Peter Lovesey – författare

Bath's top detective, Peter Diamond, doesn't believe in jinxes. So when he's asked to investigate a top TV show plagued by a series of misfortunes, Diamond is unmoved. He's no fan of the show - which glorifies criminals and mocks the police - and the incidents were spread across six years. It's clear this is the press making a sensation out of nothing. So Diamond puts the junior member of his squad on the case.But when young officer Paul Gilbert goes on location with the TV unit and witnesses another near-death incident, Diamond is forced to take an interest. To make matters worse, the press get wind of his involvement and Diamond his under pressure from all quarters. But his troubles have scarcely started. Devastating traps and surprises make this the most baffling case of his entire career.

***A new Peter Diamond novel from the CWA Diamond-Dagger-winner Peter Lovesey***'His work is the gold standard for UK crime fiction writing' DEADLY PLEASURES'Peter Lovesey writes feel-good crime yet he never lets the comedy vitiate the mystery' THE TIMES_______________When his former deputy, Julie, invites Detective Peter Diamond and his partner Paloma to spend a week at her home in the depths of rural Somerset, Diamond is horrified. What could be worse than seven days in the back end of nowhere with nothing to do?But it turns out that Julie has an ulterior motive. A local woman is doing time for manslaughter after a wild party ended in a tragic accident: a man suffocated in a silo of grain. Nobody in the village has much sympathy for Claudia, the unruly daughter of a wealthy local farmer. Nobody that is, except Julie, who is convinced there's more to this case than there appears, and wants her former boss to investigate.And as Diamond tests his skills as an amateur sleuth, he soon discovers that the countryside isn't quite so dull as he'd anticipated . . .

"I think that it is desirable to discuss the affair - here, in the room in which the Bishop's body was found."A pernicious parson outwits the thieves of a priceless chalice from the parish treasury. A beloved vicar contemplates a perfect crime when a blackmailer comes knocking. Poisoned pen letters lead to a fall from grace for a rector's wife, and a suspicious fall from the second storey for the rector.Gathered here in this new collection are some of the greatest mystery tales in which the tendrils of crime steal into the churchyard, featuring clergymen and nuns as victims, amateur sleuths and villainous perpetrators of the devil's work. Replete with a fascinating introduction and notes from one of the guiding lights of crime fiction, Martin Edwards, this anthology delivers cosy brainteasers and fiendishly-fashioned stories with a sting in the tail, from a congregation of writers including Joyce Porter, H. C. Bailey, Cyril Hare and Edmund Crispin.

To celebrate a writing career spanning over fifty years, this collection showcases the very best of Peter Lovesey's short stories, featuring many of his most beloved characters such as Sergeant Cribb and Bertie.These inventive and entertaining stories have something for new and old fans alike. From unexpected discoveries hidden among the branches of the family tree, to a parrot and an astonishing cache of uncut diamonds, as well as the story of a marriage revealed between the lines of a Victorian advice column, these tales are all told with Lovesey's trademark wit.

To celebrate a writing career spanning over fifty years, this collection showcases the very best of Peter Lovesey's short stories, featuring many of his most beloved characters such as Sergeant Cribb and Bertie. These inventive and entertaining stories have something for new and old fans alike. From unexpected discoveries hidden among the branches of the family tree, to a parrot and an astonishing cache of uncut diamonds, as well as the story of a marriage revealed between the lines of a Victorian advice column, these tales are all told with Lovesey's trademark wit,

The second case for DCI Hen Mallin, introduced in The House Sitter.When widowed parcel-force worker Bob Naylor plucks up the courage to join a writers' circle, he discovers a motley collection of wannabe authors whom he would rather avoid at all costs. But when a publisher is found murdered, after recently addressing the group, Bob feels compelled to stay.Investigating Officer Hen Mallin attempts to investigate the group, despite their amateur sleuthing efforts and exhaustingly dramatic outbursts. And as another death casts the bewildered Bob in suspicion, the sinister secret of this circle finally starts to come to light . . . Jo and Gemma are friends who meet for coffee every Saturday to gossip and discuss the state of the world. At one such meeting, Gemma mentions killing her boss and Jo goes along with the joke. But Jo is not amused when she finds a real body on the beach at Selsey soon afterwards - an unidentified nearly-naked woman, who has been drowned. It take DCI Hen Mallin and her team some time to discover who the woman is, and as they are investigating, Jo and Gemma are getting into more trouble - they keep coming across dead bodies...Peter Lovesey's thirtieth novel explores one of his favourite themes - the innocent caught up in sinister events.

