Upon A Dark Night

Peter Diamond #5

by Peter Lovesey

“The threads of Peter Lovesey’s new Peter Diamond mystery,  Upon a Dark Night , twist up so neatly they make a perfect hangman’s noose—another triumph of plotting from this master of the classic puzzle form.” — The New York Times Book Review  

A young woman is dumped, injured and unconscious, in a private hospital’s parking lot. She is an amnesiac with no memory prior to her discovery by hospital personnel. Detective Inspector Peter Diamond of the Bath homicide squad is unwilling to become involved. He has other, more important cases to solve: A woman has plunged to her death from the roof of a local landmark while half the young people of Bath partied below, and an elderly farmer has shot himself. Are these apparent suicides what they seem, or are there sinister forces at work? And might the amnesiac woman hold the key to both cases?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, British Literature, Mystery Thriller, Detective

418 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Peter 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.

Reviews

[Terence M [on a brief semi-hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this audiobook on August 26, 2014, before I started writing reviews.
I did not keep any notes, but my 4-Stars rating indicates that "I really liked it!".
It appears that my copy of this audiobook (obtained in 2014) was made using an earlier recording on Compact Cassettes originally released by "Books on Tape"! The cassettes had been converted to mp3 audio files, so I must have been pretty forgiving of the sound quality back in 2014😆🤩!

Peter Lovesey - Peter Diamond 05 - Upon a Dark Night
Audiobook: 11:03 Hours - Narrator: Peter Wickham
[Pub: Print: 1997, Audio CD: 2016] Heard: 2014 %%✔4-Stars

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great novel in the series this is. Lovesey was a hit from the moment he began his Peter Diamond series, but this complicated mystery is a real gem of its type. An overweight kleptomanic resident of a homeless shelter with an unbridled mouth and imagination star in this murder mystery. A property developer and a land surveyor manage to represent the greed of their profession. An ordinary woman who has lost her short-term memory after being hit by a car round out the cast of characters subjected to the clever discoveries of Peter Diamond, head of the murder squad. He is not politically correct, but neither is it easy to get past him.

This one kept me involved.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a dedicated fan of crime and mystery writing. That is really an understatement because I have read entire series of authors like Louise penny, Dexter Collins, Sue Grafton, Stieg Larsson, Mo Hayder, Henning Mankell, Carl Hiaasen, O. D. James, Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, the original mystery and crime writer Edgar Allan Poe who is credited with inventing the Detective story with The Purloined Letter written in 1844. If ever a writer was before his time, it was Poe who first recognized the importance of elements of writing a great detective story: Good setting, interesting characters, high tension, complex riddles, a realistic premise and a red herring dragged across the trail to heighten the readers interest. As soon as I finish a series, I declare it is the best I have read, so now that I have just finished the Peter Lovesey's series with CID inspector Peter Diamond as the main character, I again shout bravo! Upon a Dark Night is the fifth in a series of ten with the latest being The Tooth Tattoo published in 2013. I have only four to go and will be desolate when I finish declaring to myself, "Why did I read so quickly?" I have the consolation this time of another series by Lovesey with Sergeant Cripp. I especially enjoy Lovesey's use of allusions to classic literature. In one passage another detective asks if a woman could have ripped a tire with a sharp blade, and Diamond says if anything, she was more forceful than her husband and quotes the passage from Macbeth where Lady says to her husband who has failed to kill the king: "Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers." Another powerful strong point is his humor. Diamond has a phobia against being driven fast in a car and on one occasion where he is being careened around corners he asks the youthful looking driver how long he has been driving: "Since my seventeenth birthday, sir." he replies and Diamond asks, "How old are you now?" and the boy replies, "Eighteen, sir." Diamond's witty retorts are priceless and his imagery powerful as he tells his cohort Julie, "You are driving as if you had a sleeping cobra on your lap."
His dialogue is witty, brusque, and filled with one-liners like his terse conversation with his wife when Diamond is slow to leave for work one morning when he is scheduled to view a autopsy which he detests, "She taps on the bathroom door and inquires, "Are you all right in there?" He replies, "Why? Are you waiting to get in?"
"No, I am only asking. As you know how the time is going."
He replies curtly, "Sixty minutes an hour when I last heard." And his wife's reply: "Sorry I spoke my lord."
This book is meticulous in plot, characterization, and presenting the perfect riddle to be solved. I give it an A+.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Sentence: A young woman opened her eyes.

