Four by Lovesey

Peter Lovesey

Killing with Confetti by Peter Lovesey (2019)  4/5 stars

Peter Diamond series, Book 18

Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond, Bath CID, is given an unappealing assignment - - to watch the back of Joe Irving, newly released from prison as he enjoys the wedding of his only daughter.  The reason for the urgency being that Irving, one of Bath's prominent career criminals, is about to marry his daughter to the son of the Deputy Chief Constable -- and the DCC doesn't want his new in-law to be bumped off before the wedding is through.

I'm a huge fan of this series, even if I am a few books behind, so I pushed my way through the first few disconcerting chapters.  It was worth it.  Lovesey spends most of the book building characters and setting the scene, with the mystery taking only a small part of the book, but he pulled off a well-written impossible crime with a striking solution.  I'd not recommend this as one's first Peter Diamond book (I advise reading them in order, anyway), but it was still a solid entry in this great series.

The Finisher by Peter Lovesey (2020)  4/5 stars

Peter Diamond series, Book 19

This is a police procedure mystery that follows Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond as he follows his gut and tries to prove the existence of a crime.  Lovesey is one of my favorite crime writers, and this twisty, layered plot is a fine example of why.

Diamond and the Eye  by Peter Lovesey (2021)  3/5 stars

Peter Diamond series, Book 20

A private investigator, Johnny Getz, locks on to Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond as his in to an investigation of robbery and a missing person.  Totally against his will, Diamond becomes involved with Getz on the case after it turns to murder.  With this one, Lovesey moves away from his normal format and alternates Diamond's third person account with a first person narrative from Getz.  It's a love letter to classic gumshoe stories, with Getz trying to be a hardboiled sleuth in word and deed, but not always succeeding.  I enjoyed the actual plot, but the jarring switches between points-of-view lessened the novel as a whole.

Showstopper  by Peter Lovesey (2022)  4/5 stars

Peter Diamond series, Book 21

When a missing man case leads Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond to investigate a supposedly jinxed television show, he finds that there may be more going on than just bad luck.  This is a fun, twisty, and intelligent mystery.  Lovesey does a great job with the characters and their motives, and the slow reveal of information is believable and equally well-done.  I enjoyed this one from start to finish.