Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Soho
Description
A skeletal hand is unearthed in the vault under the Pump Room in Bath, England, near the site where Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. Then a skull is excavated. The bones came from different corpses, and one is modern. Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond must solve a series of crimes including murder and forgery, requiring a knowledge of history, nineteenth-century art, literature . . . and human nature.
User reviews
LibraryThing member ehines
Middle period Peter Diamond mystery. Lovesey generally speaking really holds up a high standard: his average Diamond is good, and his good Diamonds are . . . brilliant. This is more the average--lots of good tidbits about Bath and the antiques trade. Lots of good abrasive Diamond scenes. But the
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book as a whole is nothing beyond a solid addition to the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Condorena
Peter Diamond always eager for an interesting murder finds a nice puzzle in this story. There are old basements and vaults below current buildings because Bath is an old historic city. This particular vault has bones, both old and new and in addition may once have been the basement to Mary
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Shelley's house when she wrote Frankenstein. Show Less
LibraryThing member ecw0647
Detective Superintendent Diamond, of Bath, has a peculiar crime on his hands. A pair of hands is discovered by workmen excavating a old cellar that turns out to be the vault of an old house that once had belonged to Mary Shelley, and it appears she had written Frankenstein while in residence there.
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Professor Joe Dougan from Ohio has found a book of Milton’s poetry with the initials M.W.G. inscribed inside the cover (Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was Mary Shelley’s maiden name when she lived in Bath.) Clearly the book had belonged to the author while she was working on her famous novel. The case suddenly becomes complicated when the professor's wife disappears, and the body of Peg Redbird, owner of the Noble and Nude Antique Shop, washes up at the weir. Dougan had been at the Noble and Nude trying to trace the provenance of his book, and Peg had told him it had originally been found in an old writing box that Dougan hopes might have belonged to Shelley. Another Frankenstein connection appears in the guise of two paintings that may have been done by Blake as illustrations for the original publication. Then Joe Wigman, another detective assigned to the case, is found in a field, the back of his head coshed in. Diamond is a refreshing character, no drinking problem, he loves his wife, but there is enough of the curmudgeon in him to be constantly irritated by his boss, the assistant chief constable (Georgina) and her requests to cater to the councilmen and politicos (one of whom is her boyfriend) and reporters (whom Diamond generally loathes). Valuable clues keep popping up courtesy of one of these reporters who’s dying to become a police detective herself, much to Diamond’s consternation. Show Less
LibraryThing member 4hounds
I liked this one as always, but it wasn't one of my favorites...I think possibly because I didn't care for some of the suspects and/or witnesses. What I did especially like was how they tracked down the victim's name and history.
LibraryThing member lucybrown
Good mystery, not much of a puzzler since the field of suspects is fairly limited. Great character development; especially like the introduction of Ingeborg, freelance reporter cum police candidate. As is often the case in the Diamond mysteries, there is a literary link, this time the ball is set
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rolling by a pair of severed hands found in the vault of the Baths, the vault which had been part of the house where Mary Shelley wrote much of Frankenstein. From that point on Frankenstein keeps lurking into the picture. Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
Good mystery, not much of a puzzler since the field of suspects is fairly limited. Great character development; especially like the introduction of Ingeborg, freelance reporter cum police candidate. As is often the case in the Diamond mysteries, there is a literary link, this time the ball is set
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rolling by a pair of severed hands found in the vault of the Baths, the vault which had been part of the house where Mary Shelley wrote much of Frankenstein. From that point on Frankenstein keeps lurking into the picture. Show Less
LibraryThing member lucybrown
Good mystery, not much of a puzzler since the field of suspects is fairly limited. Great character development; especially like the introduction of Ingeborg, freelance reporter cum police candidate. As is often the case in the Diamond mysteries, there is a literary link, this time the ball is set
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rolling by a pair of severed hands found in the vault of the Baths, the vault which had been part of the house where Mary Shelley wrote much of Frankenstein. From that point on Frankenstein keeps lurking into the picture. Show Less
LibraryThing member DeaconBernie
This is an unexpected Peter Diamond, one who is far lighter than usual and one who can also make a joke. One again, Lovesey brings two loose ends together to make for a very interesting tale. Alas, not all of the supporting cast is up to the task but the few that are up to it do very well. One
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excellent character is too short on life while a duller character is too long. All in all, this is another example of why Lovesey is a master craftsman. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1999
Physical description
316 p.; 23 cm