An unconscious woman, found in a hospital parking lot, awakens to find she has no memory. Released to social services, she is placed in a hostel and befriended and named “Rose” by Ada Shaftsbury; a good soul with a large personality and a penchant for shoplifting. The Bath police have their own problems with the apparent suicides of an elderly farmer by shotgun and a woman off a roof. But were they suicides and how do they link to Rose, whom Ada is pushing the police to find after she’s not seen her for two weeks. It’s up to DS Peter Diamond to figure it out.

There is nothing better than a book that not only has an intriguing beginning but also causes you to wonder what you’d do in a similar situation.

An unusual facet to this story is that Diamond doesn’t begin to play a major role until quite a ways into the story, but what a dynamic, and flawed, character he is. I enjoy the relationship he has with his wife, Stephanie, and their cat, Raffles. At the same time, he is not an easy person for others to deal with, particularly Detective Inspector Julie Hargreaves. Diamond respects her, but releases his frustration publicly on her and it is through his imperfections and some of their interchanges that we get to know Diamond better. Ada, with all her faults, is a pivotal character and often allows Lovesey to exhibit his delightfully dry humor…”While her old man was refusing to admit to anything, she was singing like the three tenors.”

What I most appreciate, however, is the plotting. It takes you down interesting, unexpected roads where you learn about everything from film shooting schedules, ancient English history and detectorology and treasure troves. The inclusion and care of such details is only one element that sets Lovesey apart as a writer. I particularly like that DS Diamond investigates the case by looking for evidence, doing the research, working his team and following the clues rather than working from assumption. There are good climatic twists and a very well done ending. I am delighted that there are many more books in the series waiting for me to read.

UPON A DARK NIGHT (Pol Proc-Det. Super. Peter Diamond-Bath, England-Cont) – Ex
Lovesey, Peter – 5th in series
Mysterious Press, ©1997, US Hardcover – ISBN: 0892966696

[Kirsten Mattingly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Lovesey creates such memorable eccentric characters in his books and this book has my new favorite, Ada. I was laughing out loud at the sassy British expressions coming out of her mouth!

As usual, Superintendent Detective Peter Diamond is faced with a complex set of crimes to investigate in and around Bath, England. The novel skillfully weaves interesting tidbits of the local history into the murder mystery. This particular book explores the subculture of “detectorists,” which I am a little familiar with from the British TV show of that name and enjoyed reading more about.

The main person of interest in this book has amnesia, which is also a trope that I like in novels. (Side note, for a different perspective of a person with amnesia who may be a victim or may be a perpetrator, or may be both, read Where You End by Abbot Kahler).

This is the sixth Peter Diamond book that I have read and I am definitely hooked on the series and hope to read every book in it.

I got the book free with my Audible subscription and I liked the narration very much.

[Jacqie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe if I'd been reading about Peter Diamond for the previous 4 books I'd have liked this one better. The idea of a young woman with amnesia was interesting. Reading from her POV actually worked for me. Being American, I have no idea how accurate her experience with British Social Services was.

Our young woman, christened Rose until she figures out her true name, is put in a sort of apartment with several other women who are at loose ends and can't afford to live on their own. One is a large woman who lives to eat and shoplift named Ada. Ada takes to Rose and enlists her as an accomplice. To her credit, though, she does help Rose to trace a bit of her background- she helps her to find out more about how she was dumped at the hospital, and helps her identify the origin of a distinctive car ornament that leads Rose to the people who dumped her.

The social worker is one of the more useless ones I've read of. Rose is attacked on the street by a man who seems to want to get her into his car and kidnap her. Only Ada's intervention keeps Rose from being abducted. The day after this happens, a woman turns up at Social Services claiming to be Rose's half sister. Her proof? She has photos of Rose. Not of Rose and her together, mind you. Just some photos with Rose in them. Has this social worker never heard of, I don't know, Facebook? Does it occur to her that it's pretty easy to find pictures of people that you know online, and that if you are aiming to kidnap someone you will probably know who they are, be able to find pictures of them online,etc?

