auction house in Bath, England, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale. At the height of what turns into very competitive bidding, there is a holdup attempt by three masked raiders who are trying to steal the stone. They shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as the Wife of Bath from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The masked would-be thieves flee, leaving the stone behind.
Peter Diamond and his team are assigned to investigate, and the stone is moved into Diamond's office so he can research its origins. The carving causes such difficulties that he starts to think it has jinxed him. Meanwhile, as Diamond's leads take him to Chaucer's house in Somerset, his intrepid colleague Ingeborg goes undercover to try to track down the source of the handgun used in the fatal murder.
My take
Another good read from Peter Lovesey with a sprinkling of humour.
When a would-be buyer of a massive stone carving thought to be of the Wife of Bath is shot dead in the middle of the auction, Peter Diamond becomes the temporary custodian of the carving. She squats on her "ambler" in the corner of his office, and occasionally he finds himself talking to her.
The investigation into the murder takes Diamond and his team into some very strange territory indeed. The victim is an English professor, not particularly well-liked by his students or colleagues. There is no shortage of possible suspects: the victim's wife former husband is an extremely wealthy property developer; then there is an ambitious academic who would never become professor while the victim was alive; and what about the "fixer" who supplied the gun?
I really like the way Lovesey can create an interesting plot with lots of red herrings from almost nothing.
Looking for cracking British crime fiction? Then try Peter Lovesey.
My rating : 4.7
I've also read
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
5.0, COP TO CORPSE
4.5, THE HEADHUNTERS
4.8, THE TOOTH TATTOO
4.7, DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
20 June 2013
Review: THE TOOTH TATTOO, Peter Lovesey
- this edition published by Sphere Great Britain 2013
- ISBN 978-0-7515-5061-0
- 389 pages
- #13 in the Peter Diamond series
Peter Diamond, head of Bath’s CID, takes a city break in Vienna, where his favourite film, The Third Man, was set, but everything goes wrong and his companion Paloma calls a halt to their relationship.
Meanwhile, strange things are happening to jobbing musician Mel Farran, who finds himself scouted by methods closer to the spy world than the concert platform. The chance of joining a once-famous string quartet in a residency at Bath Spa University is too tempting for Mel to refuse.
Then a body is found in the city canal, and the only clue to the dead woman’s identity is the tattoo of a music note on one of her teeth. For Diamond, who wouldn’t know a Stradivarius from a French horn, the investigation is his most demanding ever. Three mysterious deaths need to be probed while his own personal life is in free fall.
My Take
The promo on the book cover has Sara Paretsky saying "I'm jealous of everyone discovering Lovesey and Diamond for the first time". I couldn't agree more.
I looked forward to THE TOOTH TATTOO with great expectation and it didn't disappoint me.
While the Peter Diamond series are basically British police procedurals, Lovesey uses them to explore and develop relationships, both Diamond's personal ones and those that result from his team management techniques. In addition Lovesey is a dab hand at pulling seemingly disparate plot lines together. In the beginning you find yourself wondering what these separate parts of the story can have to do with each other, and then light begins to dawn. Peter Lovesey, whom I have been following for 40 years now, has an easy to read style that keeps bringing me back for more.
My rating: 4.8
I have also reviewed
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
5.0, COP TO CORPSE
4.5, THE HEADHUNTERS
The Peter Diamond series (Fantastic Fiction)
1. The Last Detective (1991)
2. Diamond Solitaire (1992)
3. The Summons (1995)
4. Bloodhounds (1996)
5. Upon A Dark Night (1997)
6. The Vault (1999)
7. Diamond Dust (2002)
8. The House Sitter (2003)
9. The Secret Hangman (2007)
10. Skeleton Hill (2009)
11. Stagestruck (2011)
12. Cop to Corpse (2012)
13. The Tooth Tattoo (2013)
14. The Stone Wife (2014)
7 August 2012
Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012: L is for Louise and Lovesey
I've decided that for my participation in the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2012 I will highlight recently read books or their authors.
So they'll all come from my 2012 Reviews. Or at least that's the plan.
I couldn't choose between two of my "best" reads for 2012.
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny and COP TO CORPSE by Peter Lovesey are both outstanding reads and I gave both of them my highest rating.
Both are police procedurals but their detectives are very different.
