Greetings,
 
Just wanted to put in a good word for a versatile and (IMHO) unfairly 
neglected mystery writer.  Peter Lovesey is probably best known for his 
"Sergeant Cribb" novels (at least among the TV-watching crowd) which have 
been adapted and shown on MYSTERY!  Aside from the Cribb/ Thackeray books, 
which are set in the Victorian era, he has written a series of light romps 
featuring Bertie (the Prince of Wales) as the detective.  And his modern 
stuff is terrific, too, especially ROUGH CIDER, which I read a couple of 
years ago.  It's right up against my brutality-limit; any more gruesome than 
that, I don't go.
 
I had also stumbled across a book called THE LAST DETECTIVE, which features a 
new character from Lovesey, a fellow called Peter Diamond. 
 For some silly reason, I was hesitating on starting off on this new 
series, which is contemporary and set in Bath and the surrounding area.  So I 
left _TLD_ on the shelf.  Stupid me.
 
So here we are a couple of weeks ago at work, my boss and I, tossing numbers 
back and forth about the new titles we were ordering.  And I spot _The 
Summons_ which is the new paperback from Lovesey.  We order it, I read it, 
and what did I expect -- it's Peter Lovesey, of course it's wonderful.  
Well-written, lively characters, lots of action and detail, a plot that won't 
stop (and leaves you nowhere to put the book down and rest from the story), 
etc.
 
So now I'm hooked.  I just found the new (this month) Peter Diamond 
hardcover, _Bloodhounds_, and I've got to go out and find the other two, _The 
Last Diamond_ and _Diamond Solitaire_.
 
_Bloodhounds_ looks as if it will tickle the fancy of several readers 
here on the echo. It's a classic locked-room mystery, as Peter Diamond sets 
out to solve a murder that takes place at a mystery readers' club.
Think of all the new (to you) writers you can discover as the readers discuss 
their favorites.  ;-)  I've just opened the book at random and found 
half-a-dozen mentions of other writers on one page (and personally, of the 
lot, I'd go for Peter Dickinson, but that's another story.)
 
I can't wait for the weekend, when I'll have time to sit down and devour this 
new one in one big gulp.
 
About the character:  Peter Diamond is a born detective, one of those guys 
who seizes on a puzzle (or is seized by it) and won't let go. 
 Abrasive, smart, funny, tenacious -- you might not want to know him 
in person, but by golly, if somebody did you in, you'd want him in on the 
hunt.  It's great stuff -- if, like me, part of the fun of the mystery is 
observing the detective's obsession with the case, then you'll like these 
books.
 
Jan Bob says check it out.  ;-)
 
--- Opus-CBCS 1.73a
---------------