Peter Lovesey - Upon a Dark Night Little,Brown £16.99
Peter Lovesey has a gift for the classic detective novel that is
rare these days. In his books about the Bath policeman Peter Diamond, he has managed to
bring this sub-genre of crime fiction up to date whilst remaining sensitive to the
traditions of the form. His sympathy for, and knowledge of, the work of other
detective story writers, past and present, was evident in his last novel, the marvellous BLOODHOUNDS,
which (like its predecessor THE SUMMONS) earned a CWA Silver Dagger. And this
element in his work is again present, albeit less obviously, in UPON A DARK NIGHT.
The title comes from a book by Ernest Bramah, who today is remembered, if at all, as the
creator of Max Carrados, the most notable blind sleuth in fiction. But during his
lifetime, Bramah was probably more renowned for his Kai Lung series and Lovesey includes
as an epigraph an appealing quote from KAI LUNG'S GOLDEN
HOURS: "there are few situations in life that cannot be honourably settled, and
without loss of time, either by suicide, a bag of gold, or by thrusting a despised
antagonist over the edge of a precipice upon a dark night." Lovesey weaves those
elements - and another long favoured by detective
novelists, amnesia - into a characteristically complicated and satisfying plot. My
only reservation is that I was not altogether convinced about the culprit's motivation.
Peter Diamond passes the test for a successful fictional sleuth with
flying colours. He is shrewd and ultimately successful, but no superman: in depicting his
relationship with his second-in-command, Julie Hargreaves, Lovesey skilfully reveals his
hero's flaws, as well as his strengths.
This is a book which I can gladly recommend. There are few more
entertaining writers than Peter Lovesey on top form and, as his clutch of recent honours
proves, the 1990s have seen him at the height of his powers. It would be an extraordinary
achievement if he were to be nominated for a CWA Gold Dagger
for a third successive year. But I wouldn't bet against it. Martin Edwards