The books are generally based in the little Canadian village of Three Pines.
In A TRICK OF THE LIGHT the tranquillity of the little Canadian village of Three Pines is again shattered by murder. The artist Clara Morrow is celebrating her successful art exhibition with a party but others in the village and the investigative team are recovering from cataclysmic events, detailed in earlier books, that have changed their relationships forever. The threads of continuity that come from earlier titles in the series do mean that, if you are new to the series, you should read them in order.
However, if you have it to hand, then read it now and then I guarantee you'll look for the others.
Similarly with COP TO CORPSE by Peter Lovesey.
If you can get hold of it, then read it out of order, but be warned you'll be looking for more in the Peter Diamond series, of which this is #11. The Peter Diamond series is set in Bath, England. Someone is killing uniformed coppers patrolling the streets late at night.
Peter Lovesey writes some of the best in British crime fiction, so you'll be in for a treat.
Check what others have chosen for the letter L.
8 August 2018
Review: MOTIVES FOR MURDER, Martin Edwards (edit)
- this edition published by Sphere 2016
- ISBN 978-0-7515-6615-4
- edited by Martin Edwards
- 375 pages
Members of London's famed Detection Club have joined together to honor Peter Lovesey, winner multiple times of the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger and Silver Dagger, and Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement.
He has also won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar for Best Novel, as well as Grand Prix de Littérature Policière. He is the creator of Victorian sleuths Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray, Inspector Peter Diamond, and the almost true-to-life Bertie Prince of Wales.
The Detection Club was founded in 1930 by Anthony Berkeley. Its first Honorary President was G.K. Chesterton, to be succeeded by such luminaries as Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Julian Symons, and H. R. F. Keating. The current President, Martin Edwards, has edited this collection of new stories. Motives for Murder contains new stories to honor Peter Lovesey by some of the greatest names in current crime writing.
My Take
With an introduction by Martin Edwards who edited this collection, a foreword by Len Deighton, a final response by Peter Lovesey himself this is a lovely collection of specially written short stories honoring Peter's 80th birthday.
Like so many of the contributors I remember reading Peter's debut novel WOBBLE TO DEATH, and have followed his writing over the years, both in his various series, and his stand alone novels.
Reviewed on this blog are
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
5.0, COP TO CORPSE
4.5, THE HEADHUNTERS
4.8, THE TOOTH TATTOO
4.7, DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
4.7, THE STONE WIFE
4.5, ANOTHER ONE GOES TONIGHT
and I read a great many before that.
Many of the contributors paid homage by setting their story in one of the settings that Peter has used.
If, like me, you like crime fiction short stories, you'll enjoy this collection.
My rating: 4.5
12 August 2012
Review: THE HEADHUNTERS, Peter Lovesey
- published 2008 by Soho Press
- ISBN 978-1-56947-490-7
- 324 pages
- #2 in the Hen Mallin series
- source: my local library
Gemma loathes her sleazy boss; Jo is her confidante. On a double date with Rick and Jake, they discuss forming a mutual murder society, in jest of course. The next day, Jo, walking on Selsey Beach, discovers the corpse of a drowned woman, a stranger. But one of the men in the lineup at the police station is Gemma's date Jake, who Jo rather fancies.
Then Gemma and Jo discover the corpse of Fiona, Gemma's annoying colleague from work. And Gemma's boss is missing. When an older woman whom Rick was involved with is drowned in her pool, the police begin to close in.
Can this outbreak of deaths by drowning be coincidental? Or has the joke gone too far?
My Take
Although the Hen Mallin series (of which there are only 2 titles so far - the other is THE CIRCLE - see the mini review below) is a police procedural, as an investigator Hen is very different to Peter Diamond. (see my recent review of COP TO CORPSE )
Hen is very conscious of her male superiors just waiting for her to make a slip, constantly threatening that if a case is too much for her it could be handed on. Hen does act on impulse sometimes - in THE HEADHUNTERS she orders out the local divisional helicopter but luckily for her the move pays off.
In THE HEADHUNTERS Lovesey plays with the unreliable narrator. We learn of events from several points of view but it is difficult to pick which one is not to be trusted. In fact there seem to be several candidates. There are also some really good red herrings.
So another good story from Peter Lovesey.