Peter Diamond's tenth case is a perfect piece of superbly entertaining crime fiction from a master of the genre.Battle and burial are built into the history of Lansdown Hill, so it is no great shock when part of a skeleton is unearthed there. But Peter Diamond, Bath's Head of CID, can't ignore the fresh corpse found close to the folly known as Beckford's Tower. The hill becomes the setting for one of the most puzzling cases he has investigated, involving golf, horseracing, Civil War re-enactment and the Cyrillic alphabet.Inevitably, Diamond butts heads with the group of vigilantes who call themselves the Lansdown Society, discovering in the process that his boss Georgina is a member. She resolves to sideline Diamond by sending him to Bristol and handing the skeleton investigation to his deputy, Keith Halliwell. Fortunately matters don't pan out as Georgina plans...

The eleventh Peter Diamond mystery from the master of crime fiction, Peter Lovesey.There's plenty of drama, of the wrong kind, when a fading pop star wanting to launch an acting career at Bath's Theatre Royal gets taken to hospital with third degree burns. In the best theatrical tradition, the show goes on, but the agony turns to murder.Bath's top detective, Peter Diamond, is on the case - but for reasons he can't understand, he suffers a physical reaction amounting to phobia each time he goes near the theatre. Before he can find the killer, he must face his own demons...

The explosive twelfth Peter Diamond case.In the small hours of a Sunday morning in the city of Bath a policeman on beat duty is shot dead by an unseen gunman - the third killing of an officer in Somerset in a matter of weeks. The emergency services are summoned. Ambitious to arrest the Somerset Sniper, the duty inspector, Ken Lockton, seals the crime scene, which is confined by the river on one side and a massive retaining wall on the other. He discovers the murder weapon in a garden - and is himself attacked and left for dead.Enter Peter Diamond, Bath's burly CID chief. Middle-aged and not built for action, he pits himself and his team against the killer in a hunt that will test his physical powers to the limit...

The thirteenth book in the award-winning Peter Diamond series, from Peter Lovesey.Peter Diamond, head of Bath 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 musical 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...Peter Lovesey has been hailed by the critics as 'superlative', 'a master of the genre', 'never puts a foot wrong' and the Peter Diamond series as 'one of the most enjoyable police series around'. This new case for the greatly loved detective will bring new praise and much satisfaction for his legions of fans.

The standalone novel from the critically-acclaimed Peter Lovesey. Rough Cider was nominated for an Edgar Award.It is World War II and American soldiers stationed in rural England have made friends, especially with the local girls. After a dance to celebrate the pressing of the apples into cider, the resentment of the local men leads to violence and a murder. Later, a baby girl is born.Years later, Theo, a university lecturer, is approached by an American girl called Alice. She wants to be told about her father, a GI hanged for murder in Somerset during World War II. As a boy, Theo had been a principal witness for the prosecution.Alice persuades him to revisit the farm where Theo was evacuated, staunchly determined to discover the facts. The horrors of the past take on a frightening immediacy when long-forgotten jealousies come to the surface and another murder is committed.

A murder mystery set in the world of silent movies, from the award-winning author, Peter Lovesey.Warwick Easton is a cop - a movie cop, that is. Landing in the crazy world of Keystone Film Studios, California, in 1916, a chance meeting with a silent comedy star lands him a job as Keystone the cop. Little does he realise some very real danger is on its way. Terrible events begin to occur: a horrific death on a rollercoaster, a body in a bungalow, a shooting on a beach, and the disappearance of Amber Honeybee - the adorable and much-abused young actress. Keystone takes his cop duties seriously and gets on the trail, before it is far too late.Mayhem and mystery abound in this offbeat, charming caper set in the world of silent movies.

A standalone novel from the critically acclaimed Peter Lovesey. The False Inspector Dew was the winner of the 1982 CWA Gold Dagger.It is 1921, and Alma Webster, a reader of romances, is passionately in love with her dentist, Walter Baranov. There is only one foreseeable outcome: the murder of his wife. Inspired by the real-life Dr Crippen case, they plot a way to achieve it perfectly aboard the ocean liner, Mauretania. With a fine sense of irony, Baranov takes the identity of Inspector Dew, Crippen's nemesis. But when a murder is reported aboard the ship and 'Inspector Dew' is invited to investigate, the complications begin.Listed in The Times' 100 Best Crime Novels of the Twentieth Century.