And Rose goes with it. She allows herself to be isolated in a strange basement apartment, be LOCKED IN to this apartment by her so-called sister, and doesn't question the sister not being willing to tell Rose where she is staying (which is not with Rose).

So, amnesia is one thing, allowing yourself to be locked up by a stranger on the basis of a few photos when SOMEONE HAS JUST TRIED TO KIDNAP YOU is a bridge too far. Rose officially lost my sympathy when she displayed no evidence of having any brain function.

As for Peter Diamond himself? He didn't make much appearance in the early part of this book. He seemed unhappy, unhealthy, and without any good relationships with his co-workers. That was my impression of him. I noped out because of Rose, the amnesiac victim-in-waiting, and I'm good with that.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The focus in this tale was on a girl who experienced total memory loss, how her case was handled and who she made alliance with in the face of social agencies ill equipped to keep her safe. Safe she was not. Really cannot summarize plot without spoilers. Good book.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young woman turns up at a private hospital with total amnesia of the incident that left her in a coma — and of everything that came before. She remembers nothing of her life, not even her name. Social Services assigns her the name Rose and moves her into temporary housing once the hospital releases her. There, she encounters a remarkably bright homeless woman named Ada who insists on helping her investigate how she came to be injured. Then a woman turns up who identifies herself as Rose’s sister-in-law and moves her into a vacant flat against Ada’s advice. Ada suspects the woman isn’t who she says she is, but Rose’s amnesia persists. She insists on going along. All very puzzling.

Meanwhile, Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is worming his way into a rival detective’s investigation of a supposed suicide nearby. A crotchety and antisocial old farmer has supposedly blown his head off with a shotgun while sitting on a chair in his cottage. Peter suspects there is more to the story.

No veteran reader of detective fiction will be surprised to learn that the two cases are linked — or that additional mysteries turn up in the course of the several ensuing investigations, all of which are connected as well. Author Peter Lovesey is skilled at offering up complex plots in the novels of the Peter Diamond series, of which Upon a Dark Night is the fifth. However, unlike many other prominent British mystery writers, Lovesey doesn’t devolve his stories into insipid whodunits. (I’ve had enough of Colonel Mustard in the Parlor with the Knife.) The case confronting Detective Superintendent Diamond is legitimately complicated and is a great deal of fun to follow through to the end.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a mystery, and a cracking good one. Upon a Dark Night opens with a case of amnesia, a young woman found unconscious in a hospital parking lot. "Rose" is released into the care of Bath Social Services, and is soon reunited with her step-sister. In the meantime, head of murder squad Peter Diamond is bored and listless, in the absence of any murder cases, stuck working on an apparent suicide and a woman who fell off a roof. He won't be bored for long.

Though his colleagues believe Diamond has set off on a wild goose chase, he's convinced that more than coincidence lies behind these seemingly unrelated but concurrent events. His thinking is propelled, though he'd never admit it, by the brazen, colorful, tenacious Ada Shaftsbury, the homeless woman with "form" for shoplifting who lived with both Rose and the faller. Ada doesn't hold with coincidence or accident, and Diamond takes some very flimsy evidence and soon has a puzzler on his hands. Nothing he likes better. And nothing that devoted mysteries like better either. Though plenty of clues are dropped along the way, solving this case is no slam dunk. An intricate plot, a motley cast of lively characters, a brilliant detective, and the setting in Bath make Upon a Dark Night a delightful way to spend your precious reading time.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really enjoying this mystery series. Peter Diamond is a great detective who even admits to getting things wrong. In this story he gets a lot wrong before he stumbles into the truth. I enjoy watching his interactions with his second-in-command, Julie Hargraves. He respects her detective skills, but still wanders down the road of misogyny every once in a while...will he get himself out of the current problem he has gotten into with her. While his wife, Stephanie, doesn't appear too often, when she does it's a treat. I will keep reading this British police detective series and am greatly enjoying everything on audio.

[ElaineY · Rating 2 out of 5]

REVIEW OF AUDIOBOOK; OCTOBER 4, 2018
Narrator: Christopher Kay


Had a lot of trouble getting into this one and was tempted several times to give up. Finished it in the end but I did pause a lot to go surf the news. Only decent thing I got out of this installment is that Julie, Diamond's partner, has decided to leave and is being transferred to Bristol because she can't put up with him anymore and also feels her potential is being wasted stuck in Bath with him.

