Best Peter Lovesey Books

Why won't authorities let Detective Diamond investigate when a criminal profiler hunting serial killers ends up murdered herself on a popular beach?

Nobody mourns when the hated art teacher disappears from an exclusive girls' school—until her name appears on missing persons lists, forcing uncomfortable questions.

A routine late-night call ends in tragedy when patrol officers crash, killing one—but Diamond suspects the accident wasn't accidental in this morally complex investigation.

When his beloved wife is murdered alongside other police spouses, Detective Peter Diamond defies orders to pursue the killer himself. Lovesey tests his protagonist's emotional limits while crafting an intricate plot of professional and personal stakes.

Inspector Diamond investigates a corpse locked inside a houseboat where the only key rests in the victim's pocket, while a mystery enthusiasts' club demands justice.

Former detective Peter Diamond, reduced to Harrods security work, finds an abandoned Japanese girl with autism and becomes determined to unlock her story. Lovesey crafts a mystery where communication barriers become both obstacle and key to solving the case.

Civil War reenactors discover a headless female skeleton during their annual battle recreation, launching Peter Diamond into a case involving vigilantes and a murdered professor who played a Cavalier.

A vanished violinist, a string quartet residency, and a corpse identified by a music note tattoo on her tooth give Detective Peter Diamond his strangest case yet.

Langton's crisp delivery follows Diamond's investigation into whether a TV show's string of fatal 'accidents' masks a methodical killer.

Detective Peter Diamond faces his most challenging case when an unconscious amnesiac woman appears in a hospital parking lot with no memory.

A mother of two found hanged on a playground swing set appears to be suicide, but the postmortem reveals murder. Inspector Diamond hunts a serial killer while being stalked by an unknown admirer in this twisty procedural.

Construction workers discover a costumed skeleton that might be connected to Bath's scandalous 18th-century master of ceremonies, Beau Nash. Lovesey weaves modern detection with Georgian social history.

Inspector Peter Diamond confronts his most perilous investigation yet: hunting a methodical sniper who has executed three Bath policemen in twelve weeks, with no witnesses or clues.

Italian Inspector Aurelio Zen receives orders to pin a ministry murder on anyone convenient, exposing the corruption he's supposed to serve. Law enforcement becomes a tool of political convenience.

Lovesey pairs his grumpy Bath detective with a hardboiled private eye wannabe to find a missing antiques dealer. The 20th Diamond novel balances laughs with solid detection.

Art history turns deadly when masked gunmen crash a Bath auction house bidding war over a carved stone. Diamond must decode why thieves would kill for medieval art they didn't even steal.

Van driver and jingle writer Bob Naylor joins the Chichester Writers' Circle expecting pretentious literary types, not realizing he's about to encounter potential victims of murder by arson.