Born in Middlesex In 1936, Peter Lovesey was the author of 43 novels and seven collections of short stories. He is best known for his eight Victorian crime novels featuring Seargent Cribb and his flagship Peter Diamond series, which began with his Antony-award winning novel, The Last Detective, in 1991. Lovesey was the recipient of numerous awards over his lifetime, including the CWA Silver Dagger, multiple Macavity and Antony awards. He was one of a select number of writers to have been awarded both the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Special Edgar and the Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement. He died in 2025 at the age of 88.

Waxwork is quite the best novel of detection I have read for a long time - Ruth RendellLovesey's backtwist plotting is pure Christie, but the style, the detail and the deadpan horror are all his own - and absolutely marvellous - Kirkus ReviewsAs good a crime entertainment as you could wish for - HRF Keating, The TimesMarvellously authentic - Washington Post