Overall, I found this installment very disappointing; lots of extraneous information and way too long for such a simple plot.

And Diamond's skill as a detective, his gut feelz, were noticeably and annoyingly absent - the reason (and a contrived one) why this book was stretched out as it was. Everyone was unlikable here, even Diamond.

I did not like Christopher Kay's narration. He gave some of the characters, like Ada, an odd sing-song accent with every sentence ending in a lilt that made them sound like questions.

[Susy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Diamond I’d forgot to get. I can read out of order and it doesn’t bother me. I liked the scenes in this book with him and Steph, and his relationship with Julie and thought that Lovesey was a master handler with them in the following books. The main character here is a girl who has amnesia, and is befriended by a great comic female with kleptomania, one of the two corpses is also a girl. So Diamond is surrounded by women, with the exception of his hated rival, D.S. Wigfull. Let us say that he lacks the finesse to treat the girls. The plot relies maybe a bit in coincidences and I couldn’t believe the motivation of the culprit. Then, the book begins very well and ends with enough suspense but the middle section sags a little. But Diamond can sustain a good book always.

[Valleri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Peter Diamond book I've read and I've definitely enjoyed them both! Diamond is a believably flawed, cantankerous, politically incorrect man who has amazing inducive reasoning abilities. He's also very oddly likable. I enjoy the humor in these books and, for me, Ada completely stole the show in this one! I found myself smiling and chuckling many times at her antics. "Rose" was a fascinating character and it was interesting learning about what used to be called fugue state. The last sentence of the book was the best!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unconscious young woman gradually wakes up in a hospital bed, but it seems that she has no memory of how or why she got there. The doctor there tells her that she was found in the hospital’s car park. There was no bag or means of identification, but assure her that her memory will return with time. As this hospital is a private one she can not stay there, and as she seems to have recovered from any physical illness she is taken to a hostel for the homeless. Here she meets Ada, a great character, an overweight kleptomaniac, who only really steals food. Ada takes her under her wing and decides that will investigate the woman’s accident and try to get her memory back. Meanwhile Inspector Peter Diamond, finds himself underworked, so has to deal with an incident he is not happy with and finds a way of taking a case where an elderly farmer has killed him self with a shotgun.
The plot was interesting and seemed plausible to a certain extent, but the humour really came from Ada.
Will read on in the fullness of time.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hooked from the start. How PL juggles all the characters and weaves such a complicated plot is beyond me.

[Jane Armour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great thriller from an author I hadn’t heard of before. Set in Bath, it’s fast paced, exciting and delightfully English. Couldn’t put it down. Really had me riveted until the very end.

Thanks again to Veronique Bradley for bringing me this book during lockdown.

[Reggie Billingsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several chapters into this title I knew I had read it some years ago but kept going because the usual convenient forgetfulness I suffer meant I could not recall the progress of the plot or it's finale.
And what a finale!
Also re-reading Lovesey is worth it because he just writes so damn well. Efficiently and vividly. Even during the little side scenes: "The wretched man trudged toward the front door like the closing shot of a somber East European film." How much more succinct can you be in such a deft depressive vignette?
Peter Diamond is a singular (superintendent) detective who, while much flawed, emerges as an ideal character through which Lovesey himself can sound off... especially in the field of his hatred for acronyms that plague business, politics and overall society today. After an especially noisome and involved conversation with his investigative team, struggling through all the H.O.L.M.E.S.-like references, Peter let's fly defiantly with his own: "Well you just leave that to C.O.M.A." and when quizzical faces result, he growls: "That would be Centre of Operations My Arse" and I nearly fell out of my chair.
Oh yes.
Lovesey is right up there in the Masters Seat.
Long may he reign.

