28th October 2013

The second Peter Diamond mystery is quite different to the first. Diamond is working as a security guard in a page shop when he tumbles into a mystery surrounding a found child.

The first book had a classic crime-novel plot but was written in an interestingly different style. This one has an interestingly different plot, but reads more like a traditional novel. There were key moments though where the plot became unbelievable, and I found it hard to stay engaged, particularly through one large deus ex machina which makes the rest of the plot work.

Having said that, it's where this plot device kicks in that the plot starts to pick up the pace and get interesting - it starts very slowly, and I wondered for a while whether the slow pace was going to continue throughout. There are some interesting character moments in the first half, but it doesn't make up for the unequal distribution of action.

This novel really didn't grip me as well as the first, and I'm not sure at this point whether I'm going to continue reading the series.

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6th May 2013

When a body is found in a lake late one night, Superintendent Diamond is called in to lead the investigation, despite a pending review of his handling of a previous case. The first of Peter Lovesey's novels I've read, this is a really interesting way to present a crime novel.

The plot is well paced and makes for addictive reading. Lovesey's style is unique, in that while most of the narrative is told in the third person aligned with his detective, two significant chunks of witness statement are presented in the first-person, which really shows off a talent for capturing the characters' individual voices.

As an investigation it is far from clear cut and the twists and turns keep coming. I had a slight suspicion of how it might end and actually was not incredibly satisfied by the final conclusion. Similarly there was one twist that I didn't see coming and that seemed a little forced, throwing the narrative into a bit of a time warp throughout the later stages of the story.

Overall I was impressed by this novel despite some trepidation I had felt before about starting on another crime series. I'll definitely be following up by reading the sequel in the near future.

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