Description
Peter Diamond investigates a mystery of the past in the seventeenth case for the brilliant Bath detective.
A wrecking ball crashes through the roof of a terraced cottage in Bath and exposes a skeleton in eighteenth-century clothes. Can these possibly be the remains of Beau Nash, the so-called King of Bath, whose body is said to have ended up in a pauper's grave?
Peter Diamond, the city's most experienced detective, is ordered to investigate, but grappling with historical events causes ructions in his team until everyone is diverted by a modern killing during a fireworks display on the Royal Crescent lawn.
But Beau Nash refuses to be ignored - and when astonishing new facts emerge about the case, Bath's history is rewritten and mysteries ancient and modern are fused in a devastating climax.
About the Author
Peter Lovesey is the only living author in Britain to have received the two highest honours in crime writing - the Diamond Dagger of the Crime Writers Association and Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America. He started with the Sergeant Cribb series set in Victorian London and later progressed to modern times with the award-winning Peter Diamond books set in Bath, his home for almost twenty years. Now living in Shrewsbury with his wife Jax, whom he met at Reading University, he continues to reach and entertain new readers across the world.
Reviews
A case that has all the ingredients of a first-rate mystery. Peter Lovesey rarely puts a foot wrong * Daily Mail *
'Lovesey moves from one dexterously nested puzzle to the next with all the confidence of a magician' * Kirkus Reviews *
'There's plenty of suspense here - action too - all told in Lovesey's effortlessly elegant manner' * Booklist *
'One of Lovesey's cleverest . . . full of his trademark wry humour' * Publisher's Weekly *
'If you like your police procedurals intriguing, solid and well-written, Lovesey's your man' * Weekend Sport *
'This is a mystery story complete with clues and red herrings; it is also a crash course in 18th-century manners.
All very enjoyable'
'You won't want to put it down' * Peterborough Evening Telegraph *
Peter Lovesey's characterisation, humour, and plotting are key, and I'm glad to report that these elements are here in abundance * Martin Edwards *
Astonishingly convincing and inventive * Morning Star *
Peter Lovesey - the dean of English mystery novelists - remains as ingenious as ever in Beau Death * Washington Post *
Beau Death is a doozy . . . Lovesey seems to have outdone himself with the labyrinthine maze of multiple murders and mysterious conundrums * Strand magazine *
Peter Lovesey is one author who can grab me on the title page . . . he's very, very good and knows his Bath history inside out . . . This is a great puzzle plot that will keep you guessing. Just what Lovesey does best * Toronto Globe and Mail *
The book, I am happy to say, is as tightly plotted and absorbing as the best of Lovesey's long-running series * Seattle Times *
Witty, stylish and a bit of a rogue - that's what people said about Richard Nash, known as Beau, the notorious dandy who transformed the English city of Bath into 'the 18th-century equivalent of Vegas'. The same might be said of Peter Lovesey, whose elegant mysteries pay tribute to the past glories of this beautiful city * New York Times *
It's a mystery that could easily be played for farce, but Lovesey employs his dry, caustic humor to cutting effect * Chicago Tribune *
Peter Lovesey has a knack - to borrow a phrase from the Roman philosopher Seneca - for grabbing readers by the lapels and leading or dragging them on, willy-nilly, through a maze of blind-corner surprises and unexpected plot twists . . . it's hard to imagine a more pleasurable way to read away the long hours of a quiet, wintry night * Richmond Times Dispatch *
Book Information
ISBN 9780751570670
Author Peter Lovesey
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Sphere
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 333g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 128mm * 28mm
