Peter Lovesey at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 04/09/2007

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Peter Lovesey - Page 3

Bloodhounds

Bertie and the Crime of Passion

Invitation to a Dynamite Party

Abracadaver

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers

Paperback - Warner (1997)

Bloodhounds
See Review by Val McDermid - Gold Dagger winner & creator of Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan & Tony Hill
Peter Diamond is back in harness in the Bath CID but doesn't believe his particular expertise is needed to solve the theft of a rare stamp from the local museum.
However, when the stamp and a dead body turn up within hours of each other he decides only his deductive powers can sort the whole thing out. Diamond is delighted when he rapidly solves how the man was killed in a 'locked' room, but whodunnit isn't such a simple matter. He travels many a cul-de-sac, often stumbling across unsuspected secrets and motives, before he takes a multi-murderer off the streets of Bath.
'No one has done this kind of thing better since Dorothy L. Sayers. A must for crime buffs' Frances Hegarty, Mail on Sunday
‘The confrontational Diamond is on top form and the book grips the attention from its start right to its unexpected solution.' Sunday Telegraph 'Worthy of the Golden Age of crime writers...full of wit and froth.' Yorkshire Post

First British Edition Little,Brown (1993)

Bertie and the Crime of Passion
"1891, the year I saved the Sûreté from obloquy."
Bertie, Prince of Wales, is in Paris, a city which holds many attractions for him, not least the actress Sarah Bernhardt. It is she who informs him of a recent murder on the dance floor of the Moulin Rouge as the cabaret reached its climax.
The victim's father-in-law is Jules d'Agincourt, an old friend. Bertie can never resist demonstrating his sleuthing skills and he rashly co-opts Bernhardt as his assistant. But the Divine Sarah is used to a leading role and soon questions Bertie's genius as a detective. She is convinced that they are dealing with a crime of passion.
When the Sûreté arrest an artist for the murder, the theory of passion appears confirmed. Bertie is on the point of quitting Paris and abandoning the case when new clues emerge. Prompted by Sarah, he is able to repair the damage to his ego by identifying the real killer and saving an innocent man from the guillotine.
Critical Acclaim for Peter Lovesey and Bertie
'Detection both scrupulous and surprising… A substantial whodunnit; truly original, most entertaining' Philip Oakes, Literary Review
‘Hugely entertaining… It’s Dick Francis by gaslight’ Peter Grosvenor, Daily Express
‘Bertie investigates with amiable incompetence, one eye always open for amorous dalliance. High-class Victorian entertainment, written with wit’ Marcel Berlins, The Times
‘This novel is frivolous and ingenious, in the best tradition of blithe detection’ Times Literary Supplement
‘Sheer, rumbustious good humour’ Country Life

Paperback - Allison & Busby (2002)

Invitation to a Dynamite Party

'You must understand that we are not dealing with petty thieves or one of your backyard murderers, Cribb. We are fighting a secret society pledged to wrench Ireland from Her Majesty's dominion by every means at its disposal.'

The year is 1884. London is being terrorised by a series of bomb blasts - even within Great Scotland Yard!
Reluctantly, Sergeant Cribb attends a course in the science of infernal machines in a bid to gain expert knowledge of explosives and beat the criminals at their own game. With Constable Thackeray the prime suspect, Cribb feels bound for professional and personal reasons to track down the truth at any cost. And very soon he is abducted at gunpoint by an Irish-American hammer-thrower and finds himself an unwilling but vital member of the Dynamite Party...
'Lovesey goes from strength to strength. A really entertaining extravaganza, judged to a nicety' H R F Keating, The Times

Paperback - Allison & Busby (2000)

Abracadaver
Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray demonstrate that they are among Scotland Yard's finest as they pursue the trail of a mysterious and vicious criminal through the riotous music halls of nineteenth-century London.
Performers have been falling victim to a series of bizarre and humiliating practical jokes, which always take place during a performance. But no one is laughing the night a young woman is murdered during her disappearing act at the Paragon Music Hall. Cribb and Thackeray must go undercover to discover the motivation behind these criminal acts.
'Sinister fun in a splendidly atmospheric setting' The Sunday Telegraph
'Music hall's heyday lovingly recalled as Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray cope with limelit poisoning and Victorian permissiveness… thoroughly entertaining.' Matthew Coady, The Guardian
'The crimes and set-up are weirdly macabre, the major criminal unguessable until revealed.’ Times Literary Supplement
'It's a tangled business, both evil and intricate. Every police move seems frustrated by almost superhuman cunning until Cribb's trap nails a murderer and ends a hunt as spectacular as it has been fairly marked with clues. Very much Grade A.' John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine

Paperback - Allison & Busby (1999)

The Detective Wore Silk Drawers
A Sergeant Cribb Mystery
Sergeant Cribb finds himself immersed in the world of nineteenth-century pugilism, investigating a ring promoting the dangerous, illegal sport of bare-knuckle boxing. Cribb sends Constable Jago, the police boxing champion, as an undercover agent to the remote house known as Radstock Hall, which is rumoured to be the gang's secret training centre.
Already the decapitated body of a pugilist has been fished out of the Thames. Will it now be Jago's turn to bob headless on the river's dark waters? Cribb must think on his feet in the final rounds of this compelling mystery.
'A rich and unusual mystery, with suspense enough for the most confirmed addict' Los Angeles Times
'A gorgeous piece of period reconstruction… all the details of pickling and purging, gymnastics and "coming up to scratch" worked into an exciting plot. Daily Telegraph
'The era of pickled knuckles, rascally promoters and shady wagers is zestfully evoked in what is a splendid thick-ear thriller in the literal sense.’ The Guardian
'Once in a while a writer enlivens the scene with a new slant on crime and Peter Lovesey has concocted such a tale with assurance and skill.' The Scotsman