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Peter Diamond #4
Bloodhounds
A rare stamp and a corpse are discovered in Bath within hours of each other. As he investigates, Inspector Peter Diamond discovers that both the person who found the stamp and the victim belong to the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, who now urge Diamond to bring the murderer to justice. But there’s a hitch: the body lies inside a padlocked houseboat and the only key is in the pocket of a man with an airtight alibi.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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821 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lovesey
295 books643 followersPeter Harmer Lovesey, also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of historical and contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath. He was also one of the world's leading track and field statisticians.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 234 reviews
February 18, 2019
Very enjoyable read to anyone who is a fan of mysteries.
A club of mystery fans in Bath, Bloodhounds, consists of a small group of eccentrics who become ensnared in a net set by a scheming murderer who uses their interest in locked room murder mysteries.
A club of mystery fans in Bath, Bloodhounds, consists of a small group of eccentrics who become ensnared in a net set by a scheming murderer who uses their interest in locked room murder mysteries.
April 11, 2022
This is an early book in the continuing series of ACC Peter Diamond and probably not one of the author's best. The series improved as it matured and I have read several of the later books in which Diamond's personal life and quirks get a little more attention. It helps to understand his approach to his work.
A group of mystery lovers, called the Bloodhounds, meet weekly to discuss classic mysteries and authors. And what a group they are.........a mixed bag of personalities, mostly rather unlikable, but experts on authors and plots. The "locked room" genre is the latest topic and then an actual locked room murder occurs involving one of the members as the victim. Additionally, there are cryptic notes delivered to the police which appear to be clues to the murder. And that is just the beginning.
There is a little bit too much going on in the story........too many sub-plots, some of which are a little unbelievable. Don't get me wrong since I like Lovesy's books and will probably read some more since the series is quite large. But this is not one of my favorites.
A group of mystery lovers, called the Bloodhounds, meet weekly to discuss classic mysteries and authors. And what a group they are.........a mixed bag of personalities, mostly rather unlikable, but experts on authors and plots. The "locked room" genre is the latest topic and then an actual locked room murder occurs involving one of the members as the victim. Additionally, there are cryptic notes delivered to the police which appear to be clues to the murder. And that is just the beginning.
There is a little bit too much going on in the story........too many sub-plots, some of which are a little unbelievable. Don't get me wrong since I like Lovesy's books and will probably read some more since the series is quite large. But this is not one of my favorites.
April 6, 2017
Writers of genre fiction tend to be widely read within their own narrow field. The British detective novelist Peter Lovesey is a prime example. In Bloodhounds, Lovesey demonstrates his familiarity with his genre, referring by name to a large number of prominent mystery writers. His novel is a send-up of several formulas familiar to readers of popular detective fiction. The locked room murder is the most notorious of these, and it figures as a central element in the novel’s convoluted plot.
A venerable series in detective fiction
Bloodhounds is the fourth book in Lovesey’s venerable series featuring Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, where he heads up the murder squad. Diamond, recently reinstated and promoted, is his usual irascible self. Though he is clearly a brilliant detective, his enormous size and his brusque treatment of those around him frequently inspire fear rather than respect. The sole exception is his favorite investigator and sidekick, Detective Inspector Julie Hargreaves. Bravely, she sometimes dares to talk back. Hargreaves, too, we know, is a brilliant detective—though perhaps a tad less so than her boss.
Three baffling riddles
In Bloodhounds, a taunting riddle sent to the police and to all local news media seems to predict the imminent theft of the one extraordinarily valuable painting in Bath’s art museum. (It’s a typically gloomy landscape by the overrated British artist, J.M.W. Turner.) This is the first of three such riddles, each one of which serves as the key to one of the novel’s three parts. Though the early focus is on the promised theft, it’s no surprise that soon a murder takes place—perhaps related to the theft, or maybe not.
