DIAMOND DUST by Peter Lovesey June, 2002 Soho Publishers ISBN 1-56947-291-2

And so the end is near
We’ve traveled each and every ...
So sorry all but this is indeed the last of Mr. Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series and what a grand series it has been. The gruff Bath detective has been one of my very favorite reads for more than a decade now. Finding a new Diamond on the shelf of the bookstore is akin to finding the first Christmas wrap in the seasonal aisle. A promise of much more than a roll of tissue paper.

The last outing begins as so many of the books have with our protagonist enjoying breakfast with his wife and cat. Off to the office and the rather typical daily grind. A fight with a superior and then Mr. Diamond locks himself in the office so as not to expose his mood to anyone. And then a call... the murder squad is needed. Peter is excited as this means he won’t be allocated to another division. At the scene though we discover that the victim is our beloved Steph. She who has put up with the moods and demotions and talked about cases with our Peter over breakfast for oh these many years now.

The pain and the frustration of being relegated to voyeur in the investigation make this last outing rather one of the grimmest reads of the series. The audacity of the squad, when Peter becomes a main suspect, make it one of the more frustrating. The necessity of Peter’s personal investigation, which stems from not only wanting to find who’s done in his other half but also the need to clear his own name due to a bang up frame job, make it the most frightening and emotional. And as the clews are followed and we’re taken along for the ride we indeed see the end is near.

It’s a grand exit. Ends are not often done with this ease. Mr. Lovesey has done a wonderful job tipping his hat to both his series and his reader with the book. But, shall I read it, Ruth? Well, yes, and read all the others first!

Ruth Jordan