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovesey certainly knows how to spin a good tale. This book featuring DCI Peter Diamond finds him and his partner searching for a young woman who has lost her memory and may or may not be involved in a murder disguised as a suicide. When a second murder cum suicide occurs, the chase is on even though Diamond takes a few wrong turns on the way to the solution. This is one of my favorites of the Peter Diamond series and it will keep you guessing as red herrings abound. Recommended.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another excellent mystery by Lovesey! I read it over a wedding weekend trip to Atlanta and was not disappointed. From the very beginning he had me hooked with the young woman who has suffered amnesia. The setting of Bath is always a welcome one and I thought the characters were excellent especially Ada and "Rose"
Highly recommended!!

[Nell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone loves a good story about amnesia, and this is a pretty good one. Ada is a fine character.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked it a lot more if the ending hadn't been 1 - so abrupt, and 2 - a bit ridiculous.

Great mysteries, which I assumed with tie in somehow. I appreciated how the sections went along with the excerpts in the front of the book.

The ending was a bit of a tangle, tying up the several stories into one that made sense. Some of it was a bit far-fetched for even a mystery novel.

Just the idea that a woman knows her "boyfriend" murdered a man to access his rumored treasure filled field, and for weeks hides a witness after the fact, is just too far out there for me. What was she going to go? Keep hiding the woman forever? She should have been worried about her own safety, she was a witness as well.

I do hope an amnesiac would receive better treatment than in the story! She was just released from the hospital (it was a private one, after all, couldn't have her there!), for social services to hand her clean clothes, some money, drive her to a shared room in a homeless shelter, and "good luck on that memory thing...it should come back soon." I really hope that is not an accurate portrayal of care in the UK!

The police tell her (once she has been caught out and is telling all), "Your efforts to hide Rose saved her life." EXCUSE ME? Her efforts to hide Rose came about because of her selfish act of not reporting the murder and murderer in the first place! Rose would not have been in any danger if she hadn't tried to "hide" her, and told the truth! She knew the murderer was unstable and obsessive about the treasure, he'd have killed them both without a second thought.

[Anne Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Peter Lovesey's WHOLE Peter Diamond series (16 books in all) in June and July of 2017, sequentially and without an iota of boredom. Forgive me for posting this as a comment/review into each book's space: I didn't think to do it as I was reading morning to night with no intervening literature.

The main detective, Peter Diamond, a few other police types, and a couple of non-police characters are incorporated into a series of crimes set in and around Bath, England. Historical and literary inclusions enrich the texts without being excessive. The inclusion of the music of a string quartet in one book was stupefying to this music lover.

The depth of description of the main characters is Just Right: they are rich, real, fully settled in the time and place where they appear. Minor characters reappear and are developed as their roles in each book's situation grows. There are a couple of emotionally shocking developments (no need for suspension of disbelief) one of which made me quite sad on a summer's day.

I was so absorbed by these book (MUST read chronologically) that I was unable to take in any other book in Lovesey's prolific bibliography. Probably my fault. They weren't Peter Diamond books, hence not worthy....

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

just like peeling an onion! Hit and run, amnesia, possible suicide, murder, abduction, car crash and friendship.
All of the incidents occured because William wanted to show up Guy in the detector department.
William tried to get the farmer to sell his property, then offered to let him stay rent free-- this set the farmer off and they struggled over the shot gun. Emma helped him cover things up.
Christine, the daughter, showed up and they had to dispose of her as well. Since she had lost her memory when she had the shock of seeing her father with his head blown off, they just set her off down a busy road where the Mayor hit her.
Emma, William's lover, spirited "Rose" out of the hostel and hid her away from William. She had to move her twice, but he followed her and was going to kill her when she spum a tale about recovered swag. They went to the farm, but finally William had enough and put her in the boot. He sped off with DC Diamond in persuit, but Catherine pulled out the wiring and he crashed. He died, she lived.
Catherine and Ada went to the farm to get some items before it was too be sold and we are led to believe they found treasure.
William also killed the german girl because she was snooping around.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The further I read in the Peter Diamond series by Peter Lovesey, the more I enjoy them. Lovesey is a master of plotting and he carefully crafts characters with a great deal of depth and understanding of human nature. Upon a Dark Night starts with a young woman being found injured and unconscious in a hospital parking lot. She has no memory of what happened to her and can’t even remember her name. Peter Diamond has no interest in investigating her case. At present he is involved with the death of farmer that first appeared to be suicide, but after checking closer, appears to be murder. He is also investigating the death of a woman who fell (or was pushed) from a roof during a party. Slowly these 3 storylines intersect and no one but Peter would have the intelligence or persistence to solve them. This book introduces a character that I hope shows up in future installments. Ada Shaftsbury was a large woman, always dieting and always eating. She was homeless and a compulsive shoplifter. But she was loyal to her friends and Rose, the amnesiac woman, would never have survived without her help. I’m looking forward to more Peter Diamond stories & hopefully another visit with Ada.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's a very good writer and I always enjoy reading these, but for this one in particular I felt I was a better detective than the police and, bar a few minor details, I had it solved before they did. Actually, I had it solved before they started investigating, essentially, so it was really frustrating when Ada would say "help, a crime's been committed," and All the Police would say "oh, shut up, I'm sure everything's fine." It really irked me. I suppose in real life sometimes the police might do that, but as the evidence mounted up I'm sure I would have lept into action—one coincidence too many—before they did.