The Bloodhounds of the book’s title are a small group of mystery fans who meet weekly to recommend books to one another and argue about the relative merits of the field’s many subgenres (whodunits, thrillers, police procedurals, stories about amateur detectives, etc.). As the novel unfolds, the seven members of the group become the chief suspects in the theft—naturally, one does take place—and later fall under suspicion in the murder mystery as well. The Bloodhounds, four women and three men, include a cast of eccentric characters that could only be assembled in Great Britain.
The tensions and suspicions among them enliven the story.
Bloodhounds is written with a lighter touch than the earlier Peter Diamond novels. Both the interactions among the amateur sleuths in the group and Diamond’s clumsy and sarcastic commentary are frequently funny. Any fan of mystery novels will enjoy reading Bloodhounds. Lovesey obviously had fun writing this book!
A venerable series in detective fiction
Bloodhounds is the fourth book in Lovesey’s venerable series featuring Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, where he heads up the murder squad. Diamond, recently reinstated and promoted, is his usual irascible self. Though he is clearly a brilliant detective, his enormous size and his brusque treatment of those around him frequently inspire fear rather than respect. The sole exception is his favorite investigator and sidekick, Detective Inspector Julie Hargreaves. Bravely, she sometimes dares to talk back. Hargreaves, too, we know, is a brilliant detective—though perhaps a tad less so than her boss.
Three baffling riddles
In Bloodhounds, a taunting riddle sent to the police and to all local news media seems to predict the imminent theft of the one extraordinarily valuable painting in Bath’s art museum. (It’s a typically gloomy landscape by the overrated British artist, J.M.W. Turner.) This is the first of three such riddles, each one of which serves as the key to one of the novel’s three parts. Though the early focus is on the promised theft, it’s no surprise that soon a murder takes place—perhaps related to the theft, or maybe not.
The Bloodhounds of the book’s title are a small group of mystery fans who meet weekly to recommend books to one another and argue about the relative merits of the field’s many subgenres (whodunits, thrillers, police procedurals, stories about amateur detectives, etc.). As the novel unfolds, the seven members of the group become the chief suspects in the theft—naturally, one does take place—and later fall under suspicion in the murder mystery as well. The Bloodhounds, four women and three men, include a cast of eccentric characters that could only be assembled in Great Britain.
The tensions and suspicions among them enliven the story.
Bloodhounds is written with a lighter touch than the earlier Peter Diamond novels. Both the interactions among the amateur sleuths in the group and Diamond’s clumsy and sarcastic commentary are frequently funny. Any fan of mystery novels will enjoy reading Bloodhounds. Lovesey obviously had fun writing this book!
April 27, 2011
What does it say about me that I love these silly little mysteries? Silly and little are perhaps not appropriate, as we are discussing murder after all. Well, one might say 1) that I [look like, act like, read like, or am] a little old lady, 2) with a dislike of forensic details, 3) but who gets pleasure from reading about a crotchety police detective inspector with a soft heart for children and animals. One or two of these may or may not be true...The Bloodhounds of the title are a mystery book club who meet in the crypt of an old church in Bath. "Crypt" may sound rather more interesting than it is in fact, for Lovesey describes it as a damp basement room with indoor-outdoor carpeting, a low ceiling, and too bright fluorescent lighting. The group is somewhat antagonistic among themselves...so much so that others find it daunting to enter, participate, and continue in the group. While discussing a “locked room mystery” so dear to the heart of one of the group participants, Lovesey treats us to a “locked room murder” which the Bloodhounds must solve.
Diamond gets into the usual difficulties with his boss, and gives his assistant so much to do that she will be a fine detective if she can ever get out from under his hand. He still has no facility nor interest in computers, but agitates his “little grey cells” to achieve remarkable results, but only after a series of false starts.
Diamond gets into the usual difficulties with his boss, and gives his assistant so much to do that she will be a fine detective if she can ever get out from under his hand. He still has no facility nor interest in computers, but agitates his “little grey cells” to achieve remarkable results, but only after a series of false starts.
