Books by Peter Lovesey
On the Edge
“[A] vivid postwar environment that confers plausibility, ingenious plot twists that heighten the suspense and two stunning character studies that confound our facile presumptions about women who kill.” —The New York Times Book Review
Rose and Antonia were WAAF plotters during World War II, enjoying independence, a fulfilling and challenging job, and all the fun of being two women on an RAF base. But peacetime is a disappointment. Rose’s war-hero husband has become violent, and Antonia, bored with her rich manufacturer husband, wants to move to America with her lover. A chance encounter in the street leads to a ruthless scheme, and if Rose doesn’t lose her nerve, they could get away with murder.
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The Reaper
“If you've never read any of [Lovesey’s] 20-plus books, this wickedly clever, beautifully written story of a murderous clergyman who earns our sympathy while dramatically whittling down his flock should make you an instant convert.”—Chicago Tribune
After years spent saving souls, Otis Joy, the rector of St. Bartholomew’s Church in Foxford, Wiltshire, has found a new calling: ending lives. His young French wife? Anaphylactic shock, what a shame. The bishop? Fell into a quarry. Tragic. It’s not Joy’s fault, really—not that he’s concerned about repentance or absolution these days. He just doesn’t want his other little secret—embezzling church funds to finance a fancy yacht—to be discovered. But when the husband of the new church secretary, Rachel Jansen, turns up dead, it isn’t long before the village starts to gossip and the local constable gets involved. As it turns out, God isn’t the only one who’s always watching.
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Bloodhounds (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
“Peter Lovesey tosses off a real brain-banger in Bloodhounds, the fourth book in a challenging series . . . I am mad for these pyrotechnic teasers, and this one had my head spinning.”—The New York Times Book Review
A rare stamp and a corpse are discovered in Bath within hours of each other. As he investigates, Inspector Peter Diamond discovers that both the person who found the stamp and the victim belong to the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, who now urge Diamond to bring the murderer to justice. But there’s a hitch: the body lies inside a padlocked houseboat and the only key is in the pocket of a man with an airtight alibi.
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Diamond Dust (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
“Lovesey takes his hero to emotional places he’s never been before while constructing a plot of infernal ingenuity.” —The New York Times Book Review
Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is confronted with a crime that comes too close to home. His beloved wife has been killed, apparently just the most recent victim in a series of murders of police spouses. Despite his superior's orders to leave the solution of this crime to other members of the force, he is determined to find the killer himself.
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The Last Detective
In Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen, Michael Dibdin has given the mystery one of its most complex and compelling protagonists: a man wearily trying to enforce the law in a society where the law is constantly being bent. In this, the first novel he appears in, Zen himself has been assigned to do some law bending. Officials in a high government ministry want him to finger someone--anyone--for the murder of an eccentric billionaire, whose corrupt dealings enriched some of the most exalted figures in Italian politics.But Oscar Burolo's murder would seem to be not just unsolvable but impossible. The magnate was killed on a heavily fortified Sardinian estate, where every room was monitored by video cameras. Those cameras captured Burolo's grisly death, but not the face of his killer. And that same killer, elusive, implacable, and deranged, may now be stalking Zen. Inexorable in its suspense, superbly atmospheric, Vendetta is further proof of Dibdin's mastery of the crime novel.
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Diamond Solitaire (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
“The chase, which includes a friendly Sumo wrestler and adventures in Japan, is a pleasure to follow, and Lovesey makes the relationship between tough cop and troubled child wholly beguiling.”—Los Angeles Times
Fired from the police force for insubordination, Peter Diamond is reduced to working as a security guard at Harrod’s. Turns out he can’t even hold that job—he gets fired after finding an abandoned Japanese girl in the store after closing. “Naomi,” as he calls her, exhibits strong signs of autism, and he devotes himself to communicating with her in order to glean her identity and return her to her rightful home. Weeks later, a Japanese woman appears out of the blue to claim the little girl, and it appears as though Diamond’s job is done. If only that were true. Armed only with only Naomi’s drawings as clues, Diamond races to track down her kidnappers and save her life.
