Customer Reviews

The Summons

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I can't believe that I'm the first person to review this book. For those readers who love British procedurals, I can't believe that you haven't discovered Peter Diamond! Lovesey's character is the most emgaging you will find in a month of Sundays. In this third book in the series, Peter Diamond is summoned back to Bath CID to help capture a killer that he had had put away 4 years ago. Apparently, this killer had pulled off an escape from prison, and kidnapped the daughter of a policeman high up in the CID in order to get Diamond to prove his innocence of the crime that he had put him away for. Diamond teams up with Julie Hargreaves and they manage to outwit all the CID and the Bath police force and determine that this ex-convict was indeed innocent. Then they have the job of proving who actually did the crime, and let me tell you, it was a real surprise to me. Diamond is a gem, and I love this series.

This is a Peter Diamond that somehow escaped me when I discovered and embraced this prickly, irascible detective. If you enjoy the Dalziel and Pascoe novels of Reginald Hill, you'll probably like this series as well.

Diamond has resigned from his Bath CID in a huff and, as this book begins, he is repenting at leisure. That changes when he is hauled back to Bath to deal with John Mountjoy, a woman-abusing escaped prison inmate who has kidnapped a CID officer's daughter and is asking for Diamond. A note: the account of Mountjoy's escape from prison is just brilliant.

Mountjoy claims innocence, even though he was convicted of murder. He wants Diamond, the original arresting officer, to reinvestigate. While the CID plays along to try to keep the daughter alive, Diamond digs in and, with the assistance of the sensible and capable Julie Hargreaves, begins to look at the murder investigation again with what he hopes are fresh eyes. And there are things to see with those fresh eyes.

It is a fairly straightforward journey toward the culmination of this reinvestigation and enough fears about the survival of the kidnapped daughter to keep the tension flowing, but some annoying coincidences keep this from being a flawless Diamond. Even so, I feel this was a worthwhile read to be recommended.

This is one of Lovesey's Peter Diamond series (he has at least 2 other ones set in the past--the Diamond ones are set in the, more or less, present). It follows up DIAMOND SOLITAIRE which follows Diamond's quitting the police force and having trouble finding work. In the present work, Diamond is still, basically, unemployed but is called in to help with a kidnapping of the daughter of the man who motivated Diamond to quit. It's the usual story of a wrongly convicted person which the detectives must clear by reopening the case--seen on TV a number of times. Unfortunately, unlike "Diamond Solitaire," Diamond is again his self-centered, nasty self. Also, his superiors are shown as bumbling (if not downright stupid) fools. Fortunately, however, the intricacies of the case and some of the suspects are pretty interesting & some of his old team (esp. Julie Hargreaves) have supporting roles. Furthermore, the search has its ups & downs (like a roller coaster)--reminiscent of Bruce Willis' comment on the TV show "Moonlighting" when their theories go down the drain, "The plot thinnens." It's no secret (virtually from the beginning of the book) that Diamond will be reinstated--and about time too. Overall, it's a pretty good mystery though--and a very tough one to figure out.

I came upon Lovesey quite by accident & have been pleasantly surprised & entertained. I have now read all 8 of the series featuring the curmudgeonly Inspector Peter Diamond & they make for a quick, enjoyable romp. These are not taunt thrillers but tongue-in-cheek good old fashioned murder mysteries, set in Bath, England. Diamond & his team solve their puzzles one piece at a time in the way good Policemen do. I heartily recommend these engaging stories.

Peter Lovesey delivers his usual: great plotting mixed with sly humor and engaging dialogue. If you haven't yet read this master mystery author, start here or with any of his books. You won't be disappointed.

This is my first Peter Diamond novel and although I had a rather difficult time becoming engaged with his character and the story, I did manage to finish the book and enjoyed it. I like that Diamond searches long and hard to find the guilty party, even after he realizes that he was responsible for having the wrong person convicted. In parts he is a bit too "old school" for me (turns his nose up at the value of computers, for example) but I think it's part of his curmudgenly persona.

The town of Bath provides a great background for the mystery surrounding a murder, leading to another murder and a kidnapping.