The fourteenth Peter Diamond case has the eminent detective in pursuit of a murderer after a theft at an auction house goes wrong.
Just as the bidding gets exciting in a Bath auction house, three armed men stage a hold-up and attempt to steal Lot 129, a medieval carving of the Wife of Bath. The highest bidder, appalled to have the prize snatched away, tries to stop them and is shot dead.
Peter Diamond, head of the murder squad, soon finds himself sharing an office with the stone wife – until he is ejected. To his extreme annoyance the lump of stone appears to exert a malign influence over him and his investigation. Refusing to be beaten, he rallies his team and begins finding suspects and motives.
The case demands that someone goes undercover. The dangerous mission falls to Sergeant Ingeborg Smith, reverting to her journalist persona to get the confidence of a wealthy local criminal through his pop star girlfriend. And soon, murder makes a reappearance . . .
Just as the bidding gets exciting in a Bath auction house, three armed men stage a hold-up and attempt to steal Lot 129, a medieval carving of the Wife of Bath. The highest bidder, appalled to have the prize snatched away, tries to stop them and is shot dead.
Peter Diamond, head of the murder squad, soon finds himself sharing an office with the stone wife – until he is ejected. To his extreme annoyance the lump of stone appears to exert a malign influence over him and his investigation. Refusing to be beaten, he rallies his team and begins finding suspects and motives.
The case demands that someone goes undercover. The dangerous mission falls to Sergeant Ingeborg Smith, reverting to her journalist persona to get the confidence of a wealthy local criminal through his pop star girlfriend. And soon, murder makes a reappearance . . .
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
Reviews
With more violence than we normally associate with Lovesey, this is well up to his high standard of story telling. It will hold you to the deckchair even if the sun is not shining
I consider Lovesey to be the reigning king of British crime fiction
Well-plotted, with that lovely unexpected twist at the end that makes mystery fiction so fascinating. Highly recommended
Peter Diamond is back, embroiled in a mystery that offers a wealth of wit and a true puzzle linked to a historical literary genius . . . As always, the character and his team are sharp, funny, and grab the reader's attention from beginning to end
Mr Lovesey more than lives up to his reputation as a brilliant wordsmith, he exceeds it. Superintendent Peter Diamond is a warm, witty and wonderful creation by one of England's most talented crime writers
[A] lively, surprise-filled police procedural
In his lengthy career, veteran novelist Peter Lovesey has supplied the most diverting (and elegantly written) crime fiction, very much the case in this latest novel...Lovesey admirers need not hesitate
The murder mystery is solved along traditional lines, but it's the wonderful tidbits of Chaucerian scholarship that enliven the novel