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The Summons (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
“The Summons is a classic.” —The Economist
John Mountjoy has escaped from prison and kidnapped the chief constable’s daughter. The only person he’ll parley with is Detective Peter Diamond, who arrested him four years earlier for the murder of a young journalist. Mountjoy, who still maintains his innocence, has a simple request for Diamond. All the detective has to do is find the real killer and clear Mountjoy’s name, and the hostage will be free to go. But in the intervening four years, the trail has gone cold and memories have turned hazy, making the hunt for the killer even more complicated the second time around. Will Diamond get to the bottom of the cold case before another life is lost?
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Another One Goes Tonight (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
"Another One Goes Tonight [is an] impeccably constructed mystery featuring the unpredictable but ever-entertaining Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond...there are plenty of red herrings to sniff out and misdirections to blindly follow. A classic whodunit." —The New York Times Book Review
En route to investigate a late-night disturbance, a patrol car spins off the road, killing one of the cops and leaving the other in critical condition. Detective Peter Diamond is assigned to look into the case. His supervisor is desperately hoping Diamond will not discover the officers were at fault. Instead, he discovers something even worse—a civilian on a motorized tricycle was involved in the crash and has been lying on the side of the road for hours. Diamond administers CPR, but the man’s fate is unclear. Soon, though, Diamond becomes suspicious of the civilian victim and begins a private inquiry that leads to a trail of uninvestigated deaths. As the man lingers on life support, Diamond wrestles with the fact that he may have saved the life of a serial killer.
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Another One Goes Tonight (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
"Another One Goes Tonight [is an] impeccably constructed mystery featuring the unpredictable but ever-entertaining Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond...there are plenty of red herrings to sniff out and misdirections to blindly follow. A classic whodunit." —The New York Times Book Review
En route to investigate a late-night disturbance, a patrol car spins off the road, killing one of the cops and leaving the other in critical condition. Detective Peter Diamond is assigned to look into the case. His supervisor is desperately hoping Diamond will not discover the officers were at fault. Instead, he discovers something even worse—a civilian on a motorized tricycle was involved in the crash and has been lying on the side of the road for hours. Diamond administers CPR, but the man’s fate is unclear. Soon, though, Diamond becomes suspicious of the civilian victim and begins a private inquiry that leads to a trail of uninvestigated deaths. As the man lingers on life support, Diamond wrestles with the fact that he may have saved the life of a serial killer.
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Beau Death (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
Peter Diamond, British detective extraordinaire, must dig deep into Bath history to ferret out the secrets of one of its most famous (and scandalous) icons: Richard “Beau” Nash, who might be the victim of a centuries old murder.
Bath, England: A wrecking crew is demolishing a row of townhouses in order to build a grocery store when they uncover a skeleton in one of the attics. The dead man is wearing authentic 1760s garb and on the floor next to it is a white tricorn hat—the ostentatious signature accessory of Beau Nash, one of Bath’s most famous historical men-about-town, a fashion icon and incurable rake who, some say, ended up in a pauper’s grave. Or did the Beau actually end up in a townhouse attic? The Beau Nash Society will be all in a tizzy when the truth is revealed to them.
Superintendent Peter Diamond, who has been assigned to identify the remains, starts making discoveries that turn Nash scholarship on its ear. But one of his constables is stubbornly insisting the corpse can’t be Nash’s—the non-believer threatens to spoil Diamond’s favorite theory, especially when he offers some pretty irrefutable evidence. Is Diamond on a historical goose chase? Should he actually be investigating a much more modern murder?
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Beau Death (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
Peter Diamond, British detective extraordinaire, must dig deep into Bath history to ferret out the secrets of one of its most famous (and scandalous) icons: Richard “Beau” Nash, who might be the victim of a centuries old murder.
Bath, England: A wrecking crew is demolishing a row of townhouses in order to build a grocery store when they uncover a skeleton in one of the attics. The dead man is wearing authentic 1760s garb and on the floor next to it is a white tricorn hat—the ostentatious signature accessory of Beau Nash, one of Bath’s most famous historical men-about-town, a fashion icon and incurable rake who, some say, ended up in a pauper’s grave. Or did the Beau actually end up in a townhouse attic? The Beau Nash Society will be all in a tizzy when the truth is revealed to them.