December 30, 2024
Peter Diamond is bored. Then a crime ring dares the police to stop their next heist. Then a body is found in a padlocked houseboat. To make things more complicated, a club that discusses crime novels inserts itself into the situation.
Not bad. One can see why the series caught on.
Not bad. One can see why the series caught on.
January 15, 2023
This was a joy to read. This book features a crime fiction book club as suspects. It's Peter Diamond #4, but it could read without reading the rest of the books. This book is more about mysteries and books than it is about Diamond himself. I really enjoyed all the book club talk... different characters champion different authors/genres/ types of mysteries. If you're into detective fiction, this a fun read.
The book opens with Diamond being tasked to help provide extra security at an exhibit after someone sends in a tip that something is going to be stolen. The tip is misinterpreted and the police were guarding the wrong item. The thief makes off with an incredibly valuable stamp.
At the same time we're introduced to the bookclub known as the Bloodhounds.... there are 6 regular members and a woman who just recently joined (she was referred to the group by a man in her life). The original women include a gallery owner, a woman who is afraid of dogs, and a "lady" whose family goes back centuries. The men include a security guard, a man who brings his dog along often, and a man who lives on his boat.
At the meeting after the stamp is stolen, the stamp falls out of a book brought by the man who lives on his boat. He's the only person with the key to the boat and the book hasn't been out of his hands since he left the boat. He goes to inform the police about finding the stamp. The security guard (who attended the meeting) is found dead on the boat. Later on the man with the dog is also found dead.
I liked the parts about the way the padlock was switched and the boat was accessed a well as the part about the paint on the dog. I also liked that there was a second mystery (the identity of the adoptee and the fate of the estate monies) underlying the main case (the man who was kicked from the bookclub getting revenge on the snobs who looked down on his favorite books). I liked that the killer and the extortionist were both introduced early on.
The book opens with Diamond being tasked to help provide extra security at an exhibit after someone sends in a tip that something is going to be stolen. The tip is misinterpreted and the police were guarding the wrong item. The thief makes off with an incredibly valuable stamp.
At the same time we're introduced to the bookclub known as the Bloodhounds.... there are 6 regular members and a woman who just recently joined (she was referred to the group by a man in her life). The original women include a gallery owner, a woman who is afraid of dogs, and a "lady" whose family goes back centuries. The men include a security guard, a man who brings his dog along often, and a man who lives on his boat.
At the meeting after the stamp is stolen, the stamp falls out of a book brought by the man who lives on his boat. He's the only person with the key to the boat and the book hasn't been out of his hands since he left the boat. He goes to inform the police about finding the stamp. The security guard (who attended the meeting) is found dead on the boat. Later on the man with the dog is also found dead.
I liked the parts about the way the padlock was switched and the boat was accessed a well as the part about the paint on the dog. I also liked that there was a second mystery (the identity of the adoptee and the fate of the estate monies) underlying the main case (the man who was kicked from the bookclub getting revenge on the snobs who looked down on his favorite books). I liked that the killer and the extortionist were both introduced early on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2011
I took my son to the bookstore. He got done before I did. He found me in the Mystery Section, surprise. He did an internship at NPR in Sacramento and said he could pick me a good book. I said OK. He picked this one from a review he helped produce. This introduced me to the razor sharp style of Peter Lovsey and to Peter Diamond and his team. I have since visited Bath, England several times and feel like I am getting to know it.
This book is particularly good because it is about a book club that reads Crime Fiction. They are involved in a wonderful mystery solved in this book. Additionally they have great discussions in their club about many other mystery authors that Lovsey chooses to endorse and promote. I wrote a list from his recommendations in the story and picked up some more authors I love.
You will get to the point where you really look forward to a trip back to Bath and the Peter Diamond team. Like many European novels the hero does not always show up right away. In the book Upon a Dark Night that I just finished in December 2010, Peter Diamond did not really get going for over 130 pages. You will want to keep these books after you read them and won't really want to lend them even to your friends.
