Secret Hangman [Hardcover]

Peter Lovesey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

“[A] master of the classic puzzle.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Lovesey’s delicate balance of humor and suspense [is] one of the delights of contemporary crime fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A master storyteller.”—Kirkus Reviews

Widowed Inspector Peter Diamond is being pursued by a secret admirer as he pursues a serial killer. Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls who works as a waitress, is first reported missing by her own mother. She is found in a public park, hanged from the crossbar of a children’s swing set. There seems to be no reason for her to have committed suicide, and the postmortem reveals that she was murdered. Her present partner, her ex-husband, and a traveling salesman who dined at her table in the restaurant where she worked, are all suspects. Then her former husband is found in a cave, also hanged. A remorse suicide? Diamond doesn’t think so. When a well-to-do couple is found dead, both hanged, a suicide pact is suggested. Diamond is dubious; too many couples are dying by the same method. Before he can figure out what is going on, one more person will die.

Peter Lovesey has been honored with the British Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, as well as with American prizes, such as the Edgar Award. He is an acknowledged master of the mystery form. This is his tenth Peter Diamond mystery set in Bath, England.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. British author Lovesey deftly blends suspense and humor in his excellent ninth whodunit to feature Peter Diamond (after 2004's The House Sitter). Diamond, a detective superintendent in Bath, though still traumatized by the murder of his wife, finds himself the object of amorous attention from two women, one an admirer who sends him anonymous letters. The curmudgeonly but astute sleuth also finds himself again at odds with his superior, Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore, when his investigation into the separate hangings of a woman and her one-time partner suggests that both were murdered, contrary to the ACC's belief that they were victims of a murder-suicide. Fighting to devote precious time and resources to the inquiry, Diamond soon discovers evidence of a history of similar crimes and suspects the serial killer will strike again. While the solution isn't Lovesey's trickiest, its ingeniousness amply demonstrates that this classic series is still going strong. (June)
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From Booklist

The latest entry in the Detective Inspector Peter Diamond series doesn't play fair with the reader since--spoiler alert--the resolution entirely depends on Diamond being pursued by a strange woman with whom he develops a romantic relationship. Lovesey has, in effect, "fixed up" Diamond, not only with the woman who stalks him successfully but with the solution to his case. Apart from this glaring defect, which may have readers steaming by the book's end, Lovesey turns in a perfectly acceptable entry in a long-running and popular British procedural series. Diamond, whose private life has become a "black hole" since the murder of his wife three years ago, attempts to focus on work as he investigates a series of murders in his home city of Bath. Diamond is a bit of a cipher (why do mystery writers persist in thinking depressives are interesting?), but the Bath setting always delivers, and the series of murders, involving the hanging of victims in very public places, is suitably jarring. A weak entry in a strong series. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569474575
• ISBN-13: 978-1569474570
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,034 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

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting Diamond English police procedural, May 6, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret Hangman (Peter Diamond Investigation) (Paperback)

Bath Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond still grieves the death of his wife even as he feels some guilt over her being murdered. He currently pretends to not be excited over a secret admirer sending him notes, but inside he is thrilled and albeit a shade more guilt.

On the job, Diamond investigates the public park hanging death murder of waitress Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls. He quickly finds three prime suspects: her former spouse, her current significant other, and a traveling salesman witnessed as having dined with her just before she died. When they find the ex Danny dead hanging in a cave, Diamond believes two murders occurred while his boss Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore insists it was a murder-suicide. As he digs deeper to prove his theory, Diamond uncovers a shocker of similar double murders by a serial killer on the loose.

THE SECRET HANGMAN is an exciting Diamond English police procedural. The serial killer case is cleverly drawn so that Diamond and Dallymore can argue over the deaths of Delia and Danny; whereas all these Ds mean delightful to fans as the crusty widower soon seeks a diabolical brilliant serial killer who hides his or her work in the guise of murder-suicide. This is a wonderful entry in a strong crime series.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diamond contends with love and murder, June 27, 2007

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Secret Hangman (Hardcover)

Gruff, sharp and very much in charge, Bath Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond, still mourning the murder of his wife, Stephie, contends with a secret admirer as well as a murderer in this ninth outing.

The story opens with an anonymous letter from a reasonable and cultured sounding woman who Diamond decides to ignore. When a woman is found hanging in a public park his solicitous underlings offer to spare him the trauma (he discovered his wife's body in a park), but Diamond deals with that in summary fashion.

The victim was murdered then strung up to look like a suicide. When her husband is found hanging from a bridge a few days later Diamond suspects murder though his superiors prefer a neat murder-suicide solution.

Meanwhile, Diamond has met a woman, a charming lady who, it will surprise no one, is his spurned secret admirer. Diamond feels used when Paloma gets around to admitting this, but he gets over it. Meanwhile, he has found a pattern in the hanging case - two very similar cases, with nothing to connect them but the method.

While as witty and sharp as ever, this is not the strongest in the Diamond series. There are a couple plot holes big enough to drive a truck through and the tension with his boss, Georgina, while clever, sometimes seems unnecessary. Still, Diamond is always entertaining and Lovesey remains a cut above most.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars Will Keep You Reading BUT..., May 11, 2009

By 

avid reader (fl United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secret Hangman (Peter Diamond Investigation) (Paperback)

Peter Diamond reminds me of several shadowy fictional British detectives doing the rounds. Collin Dexter's Inspector Morse is one that springs to mind. Just didn't really get a feel for the guy or why I should think him special or even interesting. I found the style a bit sterile, the dialogue often unconvincing (too many "guv"s), and the humor mostly unfunny. I twigged early (earlier than Diamond) on a couple of crucial clues. However, all this aside, there were action scenes where I literally couldn't put the book down and the background on the old town of Bath was well done. Possible SPOILER follows:
Now, I have to ask: A woman called dove in Spanish? As if this alone wouldn't give someone pause...