Superintendent Peter Diamond, who has been assigned to identify the remains, starts making discoveries that turn Nash scholarship on its ear. But one of his constables is stubbornly insisting the corpse can’t be Nash’s—the non-believer threatens to spoil Diamond’s favorite theory, especially when he offers some pretty irrefutable evidence. Is Diamond on a historical goose chase? Should he actually be investigating a much more modern murder?
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The Last Detective (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
"I am so excited for you to be at the very beginning of this trend-setting, beautifully written, vivid series."—from the introduction by LOUISE PENNY
In the first entry to the series and winner of the 1992 Anthony Boucher Award for Best Mystery Novel, Diamond must locate two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen to solve the murder of the "Lady in the Lake."
A woman’s body has been found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath. There are no marks on her and no murder weapon. No one will identify her. It looks like Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond has his work cut out for him. Diamond is one of the last detectives of his kind, a gumshoe whose heroes solved crimes by question and answer, door stepping and deduction. To unravel this one, Diamond must locate two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen and defy his superiors in order to save a woman unjustly accused of murder.
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The Last Detective (Deluxe Edition) (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
"I am so excited for you to be at the very beginning of this trend-setting, beautifully written, vivid series."—from the introduction by LOUISE PENNY
The first installment in one of crime fiction’s most enjoyable, iconic series—now featuring a rare peek into Diamond’s origins and the author’s process in bringing him to life.
A woman’s body has been found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath. There are no marks on her and no murder weapon. No one will identify her. It looks like Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond has his work cut out for him. Diamond is one of the last detectives of his kind, a gumshoe whose heroes solved crimes by question and answer, door stepping and deduction. To unravel this one, Diamond must locate two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen and defy his superiors in order to save a woman unjustly accused of murder.
Over thirty years and twenty-one subsequent novels, Peter Lovesey has bewitched his enormous fandom with the wry, stubborn, and fiendishly clever Peter Diamond. The Last Detective started it all, and it is now reissued in a gorgeous deluxe edition featuring an introduction by Louise Penny, an afterword by the author, and fascinating true-crime context describing how this book came to be.
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Wobble to Death (Deluxe Edition) (A Sergeant Cribb Investigation)
The 50th anniversary collector's edition of legendary British mystery author Peter Lovesey's debut, handsomely reissued in hardcover with an introduction from bestselling author Jeffery Deaver.
London, 1879. Crowds have gathered at Islington's chilly Agricultural Hall to place their bets on who will become the next world champion in a six-day, 500-mile speedwalking race, the “wobble.” When one of the highly favored contenders dies under suspicious circumstances, Sergeant Cribb also has a race on his hands—to pursue a ruthless murderer.
Fifty years ago, Wobble to Death launched the writing career of one of the world’s greatest crime fiction writers. Since its initial publication, Peter Lovesey has written forty novels and six short story collections, and has become one of three living writers to receive both the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award and the Crime Writers Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. There is no better place to dive into Lovesey's legendary oeuvre than with this sparkling debut.
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Killing with Confetti (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
Peter Lovesey, MWA Grand Master and titan of the English detective novel, returns readers to Bath with the eighteenth mystery in his critically acclaimed Peter Diamond series.
As a New Year begins in Bath, Ben Brace proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline, the daughter of notorious crime baron Joe Irving, who is coming to the end of a prison sentence. The problem is that Ben’s father, George, is the Deputy Chief Constable. A more uncomfortable set of in-laws would be hard to imagine. But mothers and sons are a formidable force: a wedding in the Abbey and reception in the Roman Baths are arranged before the career-obsessed DCC can step in.
Peter Diamond, Bath’s head of CID, is appalled to be put in charge of security on the day. Ordered to be discreet, he packs a gun and a guest list in his best suit and must somehow cope with potential killers, gang rivals, warring parents, bossy photographers and straying bridesmaids. The laid-back Joe Irving seems oblivious to the danger he is in from rival gang leaders, while Brace can’t wait for the day to end. Will the photo session be a literal shoot? Will Joe Irving’s speech as father of the bride be his last words? Can Diamond pull off a miracle, avert a tragedy and send the happy couple on their honeymoon?
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Killing with Confetti (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
Peter Lovesey, MWA Grand Master and titan of the English detective novel, returns readers to Bath with the eighteenth mystery in his critically acclaimed Peter Diamond series.