This book is particularly good because it is about a book club that reads Crime Fiction. They are involved in a wonderful mystery solved in this book. Additionally they have great discussions in their club about many other mystery authors that Lovsey chooses to endorse and promote. I wrote a list from his recommendations in the story and picked up some more authors I love.
You will get to the point where you really look forward to a trip back to Bath and the Peter Diamond team. Like many European novels the hero does not always show up right away. In the book Upon a Dark Night that I just finished in December 2010, Peter Diamond did not really get going for over 130 pages. You will want to keep these books after you read them and won't really want to lend them even to your friends.
December 18, 2023
British Detective Peter Diamond doesn’t get much sleep in this fourth novel, as he is investigating multiple interconnected crimes in the historic city of Bath. A crime-fiction book club called The Bloodhounds features heavily in his interrogations, and the whole novel is a send-up of the detective story genre.
Much of the plot is clever, yet it was too slow moving and repetitive for me to really enjoy it. I’m going to continue reading this series because I know the later books will be more entertaining.
I listened to this novel on Audible and I liked the narration very much.
Much of the plot is clever, yet it was too slow moving and repetitive for me to really enjoy it. I’m going to continue reading this series because I know the later books will be more entertaining.
I listened to this novel on Audible and I liked the narration very much.
September 23, 2019
Book 4 in the series, but I do not think I lost anything reading out of order. This was so much fun, I did not care if the crime was ever figured out because the getting there was fill with great characters. Set in the city of Bath, so if you are familiar with the city an extra bonus. I am definitely a fan now.
March 20, 2010
First Sentence: Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond was suffering in the rear seat of a police car scorching toward Bath along the Keynsham bypass with the headlamps on full beam, blue light pulsing and siren wailing.
Peter Diamond is back with the Bath police as a DS in charge of homicide. The media and police receive a poem which seems to indicate that a valuable painting, in the town’s museum, by Turner will be stolen. Instead, it is the theft of a Penny Black, one of the world’s most valuable stamps. The stamp turns up in the possession of a member of the town’s mystery club, “The Blookhounds,” and the body of another of the group’s ends up on the suspect’s boat.
Lovesey’s wry humor and use of metaphors is delightful. It is a wonderful send-up of book groups and on-line groups, and I thoroughly enjoyed the all the references to mystery authors and their books.
Lovesey provides a very full construction of each character in very few works. He accurately depicts the pettiness, jealousy and fight for power which seem to be part of any group of people. He clearly exemplifies the tendency of those who are insecureto public degrade others in order to feel better about themselves.
Diamond is a delightful character; he can seem brusque, yet is aware of his flaws and can be kind. I am particularly taken with his very understanding wife, Stephanie, and his young policewoman, Julie Hargraves.
The story provides some interesting, amusing, and lesser known, history about Bath. The inclusion of those small details adds richness to the setting and a variance from the common inclusion of the Roman Baths. It is not all lightness, however, as there is murder and deception. As a John Dickson Carr fan, I found the set up of doing a locked-room, in this case boat, mystery and learning the solution to be fascinating.
The plot was filled with red herrings and twists; so much so, I found the lead-up to the resolution a bit confusing, which caused this to not be my favorite book in the series. I do, however, like the characters enough that I shall continue with the series.
BLOODHOUNDS (Pol Proc-Peter Diamond-Bath, UK-Cont) – G+
Lovesey, Peter – 4th in series
The Mysterious Press, ©1996, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0892966459
Peter Diamond is back with the Bath police as a DS in charge of homicide. The media and police receive a poem which seems to indicate that a valuable painting, in the town’s museum, by Turner will be stolen. Instead, it is the theft of a Penny Black, one of the world’s most valuable stamps. The stamp turns up in the possession of a member of the town’s mystery club, “The Blookhounds,” and the body of another of the group’s ends up on the suspect’s boat.