The first solo case for DCI Hen Mallin, introduced in The House Sitter.When widowed parcel-force worker Bob Naylor plucks up the courage to join a writers' circle, he discovers a motley collection of wannabe authors whom he would rather avoid at all costs. But when a publisher is found murdered, after recently addressing the group, Bob feels compelled to stay.Investigating Officer Hen Mallin attempts to investigate the group, despite their amateur sleuthing efforts and exhaustingly dramatic outbursts. And as another death casts the bewildered Bob in suspicion, the sinister secret of this circle finally starts to come to light . . .

Otis Joy is a very good vicar - he attracts record-breaking congregations, is admired and respected by all, and the village of Foxford is delighted to have him. What the citizens of Foxford don't realise, though, is that their beloved parish priest is a murderer.When the bishop gets suspicious of Joy's channelling of church funds into his own bank account, Joy kills him - after all, such a trifling misdemeanour should not prevent him from carrying out his duties. However, this isn't the first time he's despatched 'busy-bodies' and rumours are beginning to circulate. So when the husband of his new treasurer is found dead, perhaps he's taken one life too many . . .Peter Lovesey amply demonstrates that he is the acknowledged master of the whodunnit in this deliciously complicated and satisfying mystery.

The ninth book in the award-winning Peter Diamond mystery series.Bath detective Peter Diamond is having woman trouble. His boss wants him to find the missing daughter of one of her friends. He is not enthusiastic. A woman calling herself his Secret Admirer wants to arrange a date in a pub. He tries ignoring her. And his colleague, sexy Ingeborg Smith, distracts the murder squad from their duties. No one ignores Ingeborg.Then a woman's body is found hanging from a playground swing, with a suspicious second ligature mark around her neck and a very colourful past. As more hangings are discovered, Diamond is certain that a secret hangman is at work in the city . . .Peter Lovesey shows why he is the master of the whodunnit in this thrilling tale of mystery, mayhem and murder most foul.

Shortlisted for the Barry Award. At first everyone presumes that the woman behind the windbreak is asleep. It is only when the tide comes in, lapping at her feet, that the horrific crime is discovered. The woman is identified as Emma Tysoe, top psychologist and criminal profiler. Bath detective Peter Diamond and DCI Hen Millen are desperate for answers: why was she sun-bathing alone so far from home? Where is the murder weapon? What happened to the man who found her? When they discover that Emma was secretly investigating the assassination of a celebrity, the case seems tantalisingly near to a close. But as a cold and calculating killer shakes their grasp, even Diamond struggles to make all the pieces fit.

Diamond Dust is the most difficult case of Detective Inspector Diamond's career, and the seventh book from Peter Lovesey's award-winning series.Shortlisted for the Barry AwardWhen a woman is shot dead in Bath's Royal Victoria Park, it is Detective Peter Diamond who answers the call first. He is able to identify the victim immediately: his wife, Stephanie. Traumatised and angry for justice, Diamond eventually concedes that he cannot take part in the investigation. But when he realises that his colleagues are spending more time checking his alibi than following up on his suggestions, he decides some unauthorised investigation is needed.Soon he is sifting through the dust of his entire career, unearthing startling and unexpected facts which bring him closer to the truth, and to avenging his beloved wife.

The sixth mystery book in the award-winning Peter Diamond series, from Peter Lovesey.When a severed hand from the vault of Bath Abbey Churchyard arrives on Peter Diamond's desk, he is delighted to hear that, far from being a medieval relic, it is from the 1980s. But the vault is part of the house where Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was written, and a fanatical American professor is thwarting their investigation. Events are complicated even further when the professor's wife goes missing . . .Highly suspicious of the professor, but unable to prove anything, Diamond concentrates on trying to identify the remains, with shocking result. But before he can get any further, the owner of Bath's largest antique emporium is brutally murdered - and the last person to see her alive was the Professor.With consummate skill, wit and ingenuity, Peter Lovesey has crafted a whodunnit of brilliant complexity.

The fifth crime novel in the award-winning Peter Diamond series, from Peter Lovesey.A young woman emerges from a coma. Who is she, and why was she dumped unconscious in a hospital car park upon a dark night? She is unable to recall anything, even her name. Then Ada Shaftsbury, a boisterous shoplifter she meets in a homeless hostel, takes up her cause and names her Rose.Peter Diamond is already investigating a suspicious death - a woman has plunged from the roof of Bath's Royal Crescent during a party and none of the guests seem to know who she is. Badgered by Ada and galvanised by another gruesome death, Diamond takes on the case, and is soon forced to admit that Rose is the key. But she has disappeared and Diamond's own dark night is just beginning.In a mystery of stunning complexity, Peter Lovesey amply demonstrates his gifts as the grand master of the contemporary whodunnit.