As a New Year begins in Bath, Ben Brace proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline, the daughter of notorious crime baron Joe Irving, who is coming to the end of a prison sentence. The problem is that Ben’s father, George, is the Deputy Chief Constable. A more uncomfortable set of in-laws would be hard to imagine. But mothers and sons are a formidable force: a wedding in the Abbey and reception in the Roman Baths are arranged before the career-obsessed DCC can step in.
Peter Diamond, Bath’s head of CID, is appalled to be put in charge of security on the day. Ordered to be discreet, he packs a gun and a guest list in his best suit and must somehow cope with potential killers, gang rivals, warring parents, bossy photographers and straying bridesmaids. The laid-back Joe Irving seems oblivious to the danger he is in from rival gang leaders, while Brace can’t wait for the day to end. Will the photo session be a literal shoot? Will Joe Irving’s speech as father of the bride be his last words? Can Diamond pull off a miracle, avert a tragedy and send the happy couple on their honeymoon?
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The Finisher (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
On the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first novel, Peter Lovesey, Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and titan of the British detective novel, returns to the subject of his very first mystery—running.
Through a particularly ill-fated series of events, couch potato Maeve Kelly, an elementary school teacher whose mother always assured her “curvy” girls shouldn’t waste their time trying to be fit, has been forced to sign up for the Other Half, Bath’s springtime half marathon. The training is brutal, but she must disprove her mother and collect pledges for her aunt’s beloved charity. What Maeve doesn’t know is just how vicious some of the other runners are.
Meanwhile, Detective Peter Diamond is tasked with crowd control on the raucous day of the race—and catches sight of a violent criminal he put away a decade ago, and who very much seems to be up to his old tricks now that he is paroled. Diamond’s hackles are already up when he learns that one of the runners never crossed the finish line and disappeared without a trace. Was Diamond a spectator to murder?
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Bertie: The Complete Prince of Wales Mysteries (Bertie and the Tinman, Bertie and the Seven Bodies, Bertie and and the Crime of Passion): The Complete Prince of Wales Mysteries
The Complete Prince of Wales Mysteries collects all three of Peter Lovesey’s charming and thrilling Bertie adventures in a single volume for the first time.
Albert Edward, Prince of Wales—Bertie, as he’s known—is the eldest son of Queen Victoria, and future King Edward VII. Bertie is a pleasure seeker, always searching out the best meals, the most beautiful women, and the most lavish parties.
As Prince Regent, Bertie is expected to behave like a proper royal and avoid scandal. Instead, his love of excitement leads him to a decidedly unprincely hobby: sleuthing. Bertie is not the best detective, but that does not stop him from trying to solve every case that crosses his path, including the feverish suicide of the greatest jockey of the century, the mysterious death of a member of the royal hunting party, and the murder of the son-in-law of an old friend.
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Bertie and the Tinman (A Prince of Wales Mystery)
Introducing Victorian England’s most illustrious amateur sleuth (if not necessarily its most adept): Bertie, Prince of Wales, who can’t help but poke his royal nose into a suspicious-sounding circumstance.
Bertie, Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII, is a charismatic but self-indulgent man who enjoys the finer things in life, including dining, flirting, and flitting from party to party with his entire thirty-person staff in tow. But the fun and games come to a tragic halt when Bertie hears the shocking news that his friend the legendary jockey Fred Archer, known as the Tinman, has taken his own life. Bertie has his doubts that it was in fact suicide, especially considering the Tinman's ominous final words: “Are they coming?” Bertie resolves to discover the truth, looking for new suspects and evidence on a quest that will take him through some of the most disreputable parts of London, much to the dismay of his mother, Queen Victoria.
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Bertie and the Seven Bodies (A Prince of Wales Mystery)
The second entry of the Bertie, Prince of Wales mystery series, featuring future King Edward VII, Albert Edward, as an amateur sleuth solving suspicious murders in Victorian England.
Bertie, Prince of Wales, is delighted to be invited by Lady Amelia, a recently widowed young woman, to Desborough Hall for a week-long shooting party. The eleven other motley guests include a poet, a chaplain, and an Amazon explorer. The party promises a week of shooting, socializing, and feasting, but these expectations are soon shattered as one of the guests collapses face first into her dessert and dies before the night is out. At first, this death is believed to be an accident, and the party continues with their hunting plans for the week. But when another guest turns up dead the very next day, Bertie realizes that the deaths cannot be coincidence.
