Last Detective [Paperback]

Peter Lovesey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2003

A nude female corpse has been found floating in a large reservoir just south of Bristol.  In order to solve the mystery of the "Lady in the Lake,"  Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond must locate two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen and defy his superiors on the force to save a woman unjustly accused of murder.  This is the first of the Peter Diamond series; it won the 1992 Anthony Boucher Award for Best Mystery Novel.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Irascible, corpulent, cynical Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Avon and Somerset murder squad attributes Britain's decline as a world power to the abolition of capital punishment in 1964. Spurning computer gadgetry, he sticks to common sense, index cards and gumshoeing: "Knocking on doors. That's how we get results." The almost clueless case of the naked woman's body found floating in Chew Valley Lake poses a supreme challenge for the detective, who is anxious to clear his name of recent charges of brutality. The belated identification of the victim as actress Geraldine Snoo, written out of a BBC soap opera two years before, leads to one surprise after another, including the claim of the victim's professor husband that she had tried to kill him, and culminating in the suspenseful trial of divorced mother Dana Didrikson whom Geraldine had accused of trying to steal her husband. Diamond refutes genetic fingerprinting evidence against Dana and, in a stunning last scene, reveals the killer's identity. Lovesy, winner of a Silver Dagger Award for Waxwork and a Golden Dagger for The False Inspector Dew, uses Bath as his setting, treating us to a great chase through the Roman baths for which the town is named. This witty novel gets the new Perfect Crime imprint (formerly Crime Club) off to a flying start.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Doubleday inaugurates their ``Perfect Crime'' imprint with a body in a lake, soon identified as former soap-opera actress Gerry Snoo. Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond, charged with but recently absolved of malicious interrogation techniques, focuses on the victim's husband, university professor Greg Jackman, a local hero for saving young Matt Didrikson from drowning in the weir. Did Greg kill his wife in order to dally with Matt's mum, Dana? Did Dana do it for love of Greg? Or? At odds with his supervisor over procedures, Diamond resigns from the force but then investigates on his own. Finally, when Dana is charged, he offers telling tidbits to establish her innocence--and cause the courtroom breakdown of her employer, a drug importer with ties to cocaine addict Snoo. Crafty authorial misdirection--including a subplot about the authenticity and robbery of a pair of Jane Austen letters--as well as writing skills that have justifiably earned Lovesey international awards, plus a PBS following for his Sergeant Cribb series. Top-form Lovesey. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime; Reprint edition (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569472092
• ISBN-13: 978-1569472095
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 1 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,050,465 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

PETER LOVESEY is the author of the Peter Diamond mysteries, well known for their use of surprise, strong characters and hard-to-crack puzzles. He was awarded the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2000, the Grand Prix de Litterature Policiere, the Anthony, the Ellery Queen Readers' Award and is Grand Master of the Swedish Academy of Detection. He has been a full-time author since 1975, and was formerly in further education. Earlier series include the Sergeant Cribb mysteries seen on TV and the Bertie, Prince of Wales novels. The Diamond novels, set in Bath, England, where Peter lived for some years, feature a burly, warm-hearted, but no-nonsense police detective whose personal life becomes as engaging to the reader as the intricate mysteries he solves. His team in Bath CID includes the ex-journo Ingeborg Smith, the long-serving Keith Halliwell and the meticulous John Leaman, all involved in what is essentially a fair-play procedural mystery series. Peter and his wife Jax, who co-scripted the TV series, have a son, Phil, also a teacher and mystery writer, and a daughter Kathy, who was a Vice-President of J.P.Morgan-Chase, and now lives with her family in Greenwich, Ct. Peter currently lives in Chichester, England. His website at www.peterlovesey.com gives fuller details of his life and books. "Try him. You'll love him," wrote the doyen of the mystery world, Otto Penzler, in the New York Sun.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New Directions for Lovesey, April 12, 2001

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Last Detective (Paperback)

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Peter Lovesey's books for many years. I have a large number of his novels on my shelf, mostly from the Sgt. Cribb series. In looking over them I realized that while they were readable, there were not particularly memorable and were all somewhat unsatisfactory. "The Last Detective" is a bit of a change in pace, in that it really is a notch better than the Lovesey standard.

Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond fluctuates between being interesting and being thoroughly unlikable. While not anti-computer, he is quite distrustful of them, and is unhappy with their effect on police work. As a result he has come to style himself as 'the last detective.' His overall personality is overbearing and a bit egotistical which makes him a bit unpopular with both his co-workers and the top brass. As a reader I found that he had his moments, but I liked his second in command, John Wigful, quite a bit better.

