Infinite Books

There is a new detective in town. Actually, he’s been around in the mystery literary circles for over 30 years, and he’s just new to me. “Showstopper” is the 21st book in the Peter Diamond mystery series by Peter Lovesey but the first one I read. What a pleasant surprise!

Peter Diamond, the detective at the Bath MCIT (the Major Crime Investigation Team), doesn’t think the popular TV series “Swift” amounts to anything. After watching one episode, he states that “policing isn’t like that.” However, it turns out the show can use some real police work: a fire, some tragic incidents, and two missing persons are more than enough to open the investigation. Is the show jinxed as the superstitious actors believe, or is it in someone’s interest to cancel the series?

I enjoyed this story very much, mainly for its character-driven humor. Peter Diamond is an old-school detective with exceptional observation skills whose comments on other people’s behavior and personalities are always amusing. Being a slightly tongue-in-cheek man, he’s not always in the limelight. The other members of his team are equally interesting, and each of them brings something new to the case. Reading about their meetings and following their conversations, I could easily imagine Diamond and his team being skillful in their work and often hilarious in everyday situations.

And there is the magic of Bath, although, in Peter Lovesey’s mystery, this beautiful place can be surprisingly dark. The mixture of humor, narration, and the great storyline in “Showstopper” can make one pause in their constant search for the next good mystery novel and spend their evening enjoying this clever book.

SHOWSTOPPER by Peter Lovesey, Soho Press, 2022