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Bertie and the Crime of Passion (A Prince of Wales Mystery)
The third and final entry of the Bertie Prince of Wales mystery series, featuring future King Edward VII, Albert Edward, as an amateur sleuth solving suspicious murders in Victorian England.
Bertie, amateur sleuth and the Crown Prince of Wales, loves food and women. This is why Bertie enjoys his frequent trips to Paris, a city that is known not only as the City of Lights, but also as the city of romance and fine cuisine. In 1891, however, Bertie’s yearly Paris vacation becomes much more eventful than he had anticipated when, soon after his arrival, he learns that the future son-in-law of his old friend, Jules d’ Agincourt, was recently murdered at the Moulin Rouge. Unable to resist practicing his detective skills, Bertie resolves to assist the Sûreté, the French police force, in solving the ongoing case. He enlists the help of the reluctant Sarah Bernhardt, renowned actress and Bertie’s long-time friend, and together, Bertie and Sarah travel around Paris following possible leads, questioning witnesses, and even apprehending the murder weapon. When the Sûreté discovers that the victim’s fiancée has a much older lover who was present at the scene of the murder, they immediately arrest him on the suspicion that the murder was a crime of passion. Bertie’s instincts tell him that this man is innocent, but the Sûreté is convinced he is the killer. With the threat of the guillotine looming over the innocent man’s head, it is up to Bertie to find the real killer and close the case before it is too late.
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Down Among the Dead Men (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
“What'll it be today? A knotty puzzle mystery? A fast-paced police procedural? Something more high-toned, with a bit of wit? With the British author Peter Lovesey, there's no need to make those agonizing decisions, because his books have it all.” —The New York Times Book Review
In a Sussex town on the south coast of England, a widely disliked art teacher at a posh private girls’ school disappears without explanation. None of her students miss her boring lessons, especially since her replacement is a devilishly hunky male teacher with a fancy car. But then her name shows up on a police missing persons list. What happened to Miss Gibbon, and why does no one seem to care?
Peter Diamond has been sent to Sussex on a Home Office internal investigation to look into breach of conduct by a fellow police officer—a failure to process DNA evidence related to a cold case. As he asks questions, he begins to notice unsettling connections between the cold case and the missing art teacher. Could the two mysteries be connected? How many other area disappearances have gone unnoticed and uninvestigated? Diamond and his hapless supervisor have stumbled into a web of related crimes. Will Diamond be able to disentangle them?
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Down Among the Dead Men (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery)
Peter Diamond takes a dive down among the dead men to solve a seven-year-old murder case in the latest installment of Peter Lovesey's classic procedural series.
In a Sussex town on the south coast of England, a widely disliked art teacher at a posh private girls’ school disappears without explanation. None of her students miss her boring lessons, especially since her replacement is a devilishly hunky male teacher with a fancy car. But then her name shows up on a police missing persons list. What happened to Miss Gibbon, and why does no one seem to care?
Meanwhile, detective Peter Diamond finds himself in Sussex, much against his wishes. His irritating and often obtuse supervisor, Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore, has made Diamond accompany her on a Home Office internal investigation. A Sussex detective has been suspended for failing to link DNA evidence of a relative to a seven-year-old murder
case—a bad breach of ethics. Diamond is less than thrilled to be heading out on a road trip with his boss to investigate a fellow officer, but he becomes much more interested in the case when he realizes who the suspended officer is—an old friend, and not a person he knows to make mistakes.
As Diamond asks questions, he begins to notice unsettling connections between the cold case and the missing art teacher. Could the two mysteries be connected? How many other area disappearances have gone unnoticed and uninvestigated? Diamond and his hapless supervisor have stumbled into a web of related crimes. Will Diamond be able to disentangle them?
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Wobble to Death (A Sergeant Cribb Investigation)
"A fine case of murder, projected against a compelling historical background." —The New York Times Book Review
London, 1879. Crowds have gathered at Islington’s chilly Agricultural Hall to place their bets on who will become the next world champion in a six-day, 500-mile speedwalking race, the “wobble.” When one of the highly favored contenders dies under suspicious circumstances, Sergeant Cribb also has a race on his hands—to pursue a ruthless murderer.