My rating: 4.5
Mini-review of THE CIRCLE which I rated at 5.0
Encouraged by his fourteen-year-old-daughter who recognises his lonely widowhood, Bob Naylor decides to join a writers' circle, believing he might gain some expert help with the poetry which keeps spilling out of his imagination. He discovers a motley collection of wannabe authors who he doubts he has anything in common with, but just as he is deciding not to formally join the group he learns that a publisher who addressed their last meeting has been killed and he stays to see what might develop.
The Senior Investigating Officer, Henrietta Mallin, soon has all the members of the group under suspicion and, under pressure from her superiors, arrests their Chairman. Bob, the only writer who had not met the victim, is persuaded by other members of the group to do some investigating of his own. And that is when the trouble really starts, because another death turns the spotlight of suspicion on to him.
Other Peter Lovesey titles reviewed on MiP
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
5.0, COP TO CORPSE
28 January 2008
THE REAPER, Peter Lovesey
If the title in the context of crime fiction makes you think "grim reaper" then you are on the right track.
This is a macabre cosy if there is such a thing. A rompingly entertaining read, but not one of Lovesey's best.
Otis Joy, the rector of St. Bartholomew's in the Wiltshire village of Foxford, a young man in his late 20s, is a dynamic relative newcomer to the village. He seems everything a vicar needs to be, even if he is unmarried. Underneath though he is a very nasty bit of work indeed. Nobody believes lugubrious old Owen Cumberbatch when he says that the Rev. Joy's last parish is without its Sexton/bellringer because he crossed Otis Joy. Snooping old Skidmore simply disappeared.
But we do know from almost the first page of the story that Otis Joy is responsible for the death of the bishop, Marcus Glastonbury, who had found out that he had been embezzling funds at his previous parish (where the Sexton disappeared).
We learn also that he has come to an "arrangement" with his current Parish treasurer, Stanley Burrows, ex-headmaster, to have a private contingency fund which appears nowhere in the church's accounts. And then Stanley says he would like to hand the job over to a younger person, that he is getting too old, and the responsibility of the parish books is too great...
I think Peter Lovesey, one of my favourite authors, had great fun in writing this book. It is almost as if he decided to write a spoof on the village cosy. There are some really sardonic descriptions, almost cruel, of village personalities. One that comes to mind readily is Cynthia Haydenhall, Chair of the Women's Institute - my mental vision of her is of a dark haired strident Penelope Keith - who sees herself as the social hub of the village. And there are others..
This isn't going to exercise your little grey cells too much. But if you enjoy the occasional cosy, then hunt it down. In style it reminds me a bit of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.
My rating was 4.1
I've been a Peter Lovesey fan since he published his first novel WOBBLE TO DEATH. You may be familiar with his Peter Diamond series. Fantastic Fiction lists his novels.
This is a macabre cosy if there is such a thing. A rompingly entertaining read, but not one of Lovesey's best.
Otis Joy, the rector of St. Bartholomew's in the Wiltshire village of Foxford, a young man in his late 20s, is a dynamic relative newcomer to the village. He seems everything a vicar needs to be, even if he is unmarried. Underneath though he is a very nasty bit of work indeed. Nobody believes lugubrious old Owen Cumberbatch when he says that the Rev. Joy's last parish is without its Sexton/bellringer because he crossed Otis Joy. Snooping old Skidmore simply disappeared.
But we do know from almost the first page of the story that Otis Joy is responsible for the death of the bishop, Marcus Glastonbury, who had found out that he had been embezzling funds at his previous parish (where the Sexton disappeared).
We learn also that he has come to an "arrangement" with his current Parish treasurer, Stanley Burrows, ex-headmaster, to have a private contingency fund which appears nowhere in the church's accounts. And then Stanley says he would like to hand the job over to a younger person, that he is getting too old, and the responsibility of the parish books is too great...
I think Peter Lovesey, one of my favourite authors, had great fun in writing this book. It is almost as if he decided to write a spoof on the village cosy. There are some really sardonic descriptions, almost cruel, of village personalities. One that comes to mind readily is Cynthia Haydenhall, Chair of the Women's Institute - my mental vision of her is of a dark haired strident Penelope Keith - who sees herself as the social hub of the village. And there are others..
This isn't going to exercise your little grey cells too much. But if you enjoy the occasional cosy, then hunt it down. In style it reminds me a bit of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series.