The fourth uniquely stylish crime novel, from the award-winning Peter Diamond series.'Darling, if ever I've met a group of potential murderers anywhere, it's the Bloodhounds.' Thus says one of the members of the Bloodhounds of Bath, a society that meets in a crypt to discuss crime novels. But to their latest recruit, they seem just a gaggle of dotty misfits, until one of them reveals that he is in possession of an immensely valuable stamp, recently stolen from the Postal Museum.Then theft is overtaken by murder when the corpse of one of the Bloodhounds is found in a locked houseboat, with the only key in the possession of a man with a perfect alibi. Burly Peter Diamond finds himself embroiled in a mystery evoking the classic crime puzzles of John Dickson Carr.Winner of the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger, the Barry Award and the Macavity Award.

The third detective story in the award-winning Peter Diamond series, from Peter Lovesey.The summons comes at night. Two policemen collect Peter Diamond from his West London flat and drive him to Bath. Once head of the murder squad there, he is now out of touch in his retirement, unaware of an audacious escape from Albany Prison.Four years previously, Diamond headed the investigation of the bizarre murder of a Swedish woman journalist, her mouth stuffed with red roses. Now the convicted murderer is at large and has already kidnapped the daughter of the Assistant Chief Constable. He is demanding that the case be re-examined and he will deal only with Diamond.Winner of the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger and shortlisted for the Edgar Award.

The second crime story from the award-winning Peter Diamond mystery series, by Peter Lovesey.Peter Diamond, ex-CID and notoriously difficult to work with, is sacked from his latest job as a security guard in Harrods. Doggedly he turns his sleuthing skills to unravelling the mystery of a little Japanese girl abandoned in London. Naomi, as she is known, exhibits the classic symptoms of an autistic child. Diamond regards her first as a challenge and soon as someone he cares passionately about, and devotes himself to communicating with the child. He is close to a breakthrough when Naomi is abducted to New York.By interpreting clues from drawings left by Naomi, Diamond goes in pursuit and is plunged into a maelstrom of murder and the mafia, suicide and drugs.

A woman's naked body is found floating in the weeds of a lake near Bath, by an elderly woman walking her Siamese cats. No-one comes forward to identify her, and no murder weapon is found, but sleuthing is Superintendent Peter Diamond's speciality. A genuine gumshoe, practising door-stopping and deduction: he is the last detective.Struggling with office politics and a bizarre cast of suspects, Diamond strikes out on his own, even when Forensics think they have the culprit. Eventually, despite disastrous personal consequences, and amongst Bath's rambling buildings and formidable history, the last detective exposes the uncomfortable truth . . .The very first Peter Diamond mystery, and Anthony Award winning novel, from the superb Peter Lovesey.

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 ...

A nightmare discovery in the boot of a stolen BMW plunges car thief Danny Stapleton into the worst trouble of his life. What links his misfortune to the mysterious disappearance of an art teacher at a private school for girls in Chichester? Orders from above push Peter Diamond of Bath CID into investigating a police corruption case in the Chichester force, and he soon finds himself reluctantly dealing with spirited schoolgirls, eccentric artists and his formidable old colleague, Hen Mallin.

Peter Diamond, the Bath detective brilliant at rooting out murder, is peeved at being diverted to Professional Standards to enquire into a police car accident. Arriving late at the scene, he discovers an extra victim thrown onto an embankment - unconscious and unnoticed. Diamond administers CPR, but no one can say whether the elderly tricyclist will pull through. But why had the man been out in the middle of the night with an urn containing human ashes? Diamond 's suspicions grow after he identifies the accident victim as Ivor Pellegrini, a well-known local eccentric and railway enthusiast. A search of Pellegrini's workshop proves beyond question that he is involved in a series of uninvestigated deaths. While Pellegrini lingers on life support, Diamond wrestles with the appalling possibility that he has saved the life of a serial killer...

Peter Diamond investigates a mystery of the past in the seventeenth case for the brilliant Bath detective.A wrecking ball crashes through the roof of a terraced cottage in Bath and exposes a skeleton in eighteenth-century clothes. Can these possibly be the remains of Beau Nash, the so-called King of Bath, whose body is said to have ended up in a pauper's grave?Peter Diamond, the city's most experienced detective, is ordered to investigate, but grappling with historical events causes ructions in his team until everyone is diverted by a modern killing during a fireworks display on the Royal Crescent lawn.But Beau Nash refuses to be ignored - and when astonishing new facts emerge about the case, Bath's history is rewritten and mysteries ancient and modern are fused in a devastating climax.