Lovesey’s wry humor and use of metaphors is delightful. It is a wonderful send-up of book groups and on-line groups, and I thoroughly enjoyed the all the references to mystery authors and their books.
Lovesey provides a very full construction of each character in very few works. He accurately depicts the pettiness, jealousy and fight for power which seem to be part of any group of people. He clearly exemplifies the tendency of those who are insecureto public degrade others in order to feel better about themselves.
Diamond is a delightful character; he can seem brusque, yet is aware of his flaws and can be kind. I am particularly taken with his very understanding wife, Stephanie, and his young policewoman, Julie Hargraves.
The story provides some interesting, amusing, and lesser known, history about Bath. The inclusion of those small details adds richness to the setting and a variance from the common inclusion of the Roman Baths. It is not all lightness, however, as there is murder and deception. As a John Dickson Carr fan, I found the set up of doing a locked-room, in this case boat, mystery and learning the solution to be fascinating.
The plot was filled with red herrings and twists; so much so, I found the lead-up to the resolution a bit confusing, which caused this to not be my favorite book in the series. I do, however, like the characters enough that I shall continue with the series.
BLOODHOUNDS (Pol Proc-Peter Diamond-Bath, UK-Cont) – G+
Lovesey, Peter – 4th in series
The Mysterious Press, ©1996, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0892966459
January 3, 2021
Bloodhounds finds Peter Diamond reinstated to the Bath police force in his former position of Detective Superintendent, currently head of the murder squad. The story begins with Diamond bemoaning the lack of work for him and his squad. As if often said, be careful what you wish for.
Before anything too challenging comes his squad's way, though, the Bath force has another major investigation on its hands of a crime foretold by a cryptic riddle that the perpetrator shared first with the media. John Wigfull, Diamond's main rival in the police force, heads up this investigation.
In the meantime, the Bloodhounds book club, a small group of individuals who share a passion for crime novels, has welcomed new member Shirley-Ann Miller. Meeting weekly, it seems improbable that anything more exciting than verbal arguments would ensure, but by Miller's second meeting there's a confounding mystery revealed during the meeting itself.
Interestingly, the Bloodhounds have been discussing locked room mysteries and now they find themselves bystanders to a locked room mystery that includes murder.
Peter Lovesey does a nice job cueing the suspense in the early chapters and ramping it up as the story moves along, all the while keeping it realistic enough to be believeable. The Diamond series is character-driven with Diamond being quite a character in and of himself. Once again, he proves himself to be worthy of his position on the force.
Before anything too challenging comes his squad's way, though, the Bath force has another major investigation on its hands of a crime foretold by a cryptic riddle that the perpetrator shared first with the media. John Wigfull, Diamond's main rival in the police force, heads up this investigation.
In the meantime, the Bloodhounds book club, a small group of individuals who share a passion for crime novels, has welcomed new member Shirley-Ann Miller. Meeting weekly, it seems improbable that anything more exciting than verbal arguments would ensure, but by Miller's second meeting there's a confounding mystery revealed during the meeting itself.
Interestingly, the Bloodhounds have been discussing locked room mysteries and now they find themselves bystanders to a locked room mystery that includes murder.
Peter Lovesey does a nice job cueing the suspense in the early chapters and ramping it up as the story moves along, all the while keeping it realistic enough to be believeable. The Diamond series is character-driven with Diamond being quite a character in and of himself. Once again, he proves himself to be worthy of his position on the force.
July 14, 2023
Another terrific volume from Lovesey, whom I have only recently discovered. He's now one of those people that I just accept will do a terrific job—they're allowed to have an off day, but for them that would be unusual—like Diana Wynne Jones, or Lois McMaster Bujold.
He's got everything I want from a mystery writer, and more. My needs are simple (but so rarely met!):
1. Characters I can tell apart. So many books seem to think if you simply name the 9 suspicious grey-haired grey-suited colleagues at the accounting firm, the reader will happily differentiate. No. It's hard. Or at a girls' physical education academy, or a hippie commune, or anywhere where similar people gather, the writer must be especially talented to draw those distinctions. But with Lovesey, I always know who he's talking about and what they're like.