My rating was 4.1
I've been a Peter Lovesey fan since he published his first novel WOBBLE TO DEATH. You may be familiar with his Peter Diamond series. Fantastic Fiction lists his novels.
30 October 2009
Review: MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY by Peter Lovesey
Large Print edition, Chivers Press, 1973, ISBN 0-740-4593-5, 259 pages.A Sergeant Cribb mystery.
Like many of Peter Lovesey's other books, MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY doesn't seem to get around to the crime fiction bit until about half way through.
This tale is set in 1882 England and the beginning of summer. Albert Moscrop goes to Brighton for a seaside holiday, taking with him his latest acquisitions, a couple of telescopes. Albert is a bit of a voyeur and likes to watch people, and Brighton with its promenading tourist population is the perfect place. Albert arrives at the beginning of the "real season", the accommodation prices have risen, and a better class of tourist has arrived. Albert discovers the attractive face of Zena Prothero, and decides to find out more about her. He follows her, her son, and then contrives to meet her husband. Still no crime. And then Zena seems to disappear. Albert feels compelled to go to the police.
At the same time a severed hand is discovered in the Alligator cavern at the Aquarium on the Brighton promenade pier. The Brighton police feel that this is an investigation outside their capability, and send for London expertise in the form of Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackery from the Criminal Investigation Department. And so the two strands of the novel converge.
There were a couple of elements of this novel that I did a little research for. One was the surname Moscrop. I wondered abut the origins of the name and found that it is actually a Scottish surname of quite long standing, with possible Norse origins. If you are interested in the origin of your surname (or of one in a novel) then the site I found, SurnameDB, might be of use to you.
One of the other things that interested me was the history of the condition of asthma. One of the characters in MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY suffers from asthma, and I wondered whether it was a recognised condition in 1881, the year the novel is set in. Here is part of what I found: "One major study was done by Dr. H. Salter in 1864 to prove that asthma is a pure physical ailment. He discovered that animal dander could trigger asthma and when the subject was in an environment free of animal dander he ceased to experience conditions of this ailment."
Sergeant Cribb applies a mix of careful elimination of possible suspects through judicious questioning, observation of facial reactions, logical deduction, and scientific evidence to finally come up with an interpretation of the facts of the case. Even when the verdict of the Cornoer's Court goes against him, as it does this time, he persists in his investigation until he has solved the case to his own satisfaction.
Peter Lovesey's first novel WOBBLE TO DEATH (1970) introduced the redoubtable Victorian policemen, Cribb and Thackeray. He won the Gold Dagger Award with THE FALSE INSPECTOR DEW and in 2000 joined the elite group of people awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award. I have been a Lovesey fan since WOBBLE TO DEATH arrived in South Australia in paperback, and you'll find him among my favourites.
My rating: 4.4
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY is the 4th in the Cribb series.
1. Wobble to Death (1970)
2. The Detective Wore Silk Drawers (1971)
3. Abracadaver (1972)
4. Mad Hatter's Holiday (1973)
5. The Tick of Death (1974)
aka Invitation to A Dynamite Party
6. A Case of Spirits (1975)
7. Swing, Swing Together (1976)
8. Waxwork (1978)
24 October 2010
Review: THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST BRITISH CRIME 2010, edited by Maxim Jakubowski
- Format: Kindle Edition
- File Size: 839 KB
- Print Length: 544 pages
- Publisher: Robinson (April 29, 2010)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Product Description
The must-have annual anthology for every crime fiction fan - the year's top new British short stories selected by leading crime critic Maxim Jakubowski.This great annual covers the full range of mystery fiction, from noir and hardboiled crime to ingenious puzzles and amateur sleuthing. Packed with top names like Colin Dexter, Christopher Fowler, Alexander McCall Smith, Robert Barnard, Peter James, Natasha Cooper, Sophie Hannah, and many more. This looks like a who's who of British crime fiction - a real treat. I have read full books by most of these authors, and for the most part enjoyed re-acquaintance through these tasters.
I've included a full list of the 38 stories at the bottom of the page.