Wobble to Death was Peter Lovesey’s debut novel. In the 45 years since it was published, its author has gone on to write more than 30 world-renowned mysteries, win numerous crime fiction prizes. There is no better place to dive into Lovesey’s legendary oeuvre than with this sparkling debut.
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The False Inspector Dew
“Absolutely riveting . . . A masterpiece. I defy anyone to foresee the outcome.”—Ruth Rendell
The year is 1921. A passionate affair between voracious romance reader Alma Webster and her dentist, Walter Baranov, has led to his wife’s murder. The lovers take flight aboard the Mauretania and the dentist takes the name of Inspector Dew, the detective who arrested the notorious wifekiller Dr. Crippen. But, in a disquieting twist, a murder occurs aboard ship and the captain invites “Inspector Dew” to investigate.
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Against the Grain
Detective Peter Diamond goes undercover at a seasonal festival in this delightful and bittersweet conclusion to the multi-award-winning series.
Detective Peter Diamond, chief of the Avon and Somerset Murder Squad, is taking a short holiday in the country. His former colleague Julie Hargreaves has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville (no relation to the Sherlock Holmes story, so he’s told). It turns out Julie’s invitation was not without ulterior motives. The woman who owns the village’s largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie’s ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose—but Julie’s been keeping secrets of her own, and can’t take her inquiry any further.
Diamond takes the bait; the case is a fascinating one, and he’s quite enjoying his incognito information-gathering, getting to know the villagers as they prepare for their annual Harvest Festival. The deeper into the cow dung Diamond mucks, the more convinced he becomes there was foul play. But maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. To protect his alias, he might have to learn how to operate a tractor or drive a herd of wayward cows. He might even be forced to attend a hoedown—not that he’d dance, not even to catch a killer. Or would he? The curmudgeonly detective has plenty to learn about himself as he tries on some new hats: undercover private investigator; village detective; country gentleman.
Over 30 years and 21 other novels, Peter Lovesey has bewitched his enormous fandom with the wry, stubborn, and fiendishly clever Peter Diamond. Now he brings his Anthony, Macavity, and CWA Dagger–winning series to a close with this delightful and bittersweet final installment.
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Birds, Strangers and Psychos New stories inspired by Alfred Hitchcock
by Lee Child, Nadine Matheson, Sophie Hannah, David Thomson, Peter Lovesey, Guy Adams, Jerome Charyn, James Grady, Ragnar Jónasson, Kim Newman, A.K. Benedict, Vaseem Khan, M.W. Craven, Anne Billson
A suspenseful, thrilling anthology of 24 original short stories inspired by the iconic works of legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, curated by acclaimed editor Maxim Jakubowski.
Featuring some of the biggest names in mystery and crime fiction, including Lee Child, Sophie Hannah, Peter Swanson, and many more!
Birds, Strangers and Psychos is a thrilling anthology that brings together the biggest names in mystery and crime fiction to pay homage to Alfred Hitchcock, the legendary filmmaker whose name is synonymous with suspense. Acclaimed editor Maxim Jakubowski curates 24 original short stories, each inspired by the mood, tension, and style that defined Hitchcock’s groundbreaking work. This anthology invites both emerging and established voices to reimagine the chilling atmospheres, twisted plots, and unforgettable characters of Hitchcock's films, from Psycho and Vertigo to North by Northwest and The Birds.
Just as Hitchcock adapted stories from literary giants like Daphne du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith, and Roald Dahl, Birds, Strangers and Psychos unites today's literary stars to craft new suspenseful tales that are destined to thrill, haunt, and unsettle. These stories celebrate Hitchcock’s enduring influence, creating an anthology that serves both as a tribute and as a reminder of why Hitchcock’s legacy continues to loom so large in popular culture. This volume is not just a collection of stories – it’s an invitation to rediscover the artistry of suspense.