2. A compelling mystery (doesn't have to be a murder) and a twisty plot. If it's not a compelling mystery, why bother writing about that one? But Lovesey succeeds in spades on this point.
3. Fair play. No detectives who mysteriously notice mysterious things but don't mention it because that would give the game away.
That's all I need. Lovesey goes one extra: I think he's a serious bibliophile who is paying homage to different genres through this series. So far each one has been very, very different from the others. The tone is the same, but we've had a Kate Atkinson-ish murder mystery with her characteristic changes in perspective (which he pulls back from in subsequent books, normally interspersing Diamond's view with only one other person, less frequently), then he was off the force and on a international Mission Impossible-esque suspense-thriller, in volume three we're back in Bath where he's in a race against time to stop an escaped killer who's kidnapped the chief's daughter, and now in the fourth book Lovesey's put his spin on the locked room mystery. It's sort of the mystery equivalent of TV's Community, where (by Season 2, for sure) each episode is riffing on one specific aspect of pop culture, whether it's a heist film, a bottle episode, or social media.
But regardless of the specifics of the plot, his voice is there. Confident, slightly humorous (but only at times, not in a pushy "I'm a Comic Mystery Novel!!!" kind of way), and clever.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
He's got everything I want from a mystery writer, and more. My needs are simple (but so rarely met!):
1. Characters I can tell apart. So many books seem to think if you simply name the 9 suspicious grey-haired grey-suited colleagues at the accounting firm, the reader will happily differentiate. No. It's hard. Or at a girls' physical education academy, or a hippie commune, or anywhere where similar people gather, the writer must be especially talented to draw those distinctions. But with Lovesey, I always know who he's talking about and what they're like.
2. A compelling mystery (doesn't have to be a murder) and a twisty plot. If it's not a compelling mystery, why bother writing about that one? But Lovesey succeeds in spades on this point.
3. Fair play. No detectives who mysteriously notice mysterious things but don't mention it because that would give the game away.
That's all I need. Lovesey goes one extra: I think he's a serious bibliophile who is paying homage to different genres through this series. So far each one has been very, very different from the others. The tone is the same, but we've had a Kate Atkinson-ish murder mystery with her characteristic changes in perspective (which he pulls back from in subsequent books, normally interspersing Diamond's view with only one other person, less frequently), then he was off the force and on a international Mission Impossible-esque suspense-thriller, in volume three we're back in Bath where he's in a race against time to stop an escaped killer who's kidnapped the chief's daughter, and now in the fourth book Lovesey's put his spin on the locked room mystery. It's sort of the mystery equivalent of TV's Community, where (by Season 2, for sure) each episode is riffing on one specific aspect of pop culture, whether it's a heist film, a bottle episode, or social media.
But regardless of the specifics of the plot, his voice is there. Confident, slightly humorous (but only at times, not in a pushy "I'm a Comic Mystery Novel!!!" kind of way), and clever.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
September 27, 2015
My bookshelf is full of books that I want to read. These may be books that have been recommended or they may be later books in a series that I have started and enjoyed. Yet when I am ready to start a new one, not all will fit the bill. Such was the case here. As I looked down the list of books and authors nothing attracted me until I saw this one. The next in a series which I have enjoyed. Characters that I know, set in a place I recognise and an easy style that wouldnt require too much effort on my part.
The Bloodhounds of the title is a reading group but one that is solely concerned with detective fiction. I would like to bet that if members of The Bloodhounds were to read this book , they would want to solve the puzzle before the answer was revealed - as I do. Here, I am not convinced that it was possible. Vague references were dropped through the narrative but I am not sure that the case could have been solved with them alone.
Having said that,it didnt detract from the excitement and suspense of the final chapter.Most enjoyable and I will soon be opening the next.