From my point of view the ones I enjoyed most were
- finding out why Morse didn't get his degree: MR E. MORSE, BA OXON (FAILED),Colin Dexter
- an Australian one: THE BLOOD PEARL, Barry Maitland
- THE RAT IN THE ATTIC BY Brian McGilloway was quite clever
- A BLOW ON THE HEAD by Peter Lovesey was up to expectations, as was
- WALKING THE DOG by Peter Robinson
- ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE, Alexander McCall Smith
- 12 BOLINBROKE AVENUE, Peter James
- FUNERAL WEATHER, Kate Ellis
Overall, there was the usual problem you have with a collection of short stories: some are excellent, while others just didn't seem worthy of the space. It is quite a long book.
My rating: 4.3
List of stories
MR E. MORSE, BA OXON (FAILED),Colin Dexter
GHOSTS,John Harvey
THE BLOOD PEARL, Barry Maitland
THE COMMON ENEMY, Natasha Cooper
BLOODSPORT, Tom Cain
THE RAT IN THE ATTIC, Brian McGilloway
ENOUGH OF THIS SHIT ALREADY, Tony Black
HOGMANAY HOMICIDE, Edward Marston
FRUITS, Steve Mosby
A PLACE FOR VIOLENCE, Kevin Wignall
FOUR HUNDRED RABBITS,Simon Levack
HISTORY!,Toby Litt
THE MASQUERADE,Sarah Rayne
TAKE DEATH EASY, Peter Turnbull
THE PARSON AND THE HIGHWAYMAN, Judith Cutler
SPECIAL DELIVERY, Adrian Magson
A BLOW ON THE HEAD, Peter Lovesey
CHICAGO, Jon Courtenay Grimwood
THE HOUSE THAT GOT SHOT, Barbara Nadel
THE OCTOPUS NEST, Sophie Hannah
WALKING THE DOG, Peter Robinson
THE VELOCITY OF BLAME, Christopher Fowler
SOMEONE TAKE THESE DREAMS AWAY, Marc Werner
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE, Alexander McCall Smith
12 BOLINBROKE AVENUE, Peter James
APPETITE FOR MURDER, Simon R. Green
THE OTHER HALF, Mick Herron
SWORD LILIES, Sally Spedding
LOVE HURTS, Bill Kirton
FUNERAL WEATHER, Kate Ellis
A YEAR TO REMEMBER, Robert Barnard
TIME OF THE GREEN,Ken Bruen
VIVISECTION, Bernie Crosthwaite
STAR’S JAR, Kate Horsley
THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A VICTIMLESS CRIME, Paul Johnston
AND HERE’S THE NEXT CLUE . . ., Amy Myers
FRECKLES, Allan Guthrie
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Val McDermid
3 August 2009
Review: MALICE DOMESTIC 5, various authors, Phyllis A. Whitney (edit.)
A collection of 17 short stories, some of which were shortlisted in 1996 for the Agatha award for short stories. ISBN: 0671896326There are a variety of readers.
Contents: courtesy IBL
- Mysteries of Manners, Labors of Love by Phyllis A. Whitney
- Conventual Spirit by Sharan Newman
- Double Jeopardy by Eileen Dreyer
- Shelved [Susannah Maria “Suze” Figueroa] by Barbara D’Amato
- Takeout by Joyce Christmas
- Crossed Keys by Patricia Moyes
- Ham Grease Jimmy and the No Shirt Kid by Sue Henry
- The Death of Erik the Redneck [Laura Fleming] by Toni L. P. Kelner
- The Bun Also Rises by Jill Churchill
- Hill People by Dean Feldmeyer
- Barbecued Bimbo by Susan Rogers Cooper
- Honeymoon by Nancy Atherton
- Vivian by Moonlight by Medora Sale
- A Parrot Is Forever by Peter Lovesey
- Married to a Murderer by Alan Russell
- Bugged by Eve K. Sandstrom
- Accidents Will Happen by Carolyn Wheat
I downloaded this collection from audible.com and began listening at a bit of a disadvantage, when the copy I transferred to my iPod Nano refused to begin playing with the first story. In fact it began playing about 80 minutes in, so I was anchored to my computer for the first stories. This had the additional impact of me being uncertain that I had listened to them all.
The first couple of stories at least are a bit longer than short (or at least my definition of short).
The best stories:
- Accidents will Happen by Carolyn Wheat. A night nurse makes life for an elderly woman confined to bed utterly miserable, to the point where the old woman, once a professor of art, wants to kill her.
