The House Sitter (Paperback)

by Peter Lovesey (Author)
Key Phrases: house sitter, offender profiler, petrol receipt, The House Sitter, Peter Lovesey, Emma Tysoe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In his eighth Inspector Diamond mystery (after 2002's Diamond Dust), Lovesey demonstrates, lest anyone doubt, how richly he deserves the British Crime Writers Association's Lifetime Achievement award. It's been about a year since Inspector Diamond's wife was murdered, and he's back at the helm of the Bath homicide squad when he hears from Inspector Henrietta "Hen" Mallin. Hen and her team have identified a murder victim found on a Sussex beach as Emma Tysoe, reported missing from her teaching position at the university in Bath. More interesting to both police units is Emma's side job as criminal profiler. Thus two puzzles neatly intersect: who killed the profiler, and who is the killer the profiler was tracking? The two detectives approach the question from opposite ends, slowly forging an effective, respectful partnership. Hen, a petite, cigar-smoking dynamo who gained her rank on sheer talent, offers something few in Bath CID would have believed possible-an equal match for Peter Diamond. Lovesey is a master of intricate plotting. A Paiute water basket is not more tightly constructed than this extraordinary story, nor more exquisite. The identity of the killer, when finally revealed, is genuinely startling, and not because of authorial obfuscation. The writing is as smooth as polished steel, and the small touches that reveal character, especially the memorable Hen, approach genius. This is Lovesey at his best.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* In a deft turn on the classic locked-room mystery, the central killing in this British police procedural takes place entirely in the open, in bright daylight, on a crowded beach, with the victim, a criminal profiler, herself a hunter of killers. Many mystery writers would be content with devising such a puzzle, but Lovesey, winner of the U.K.'s Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, makes this but one feature of his eighth Inspector Peter Diamond novel. The action revolves around two investigations of the profiler's murder, one in Sussex, where the body was found, and one in Bath, where the victim lived and where Diamond heads the Murder Squad. The profiler, it turns out, was investigating the murder of a film director shortly before her own death; her computer yields disturbing intimations that the director's death was the work of a serial killer who has only begun his "to do" list of celebrities. Lovesey injects a potent sense of paranoia throughout, starting with the body on the beach and continuing through a threatened celebrity in a Special Branch-protected "safe house," to which the serial killer easily gains access. Diamond's own wife was murdered in the previous installment of the series; here he goes about the business of trying to solve crimes with a kind of resolute single-mindedness that seems a typically underplayed, dignified response to grief. An ingenious and complex novel, this is Lovesey at the top of his form. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Soho Crime (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569473617
• ISBN-13: 978-1569473610
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #301,614 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diamond meets his match, June 2, 2003

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

This review is from: The House Sitter (Hardcover)

Stubborn and crusty Bath Police Inspector Peter Diamond manages to poach on several patches in his eighth outing, when an attractive young Bath resident is strangled on a crowded beach in Bognor. No witnesses despite the crowd, and the tide has washed away any evidence, so it's days before Bognor Inspector "Hen" Mallin, a compact, cigar-smoking dynamo, identifies the woman as Emma Tysoe, a psychologist professor and serial-killer profiler. She was on leave from her college in order to help the police with something she described only as "Huge, if it's true."

His curiosity whetted, Diamond teams up with Mallin and both ignore the Home Office national command to keep clear of Emma's last hush-hush case - a crossbow killer targeting a named list of celebrities and dropping clues from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Brushing up on his Coleridge, Diamond and his new pal, the unintimidated Hen, also track a rebuffed suitor and a reluctant beach witness, while delving into Emma's coded computer files and her active private life.

Winner of the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, Lovesey crafts an intricate mystery with neat surprises around several unexpected twists. Hen Mallin is a fine addition to the series; gruff enough to hold her own even with Diamond, she's comfortable enough to be friendly, even vulnerable, and has a ready sense of humor. Diamond, still melancholy a year after his wife's murder, has recovered his edge although he's not nearly as insensitive as he used to be. Various points of view juggle the action and fine secondary characters give the story further depth. As well written as ever, Lovesey's latest will please old fans and new.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Diamond Mystery, June 2, 2003

By	Emilia Palaveeva "ema-in-seattle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The House Sitter (Hardcover)

Lovesey's latest Peter Diamond mystery is, not surprisingly, good. Diamond, still recovering from his wife's death is brought in to investigate the murder of a Bath woman. As the woman was involved in the investigation of a serial killing, Diamond is gradually roped into that as well, bringing both cases to conclusion.

What I liked a lot about the novel and the series is the ongoing character development we see from book to book. Ingeborg, the journalist turned policewoman we met in a previous novel is a fresh new addition, together with Hen--Diamon's counterpart from the beach town where one of the murders occured. I will strongly recommend this book to fans of police procedural series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Recommend the Peter Diamond series wholeheartedly., May 20, 2004

By	S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The House Sitter (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent addition to the strong Peter Diamond series. For those who like to read British procedurals written by a master of plotting and characterization, I really recommend the Peter Diamond series. He's probably the most likeable and believable detective out there in this genre, and Lovesey displays a craftsmanship in his characterizations that is unequaled. His main character keeps on getting better and better, but in this book we are also introduced to a new one and she is a winner. Her name is Hen (short for Henrietta), and she's a detective from a neighbouring town who Peter collaborates with on a murder case. She's a smart, no-nonsense, cigar-smoking woman who will brook no interference from anyone on any of her cases. The murder occurred in her patch on a beach at a seaside resort, but the victim was a Bath citizen, so Peter is brought in to assist. Somehow the two detectives find a working relationship that is effective and they develop a mutual respect for each other. All the while through this book, Lovesey maintains a tight plotline, but he also has a knack for bringing in very unique puzzles that aren't that easy to figure out. In this book the murder victim found on the beach is a woman who works as a psychological profiler for Special Branch, and Diamond and Hen can't help thinking that her murder is connected somehow to the case she has been called in to consult on. Lovesey keeps the pace going, and the intricate plot is one that certainly kept my interest. We also see a more laid-back and less curmudgeonly Peter Diamond. He has somehow mellowed as he's still been trying to get over the sudden death of his wife, and it's made him even more believable and more likeable.