As a postscript, my reading time last night was limited as we watched on TV the 2012 film of Les Miserables ( again) where, towards the end ( spoiler alert - spoiler alert) Javert commits suicide by diving into the cascading waters of a french river. The scene was shot in Bath and the cascading waters were the famous town weir - which also features in the previous novel in the series The Summons
The Bloodhounds of the title is a reading group but one that is solely concerned with detective fiction. I would like to bet that if members of The Bloodhounds were to read this book , they would want to solve the puzzle before the answer was revealed - as I do. Here, I am not convinced that it was possible. Vague references were dropped through the narrative but I am not sure that the case could have been solved with them alone.
Having said that,it didnt detract from the excitement and suspense of the final chapter.Most enjoyable and I will soon be opening the next.
As a postscript, my reading time last night was limited as we watched on TV the 2012 film of Les Miserables ( again) where, towards the end ( spoiler alert - spoiler alert) Javert commits suicide by diving into the cascading waters of a french river. The scene was shot in Bath and the cascading waters were the famous town weir - which also features in the previous novel in the series The Summons
June 17, 2018
This is the least favorite of the four Peter Diamond books that I've read thus far. I feel like Lovesey got this great idea to incorporate a locked room mystery into the story and that just took over everything. The result is an uneven narrative with a rather forced plot.
Hoping he gets back on track with the next book in the series.
Hoping he gets back on track with the next book in the series.
February 23, 2025
Fun locked room mystery involving the members of a murder mystery book club in Bath.
September 16, 2019
This book is a lot of fun if you are a crime or mystery novel aficionado. The Bloodhounds of the title refers to a reading group which meets weekly to discuss their favorite novels and short stories. They are intrigued by a poem given to the media predicting a crime. They take it upon themselves to try and solve the enigmatic clue. Meanwhile, the police, led by Peter Diamond, are also trying to solve the crime. Who will and claim the laurel of crime problem solver?
As it happens, the crime happens anyway. Then one of their members is murdered in what appears to be a perfect locked-room mystery. The Bloodhounds have a new mystery to solve, again racing against the police.
What makes this novel so engaging is its frequent reference to crime and mystery authors and their books. It's fun to test one's own knowledge of the genre against the characters'.
I thought the underlying mystery was kind of slight, and the plot moved very rapidly, I suppose to avoid the reader thinking too deeply about the crimes. Not a bad way to spend an autumn weekend reviewing the world of the mystery writers. I just was hoping for a little more depth.
As it happens, the crime happens anyway. Then one of their members is murdered in what appears to be a perfect locked-room mystery. The Bloodhounds have a new mystery to solve, again racing against the police.
What makes this novel so engaging is its frequent reference to crime and mystery authors and their books. It's fun to test one's own knowledge of the genre against the characters'.
I thought the underlying mystery was kind of slight, and the plot moved very rapidly, I suppose to avoid the reader thinking too deeply about the crimes. Not a bad way to spend an autumn weekend reviewing the world of the mystery writers. I just was hoping for a little more depth.
January 19, 2011
A very skillful play-fair mystery with a wonderful locked-room puzzle. John Dickson Carr, the master of that kind of puzzle, wrote an essay about the genre in which he said that when the trick to the puzzle is finally revealed, it's almost always a disappointment. In this case, at least for me, it was not. It was plausible and ingenious, and I didn't figure it out before the detective explained it. All other aspects of the book were at least above average too. A very good read.
December 12, 2020
No wonder the man’s poor wife wants a cat. He’s never home.
At first this seemed a bit dated, or perhaps forced, with a bunch of oddly assorted strangers meeting to discuss crime fiction. But I got into it more as the story progressed. Lovesey is a whiz with a plot. And I like the way Hargreaves quietly but firmly stands her ground and makes Diamond aware of his unfounded assumptions. To his credit, he accepts and learns from it.
