JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK WOULD GIVE IT A 10/10. I LOVED THE PLOT MYSTERY ABOUT A OLD BOOK AND FINDING WHERE IT CAME FROM... WOULD LIKE TO READ MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS FOR SURE
I READ THIS DURING MY TRIP TO SEABROOK ISLAND AND WHEN I GOT HOME AND DURING MY FIST FEW DAYS AFTER THE BREAKUP WITH BOB... NOW I MUST DECIDE ON THE NEXT BOOK... ONLY A FEW HUNDRED TO CHOSE FROM....
Curmudgeonly Chief Superintendent Peter
Diamond (The Last
Detective, Bloodhounds, The
Summons) is once again suffering fools (to which category he currently
consigns Americans, antiques enthusiasts, and his immediate superiors) none too
gladly. When a skeletal hand is found in the cellar of the abbey churchyard in
Bath, Diamond is inclined to write the apparent crime off as the dusty wages of
a long-forgotten sin. But then a skull turns up. And then Joe Dougan,
mild-mannered American professor and avid literary tourist, unearths the
startling fact that in the early 19th century that cellar belonged to the home
Mary Shelley lived in as she was writing Frankenstein. Glorious fodder
for the sensationally minded press and a monstrous headache for Diamond, who
would prefer to cogitate upon the mystery in peace and quiet.
But it seems that the literary connection is as crucial as it is sensational.
When Dougan's wife disappears and Peg Redbird, proprietress of the Noble and
Nude antiques store, turns up dead after a heated conversation with the
professor (in hot pursuit of Shelley's writing desk and sketchbook), Diamond has
to wonder whether a thirst for knowledge also implies a thirst for blood. As
Diamond immerses himself in Bath's cultural history, however, more and more
suspects pop up, linking the long-dead bones in the cellar to Peg's very recent
corpse. Author Peter Lovesey, with a nod and wink toward the conventions of
traditional British mystery fiction, paints his characters with broad strokes:
like the characters in a game of Clue, the suspects are easily labeled. Is it
the spoiled heir who dunnit? What about the up-and-coming reporter? Or the
cryptic puppeteer? Or (and this is really giving Diamond ulcers) the suave city
councilor, who happens to be good friends with Diamond's boss? Lovesey tiptoes
agilely just this side of caricature--and has a great deal of fun doing so.
Diamond himself is an enjoyable enough character, though his grouchiness
seems to be missing some of the verve it had in earlier books. One might take
issue with the novel's sense of pacing (at times funereal), and with Lovesey's
narrative gimmick of switching occasionally to the murderer's perspective (too
Gothic a trick for a relatively unexciting plot). These complaints, however,
don't detract from an otherwise solid entry in the Superintendent Diamond
series. --Kelly Flynn --This text refers to the Hardcover
edition.