The plot, which centers on a drowned woman who turns out to be a 'retired' soap star with the personality of a rabid mink and the morals of a sociopathic rabbit. Singularly murderable, if I say so myself. The most prominent of the suspects are much more likeable. In a Lovesey novel this usually means that they will be subjected to a fair amount of hectoring by the investigator, and this is no exception. In this case, the police make a highly dubious arrest. Detective Diamond is so disturbed by the process that he resigns his position and resolves to do some investigation on his own.

While the path to the true murderer is a bit complex it does not justify the length of the novel. Pacing is often uneven. Lovesey uses an unusual device in this story, i.e., in addition to the normal third person narrative; two large sections are done in the first person by the suspects. This works fairly well for the narrative done by the victim's husband, Gregory Jackman. Unfortunately, Lovesey does not do as well with Dana Didrikson, the female suspect who is entangled with Jackman. Even if you think it's sexist to believe that women don't quite think like men, you have to concede that it is highly unlikely that Dana's narrative would be exactly like the Lovesey's, but such is the case.

In spite of all this criticism, 'The Last Detective' is readable. Lovesey can craft a plot, and does a decent job with most of his characters. It did win the 1992 Anthony Boucher Award for Best Mystery Novel, so it cetainly has redeeming qualities. People who like Lovesey will find this their cup of tea. Those of us who find him a bit unsatisfactory will find their opinions softened a bit, but still confirmed.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a drag, October 8, 2000

By 

RolloTomasi (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Detective (Paperback)

Peter Diamond is something of an anachronism on the police force--a stickler for old-fashioned detection in a business that relies almost completely on state-of-the-art computers and genetic engineering to catch crooks. So when he is called in to investigate the death of a woman found floating nude in a river near Bath, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to prove himself as "the last detective." On the way, Diamond repeatedly risks not only life and limb but the most important thing to him--his job.

There are plenty of entertaining moments here. The examination of the fierce backstage politics at Scotland Yard is fascinating, and Lovesey, ever the consummate researcher, weaves in an intriguing subplot involving two mysterious letters penned by the late, great Jane Austen. Unfortunately, he may have heaped a bit too much on his plate; there isn't enough emphasis on what should be the real heart of the novel--the mystery itself.

That, in addition to excessive length, is a real problem. Even Lovesey's crisp, lighter-than-air prose can't overcome a plot this bulky and unfocused. The use of alternating points of view tends to bog down rather than advance the narrative, while other story devices--such as a clumsy attempt at courtroom drama--are just plain unnecessary. The mystery never achieves the level of complexity needed to justify the extraordinary length of time that Diamond takes to unravel it--in fact, it's rather shallow. Not to mention the fact that the identity of the murderer becomes a foregone conclusion well before THE LAST DETECTIVE enters its final pages--don't expect to be surprised.

And finally, the greatest stumbling block turns out to be the detective himself. Peter Diamond may be as pompous as Hercule Poirot and as grumpy as Inspector Morse, but he lacks the endearing charm that made the latter two such enjoyable company--in short, spending so much time with Diamond is an oddly unrewarding experience. And ultimately, that's as fitting a way as any to sum up the experience of reading THE LAST DETECTIVE.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Recommended, but with reservations, September 9, 2010

By 

Colin Harrison (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Detective (Paperback)

This was my first Peter Lovesey mystery. I had mixed feelings.

Positive: the writing is excellent - evocative but concise, dialogue is natural, and description is not overdone. The mystery itself is ingenious, with plenty of twists and turns. Characters are well-drawn and mostly convincing. There is genuine wit in the writing. I enjoyed it and wanted to keep reading until the end. Also, for anyone who loves the city of Bath, as I do, the locations are a real treat. The plot also manages to involve Jane Austen (yes, "Pride and Prejudice" Jane Austen).

Negative: (1) The climactic courtroom scene is one of phoniest, most unbelievable unravelings of a mystery I have ever read. Without giving away the details, I will say that someone just spills his guts under cross-examination, confessing to a whole pile of serious crimes apparently without once thinking, "Gee, maybe I should just deny all this crap, get off the witness stand, and get a good lawyer." It reminded me of those endearingly phony Perry Mason television scenes where the witness, broken down by Mason's grueling cross-examination, finally blurts out, "Yes, all right, I killed him! And I'm glad I did it!" (Gasps throughout the courtroom, bailiff leads the shaking witness away, Mason glows and his innocent client slumps in relief.) (2) I was not really taken with the detective, Peter Diamond. He's as surly as Inspector Morse but without the intriguing and endearing qualities.

Notwithstanding the foregoing criticisms, I do recommend this book. And I'm definitely going to read more of the Peter Lovesey/Peter Diamond mysteries; I'm hoping the detective will improve and grow on me.