- A Parrot is Forever by Peter Lovesey. This was the reason I got hold of this collection in the first place. Peter Lovesey is one of my favourite authors. Roger is a large and racous blue and yellow macaw left to the narrator by an uncle whom he had had little to do with. Roger is rather unexpectedly stolen and turns out to be the guardian of the narrator's true inheritance.
- The Bun Also Rises by Jill Churchill. Two elderly friends are distressed when a third, immobilised by a broken leg, dies from a stroke. They are dismayed to find that their friend has changed her will, or rather, written a new one, disinheriting her daughter, and leaving all her wealth to her nurse. They feel convinced their friend would not have done this voluntarily, but how can they prove it?
Listen to an excerpt from the first story.
My rating: 4.2
2 August 2012
What I read in July 2012
 |
| Pick of the Month July 2012 |
I caught up with some favourite authors too - Agatha Christie, Peter Lovesey, Michael Stanley, Ian Rankin, Donna Leon, Aline Templeton, and Elly Griffiths. Regretfully no Australian authors, again, But I'm rectifying that now by reading Michael Robotham's latest.
- 5.0, COP TO CORPSE, Peter Lovesey - library book
- 4.4, MRS McGINTY'S DEAD, Agatha Christie
- 5.0, DEATH OF THE MANTIS, Michael Stanley - Kindle
- 4.5, THE THIEF, Fuminori Nakamura - audio book- translated
- 4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL, Shamini Flint - audio book
- 4.1 THE KILLINGS ON JUBILEE TERRACE, Robert Barnard - audio book
- 4.3, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN, Simon Wood - kindle
- 4.6, THE MIND'S EYE, Hakan Nesser - library book- translated
- 4.7, THE IMPOSSIBLE DEAD, Ian Rankin - Library book
- 4.4, QUIETLY IN THEIR SLEEP, Donna Leon - Kindle
- 4.0, BODY ON THE STAGE, Bev Robitai - Kindle- New Zealand author
- 4.5, A ROOM FULL OF BONES, Elly Griffiths - audio book
- 4.2, THEY CAME TO BAGHDAD, Agatha Christie - Kindle
- 4.6, LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER, Aline Templeton - library book
Both are police procedurals but widely separated by setting but the main detectives have a lot in common including their size.COP TO CORPSE is Peter Lovesey's latest, and I truly think with this one that it doesn't matter if you haven't read the earlier ones, but you'll want to afterwards.
DEATH OF THE MANTIS is #2 in the Kubu series and you really would be advised to read #1 first.
Both are terrific reads.
28 March 2010
Reading Syllabus for Crime Fiction 1
The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time is a list published in book form in 1990 by the British-based Crime Writers' Association.
How many of these have you read? My count is 56 (marked *)
How many of these have you read? My count is 56 (marked *)
- Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)*
- Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)*
- John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)*
- Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)*
- Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)*
- Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)*
- Raymond Chandler: Farewell My Lovely (1940)
- Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)*
- Len Deighton: The IPCRESS File (1962)*
- Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)*
- Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)*
- Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing ... (1952)
- Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980)
- Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)
- Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)*
- Francis Iles: Malice Aforethought (1931)
- Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)*
- Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)*
- Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)*
- John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)*
- Arthur Conan Doyle: The Collected Sherlock Holmes Short Stories (1892-1927)
- Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)*
- Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)*
- Eric Ambler: The Mask of Dimitrios (1939)
- Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)
- Margery Allingham: The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)*
- Peter Lovesey: The False Inspector Dew (1982)*
- Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)*
- Barbara Vine: A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)*
- James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
- Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)
- Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)*
- John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)*
- E. C. Bentley: Trent's Last Case (1913)
- Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)*
- Ed McBain: Cop Hater (1956)
- Colin Dexter: The Dead of Jericho (1981)*
- Patricia Highsmith: Strangers on a Train (1950)
- Ruth Rendell: Judgement in Stone (1977)*
- John Dickson Carr: The Hollow Man (1935)*