Each author takes on the challenge of evoking the quintessentially 'Hitchcockian' elements that have captivated audiences for decades: ordinary lives interrupted by peril, psychological duels, and unexpected encounters that spiral into nightmares. The volume showcases an extraordinary blend of talent, featuring stories from:
Lee Child
Joe R. Lansdale & Keith Lansdale
Donna Moore
James Grady
Peter Lovesey
Kim Newman
A. K. Benedict
Vaseem Khan
M. W. Craven
S. A. Cosby
Sophie Hannah
Guy Adams
Ana Teresa Pereira
Nadine Matheson
David Thomson
Jerome Charyn
Anne Billson
William Boyle
Jeff Noon
Xan Brooks
Ragnar Jonasson
Denise Mina
Lily Samson
Peter Swanson
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Daggers Drawn
by Denise Mina, Ian Rankin, Jeffery Deaver, John Connolly, John Harvey, Lauren Henderson, Peter Lovesey, Martin Edwards, Stella Duffy, Peter O'Donnell, Julian Rathbone, Danuta Reah, Margaret Murphy, Cath Staincliffe
Edgy, twisted and disturbing, the first Crime Writers’ Association Daggers Award retrospective anthology featuring 19 visceral and thrilling stories.
Featuring bestselling authors Ian Rankin, Jeffery Deaver, John Connolly, Denise Mina, John Harvey and more.
NINETEEN CWA DAGGER AWARD-WINNING SHORT STORIES FROM THE BEST OF THE BEST IN CRIME FICTION
The first retrospective of the CWA’s Dagger Award winners, brings together some of the greatest names in crime fiction to deliver a cutthroat collection of serial killers, grizzled detectives, drug dealers and master forgers.
Observe as a Senior Curator at the Tate Gallery constructs the perfect crime in Ian Rankin’s “Herbert in Motion”. Watch an unlikely romance sour into a deadly obsession in Stella Duffy’s “Martha Grace”. Face parents who discover their child has committed the unthinkable in Denise Mina’s “Nemo Me Impune Lacessit”. And in Jeffery Deaver’s “The Weekender” an intense hostage situation hits its peak in the most unlikely conclusion.
Keep your secrets close, and your daggers drawn.
Featuring: Peter O' Donnell (writing as Madeleine Brent), Julian Rathbone, Larry Beinhart, Ian Rankin, Jerry Sykes, Stella Duffy, Jeffery Deaver, Peter Lovesey, Cath Staincliffe, Margaret Murphy, John Harvey, Richard Lange, L. C. Tyler, Denise Mina, Danutah Reah and Lauren Henderson.
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Keystone
In this witty standalone masterpiece set during the golden age of silent cinema, a British vaudeville performer turned movie cop finds himself in a real-life crime story.
It’s 1916, and Warwick Easton’s traveling show has landed him in California. Out of money and about to return to England, Easton gets lucky when silent movie star and “King of Comedy” Mack Sennett offers him a job performing slapstick comedy stunts as a Keystone Cop.
At Keystone Film Studios, he runs into silent-era comedy legends, including Mabel Normand and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, but the laughs turn sour as things quickly start to go awry. Known in his new role only as “Keystone,” Easton finds the line between cop and comedian starts to blur, especially when a series of tragedies strikes the studio. The gory death of a stunt actor on a roller coaster seems like an accident, but then a bludgeoned body is discovered in a bungalow and Amber Honeybee, the beautiful but troubled actress Easton has befriended, vanishes. Easton has no choice but to step into the role of a real detective. Does he have what it takes to unravel the mystery in time and save the girl?
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Reader, I Buried Them & Other Stories
Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Peter Lovesey presents a collection of short fiction spanning fifty years, including the first story he ever published and three brand-new stories.
More than fifty years ago, Peter Lovesey published a short story in an anthology. That short story caught the eye of the great Ruth Rendell, whose praise ignited Lovesey’s lifelong passion for short form crime fiction.
On the occasion of his hundredth short story, Peter Lovesey has assembled this devilishly clever collection, eighteen yarns of mystery, melancholy, and mischief, inhabiting such deadly settings as a theater, a monastery, and the book publishing industry.
The collection includes the career-launching story, as well as three never-before-published works. And surprising the author himself, the irascible Bath detective, Peter Diamond, "bulldozed his way" into this volume.
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The Stone Wife
“[W]onderful tidbits of Chaucerian scholarship enliven the novel. And whatever you think of Peter Diamond, he proves himself a 'verray, parfit, gentil knyght.'” —The New York Times Book Review
At a Bath auction house, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale. At the height of very competitive bidding, there is a holdup attempt by three masked robbers. They shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. 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 murder.
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