“A fine case of murder, projected against a compelling historical background.”—The New York Times Book Review “Don’t miss this.”—Los Angeles Times In 1879, race walking competitions, known as “wobbles,” were all the rage. The death of a contender, followed by a second murder, introduces Sergeant Cribb, who goes on to investigate sports-related deaths in a series of eight books. Peter Lovesey is the author of twenty-five highly praised mystery novels and has been awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Gold, Silver, and Diamond Dagger awards as well as many US honors. This was his first mystery. He lives in West Sussex, England.

On Lansdown Hill, near Bath, a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers that took place over 350 years ago is annually reenacted. Two of the reenactors discover a skeleton that is female, headless, and only about twenty years old. One of them, a professor who played a Cavalier, is later found murdered. In the course of his investigation, Peter Diamond butts heads with the group of vigilantes who call themselves the Lansdown Society, discovering in the process that his boss Georgina is a member. She resolves to sideline Diamond, but matters don't pan out in accordance with her plans.

“[A] master of the classic puzzle.”—The New York Times Book Review “Lovesey’s delicate balance of humor and suspense [is] one of the delights of contemporary crime fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal “A master storyteller.”—Kirkus Reviews Widowed Inspector Peter Diamond is being pursued by a secret admirer as he pursues a serial killer. Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls who works as a waitress, is first reported missing by her own mother. She is found in a public park, hanged from the crossbar of a children’s swing set. There seems to be no reason for her to have committed suicide, and the postmortem reveals that she was murdered. Her present partner, her ex-husband, and a traveling salesman who dined at her table in the restaurant where she worked, are all suspects. Then her former husband is found in a cave, also hanged. A remorse suicide? Diamond doesn’t think so. When a well-to-do couple is found dead, both hanged, a suicide pact is suggested. Diamond is dubious; too many couples are dying by the same method. Before he can figure out what is going on, one more person will die. Peter Lovesey has been honored with the British Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, as well as with American prizes, such as the Edgar Award. He is an acknowledged master of the mystery form. This is his tenth Peter Diamond mystery set in Bath, England.

Book 14 in the Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond series, one of Soho's bestselling and most critically acclaimed series, this time including a Chauceresque twist. At a Bath auction house, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale. At the height of what turns into very competitive bidding, there is a hold-up attempt by three masked robbers. They shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as Chaucer's Wife of Bath. The masked would-be thieves flee, leaving the stone behind. Peter Diamond and his team are assigned to investigate, and the stone is moved into Diamond's office so he can research its origins. The carving causes such difficulties that he starts to think it has jinxed him. Meanwhile, as Diamond's leads take him to Chaucer's house in Somerset, his intrepid colleague Ingeborg goes undercover to try to track down the source of the fatal handgun used in the murder.From the...

"Peter Lovesey tosses off a real brain-banger in Bloodhounds, the fourth book in a challenging series. . . . I am mad for these pyrotechnic teasers, and this one had my head spinning."--Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "A perfect blend of psychology and technique."--Boston Review "In a witty takeoff on the always titillating 'locked room' mystery, Lovesey's wise but beleaguered hero Peter Diamond confronts a homicide case as perplexing as any he's faced."--Booklist "Lovesey gives us his laconic Bath policeman Peter Diamond in full dazzle. . . . With this especially effective conclusion, Lovesey demonstrates that his embrace of crime fiction reaches from John Dickson Carr to Andrew Vachss as he skillfully pays homage to the old style whodunit in this thoroughly modern mystery."--Publishers Weekly "Lovesey, always something of a Golden Age writer out of his time, provides some ingenius variations...

“[A] gem, catching to perfection the social atmospherics of Victorian Brighton and at the same time telling an ingenious story of murder and discovery.”—Publishers Weekly“His best yet.”—H. R. F. Keating, The Times (London)“The sleuthing is neat and satisfying: in the meantime, Victorian pleasures, permitted and illicit, are rendered up with gusto.”—GuardianBrighton in 1882 is the setting of this novel of crime and tangled emotions. Albert Moscrop, a visitor whose holiday is dedicated to peering through a telescope at the seaside scene, marches down Queen’s Road to the beach and draws us through a sequence of disarmingly trivial observations into a compelling drama, played in the fashionable haunts of the nineteenth-century resort: beach, piers, promenade, swimming bath, aquarium, and Devil’s Dyke.A keen student of human nature, Moscrop concentrates his interest on one particular family of holidaymakers—the Protheros, and especially the beautiful Zena Prothero, whose husband appears to take her excessively for granted. Gradually Moscrop moves into the circle of the Prothero family, only to become involved in a sensational murder. All Brighton is horrified by the gruesome crime. The local police seek the help of Scotland Yard, which is provided in the persons of Sergeant Cribb and Constable Thackeray. These indomitable detectives soon find themselves challenged by the strangest case of their careers, one that is as mystifying as it is macabre."A minor gem, catching to perfection the social atmospherics of Victoria, Brighton, and at the same time telling an ingenious story."--Publishers Weekly.

Be cautious; reading too many of Peter Lovesey's stories at once could have unexpected results. "Passion Killers" will make your toes curl for the hapless Mrs Palmer, and "The Odstock Curse" may well induce goosebumps as a Gypsy curse is repeated in the present. Among the fifteen tales are two featuring Peter Lovesey's forthright police detective, Peter Diamond, and two with the amateur sleuth, Bertie, Prince of Wales, in rumbustious form. The collection also include "The Pushover," winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Golden Mysteries short story prize, and "Quiet Please—We're Rolling," both nominated for Britain's Crime Writer's Association Short Story Dagger. Do Not Exceed the Stated Dose includes a complete checklist of Peter Lovesey's crime writing. **

Peter Diamond, the traditionalist dinosaur of Bath CID, finds the low murder rate in the city a touch frustrating, so he decides to check whether a couple of suicides which his colleague is investigating have been accurately classified. On the outskirts of the city a woman is found unconscious in a hospital car park, but when she recovers she can't remember who she is or how she came to be there. Soon after she is released into the care of the local authority, Diamond has a 'proper' case to get his teeth into when a woman's body is found in the garden of a flat after a somewhat drunken party. None of the other guests knew her and it is not clear whether she slipped, jumped or was pushed, and with no clue as to her identity Diamond has a puzzle to satisfy his quirky talents. In a mystery of stunning complexity, Peter Lovesey amply demonstrates his gifts as the grand master of the contemporary whodunnit.

Eighteen delightful holiday short stories by some of your favorite Soho Crime authors! This captivating collection—which features bestselling, and award-winning authors—contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season. Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes's one-time nemesis Irene Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of Wilborough's stolen diamonds. And other adventures that will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat to the streets of Thailand.

"Good stuff . . . Breezy, British, and as comfy as a Cotswold cottage."--The New York Times Book Review "Written with energy and style, a masterly performance."--Rocky Mountain News John Mountjoy has escaped from prison and taken a hostage, and the only person he'll talk to is Detective Peter Diamond, who arrested him four years earlier for the murder of a young journalist. Diamond must follow a cold trail to find another killer and clear Mountjoy's name before someone else dies. Peter Lovesey is the author of 23 highly-praised mysteries and has been awarded the CWA's Gold, Silver, and Diamond Daggers, as well as many U.S. honors. He lives in West Sussex, England.From the Trade Paperback edition.