Other than being irked at the character's inaction (Diamond's still nowhere near a Dover, if you've read the Joyce Porter series), I enjoyed this greatly.

(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* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a complicated story. A well-dressed woman with no memory is left in the parking lot of a hospital. She's banged up a bit. What happened to her? Who is she? Why has she no memory?
A local farmer is found dead of an apparent suicide. Well, he was a loner and maybe depressed, but the manner of suicide seems impossible.
A young German woman is found dead in the street after a big party. She had been seen earlier on the roof. Did she jump or was she pushed? Was it an accident or deliberate?
The Bath police department is VERY busy and different detectives are assigned to the cases. There doesn't seem to be any connection. Or is there? What in the world could it be?
I love how Detective Diamond discusses his theories with Julie his second-in-command and I love how his theories are NOT always completely right. But he is brilliant!

[James Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first time that I have read a Peter Lovesey novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He writes at a good pace, keeps the story going, no boring bits and though sometimes a little predictable ( like most authors are at times ) also writes with a sense of humour.
A young woman is left in a hospital car park, she is found to have lost her memory. An old farmer is discovered in his cottage with his head half blown off and a shotgun between his legs. From there on, an intriguing case for DI Peter Diamond slowly unravels. Are the two cases related? The police seem to be getting nowhere as the plot weaves about and keeps the reader guessing. Some good characters add to the entertainment.
I intend to read more by Mr Lovesey, probably in sequence. A thoroughly good 4/5.

[Emily Basford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Peter Lovesey novel I’ve read and I’ll definitely be reading more! Upon A Dark Night is the 5th installment of the Peter Diamond series but you can quite happily read it as a standalone. This was a complicated plot but also a great deal of fun to run though. Definitely a motley cast and based in the beautiful city of Bath, my old stomping ground, which made it even more enjoyable to picture!

A woman is found unconscious in a hospital car park and when she’s bought round, it’s found she has total amnesia. She can’t remember who she is or why she’s there. In the meantime there’s an apparent suicide at a remote farmhouse except that DCI Diamond has an inkling there’s more to this than meets the eye…

🧡🫶🏻📚

[Nicky Warwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An injured young woman is discovered unconscious in the car park of a private hospital. When she comes round she finds she has total memory loss.
Taken up by a social worker & named Rose she is placed in a women’s hostel & finds her large kleptomaniac roommate, Ada, a really reassuring presence & a great help as she tries to uncover any clues as to who she is & why she lost her memory.
After a bungled kidnapping attempt Rose is visited by her social worker with a woman who is claiming to be her sister, Doreen. Released into Doreen’s care Rose disappears completely.
When another hostel resident who has a similar look to Rose is found dead after supposedly jumping off a block of flats Ada starts to dig & enlists Diamonds help to find her friend

[Diana Febry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommend to fans of police procedurals.
Loved the story which was a little different to normal. 3 seperate events - a woman dumped outside a private hospital with total memory loss, a farmer committing suicide and a young woman who fell from the roof of a building, which turn out to be connected.
I found the detective, Peter Diamond a little too grumpy for my taste.
I must admit I became very distracted at times because the story is set in an area I know very well. Unfortunately, knowing the area so well, the major assumption made to link the cases didn't quite work for me. That aside, a good read.