- Anthony Berkeley: The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929)
- Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)*
- Ellis Peters: The Leper of St. Giles (1981)*
- Ira Levin: A Kiss Before Dying (1953)
- Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)*
- Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)*
- Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)
- Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)
- Ruth Rendell: A Demon in My View (1976)*
- John Dickson Carr: The Devil in Velvet (1951)
- Barbara Vine: A Fatal Inversion (1987)*
- Michael Innes: The Journeying Boy (1949)
- P. D. James: A Taste for Death (1986)*
- Jack Higgins: The Eagle Has Landed (1975)*
- Mary Stewart: My Brother Michael (1960)*
- Peter Lovesey: Bertie and the Tin Man (1987)*
- Susan Moody: Penny Black (1984)
- Len Deighton: Game, Set & Match (1984-1986)
- Dick Francis: The Danger (1983)*
- P. D. James: Devices and Desires (1989)*
- Reginald Hill: Underworld (1988)
- Mary Stewart: Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)*
- Paula Gosling: A Running Duck (1978)
- Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)
- Lionel Davidson: The Rose of Tibet (1962)
- P. D. James: Innocent Blood (1980)*
- Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)*
- Michael Innes: Hamlet, Revenge! (1937)
- Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)
- Caryl Brahms & S. J. Simon: A Bullet in the Ballet (1937)
- Reginald Hill: Dead Heads (1983)
- Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)*
- Anthony Price: The Labyrinth Makers (1974)
- Adam Hall: The Quiller Memorandum (1965)
- Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)
- Sarah Caudwell: The Shortest Way to Hades (1984)
- Desmond Bagley: Running Blind (1970)*
- Dick Francis: Twice Shy (1981)*
- Richard Condon: The Manchurian Candidate (1959)*
- Caroline Graham: The Killings at Badger's Drift (1987)*
- Nicholas Blake: The Beast Must Die (1938)
- Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981)
- Agatha Christie: Death Comes as the End (1945)*
- Christianna Brand: Green for Danger (1945)
- Cyril Hare: Tragedy at Law (1942)
- John Fowles: The Collector (1963)*
- J. J. Marric: Gideon's Day (1955)*
- Lionel Davidson: The Sun Chemist (1976)
- Alistair MacLean: The Guns of Navarone (1957)*
- Julian Symons: The Colour of Murder (1957)
- John Buchan: Greenmantle (1916)*
- Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands (1903)
- Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)*
- Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
- Ken Follett: The Key to Rebecca (1980)
- Ed McBain: Sadie When She Died (1972)
- H. R. F. Keating: The Murder of the Maharajah (1980)*
- Simon Brett: What Bloody Man Is That? (1987)*
- Gavin Lyall: Shooting Script (1966)
- Edgar Wallace: Four Just Men (1906)*
6 January 2010
Review: SKELETON HILL, Peter Lovesey
Sphere, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84744-333-5, 326 pagesCelebrating and re-enacting a battle that took place on Landsdown Hill during the English Civil War over three hundred and fifty years earlier, two of the Royalist dead share a beer and discover a bone they think is probably human. At the end of the day one will get home safely and the other, a university history lecturer, will disappear.
His disappearance is reported to Bath CID. The bone discovered during the battle is re-discovered by three rescue dogs, and is found to belong to a headless corpse. Forensics tells Peter Diamond, Head of Bath CID, that not only are the bones not old, but the skeleton is female, murdered and buried within the last two decades.
Within days there are reports of a vagrant trying to break into cars at the Bath racecourse. A few days later he comes to police attention again when he tries to steal food at a market. And then he too is found dead.
SKELETON HILL is a fascinating insight into how evidence can be built up.
There were so many things I enjoyed about this book, it is hard to know where to start. The story is quite plausible. I've always liked the idea of battlefield re-enactments, and the opportunities they provide for crime cover-up are legion.
SKELETON HILL is #10 in the Peter Diamond series,and once again Peter Diamond comes over as very human, very real. He is not above getting his hands dirty. In fact his boss doesn't think he delegates enough. I enjoyed the glimpses of the inter-relationships with his team. He is a good leader and an intuitive detective. In the long run the case is solved through a combination of sheer grunt, meticulous investigation, and lateral thinking.
My rating 5.0
Other reviews to check:
- Books to the Ceiling: "everything a mystery should be"
- Do You Write Under Your own Name: "Reading a novel by Peter Lovesey is rather like settling down to watch a favourite tv show or film, in good company and with a bottle of wine and box of chocolates within easy reach. You just know you are going to have a good time."
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