At first this seemed a bit dated, or perhaps forced, with a bunch of oddly assorted strangers meeting to discuss crime fiction. But I got into it more as the story progressed. Lovesey is a whiz with a plot. And I like the way Hargreaves quietly but firmly stands her ground and makes Diamond aware of his unfounded assumptions. To his credit, he accepts and learns from it.
November 23, 2018
I don't generally go for locked room mysteries....neither does Peter Diamond. The most fun for me in this book was the mystery book groupies. I love all the different specialties and I read them all.
January 28, 2022
Peter Lovesey’s books are a light quick read and are interesting in the location sometimes involving history or literary characters or authors. But this one…there was little history involved and The ending…ugh!
February 20, 2014
Good story with a locked room mystery, not easy to spot the culprit but the explanation is fairly neat.
January 11, 2021
Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is back at the murder squad in Bath with the Avon and Somerset police. The Bloodhounds are a group of book enthusiast who enjoy crime fiction. A rare stamp is stolen and the one of the group is found murdered on a houseboat. Patient police work helps Peter and his DI Julie Hargreaves sift the clues, form various hypothesis and finally track down the killer. Along the Peter and his team uncover the plight of an elderly woman who has lost her savings in an apparent fraud.
Plenty of intrigues a closed doors mystery and the secrets of a spinster's past and the devious goings-on at the art gallery. Good content, well brought together into an excellent detective novel and a decent length of book into the bargain at 346 pages.
4 stars for this one and mark the next story to read.
Plenty of intrigues a closed doors mystery and the secrets of a spinster's past and the devious goings-on at the art gallery. Good content, well brought together into an excellent detective novel and a decent length of book into the bargain at 346 pages.
4 stars for this one and mark the next story to read.
August 18, 2023
Goodreads tell me I've read the first volume of this series already but since I don't remember it at all, I guess it was rather forgettable. If that is so, this book was definitely much, much better. The story was quite good, if maybe a bit overcomplicated, but it was lampshaded often enough. In fact the nods and lampshade hanging towards various classic criminals were some of the better parts of this book, along with the general classic-feel of it. All the characters were quite vivid, but I don't know why it's called a Peter Diamond series if Julie Hargreaves was the one who did most (all?) of the heavy lifting. Disappointed by the first volume, after reading this one I will definitely check out more books from this series.
Want to read
March 6, 2019Synopsis: a rare stamp and a corpse are discovered. Inspector Diamond realizes that the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, are involved.
September 20, 2019
Maybe 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the mystery book group aspects of it. A good choice for our Crime Readers group.
February 16, 2022
An elegantly constructed mystery with brilliant detail…
December 15, 2017
The fourth (my second) in this Bath-based whodunnit series. The author pays affectionate and delightful homage to the inter-war locked-room golden age crime novels and its authors in spicing up a slightly plodding police procedural.
The GR blurb (corrected - why can't GR ever get police ranks correct?):
'A rare stamp and a corpse are discovered in Bath within hours of each other. As he investigates, Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond discovers that both the person who found the stamp and the victim belong to the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, who now urge Diamond to bring the murderer to justice. But there’s a hitch: the body lies inside a padlocked houseboat and the only key is in the pocket of a man with an airtight alibi.'
The GR blurb (corrected - why can't GR ever get police ranks correct?):
'A rare stamp and a corpse are discovered in Bath within hours of each other. As he investigates, Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond discovers that both the person who found the stamp and the victim belong to the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, who now urge Diamond to bring the murderer to justice. But there’s a hitch: the body lies inside a padlocked houseboat and the only key is in the pocket of a man with an airtight alibi.'
April 5, 2023
It started out slowly, but drew me in little by little, till I hurtled through to the surprise ending! Very satisfying.
November 22, 2023
A group of mystery novel aficionados (they call themselves the Bloodhounds, lol) are caught up in a mystery of their very own. The theft of a valuable stamp and a murder and a locked room. Ooh, how exciting! Except that they are all suspects. Good clean fun, except for the victim(s), of course and a twisty ending. Lots of mentions of mystery authors and titles to add to your TBR lists.
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