Battle and burial are built into the history of Lansdown Hill, so it is no great shock when part of a skeleton is unearthed there. But Peter Diamond, Bath's Head of CID, can't ignore the fresh corpse found close to the folly known as Beckford's Tower. The hill becomes the setting for one of the most puzzling cases he has investigated, involving golf, horseracing, Civil War re-enactment and the Cyrillic alphabet. Inevitably, 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 by sending him to Bristol and handing the skeleton investigation to his deputy, Keith Halliwell. Fortunately matters don't pan out as Georgina plans...
Peter Harmer Lovesey, also known by his pen name Peter Lear, was a British writer of historical and contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath. He was also one of the world's leading track and field statisticians.
I have read several of the Peter Diamond series and have always enjoyed them. This is not particularly one of my favorites but is still an interesting mystery.
A reenactment of the British civil war takes place on Landsdown Hill, near Bath, and two of the participants take a break to drink a beer beside an uprooted tree. They are shocked to find part of a skeleton which appears to be very old and call the police. Then, one of these men suddenly goes missing and DI Diamond is called in to investigate. Is there some connection between the skeleton and the missing man? The story gets a bit complicated and, frankly, I had no idea what was going to happen.
Not the best of the Diamond series but worth reading. It is a good "down time" read between larger non-fiction books.
If you like reading police procedurals and haven’t read any of the Detective Peter Diamond books yet, I highly recommend starting with this one. It’s perfect as a standalone book even though it is the tenth in a series.
I’m enjoying the entire series and this one has of the best plots in my opinion. Author Peter Lovesey creates memorable and believable characters that really remind me of people I have met. Something I especially love about this particular book is that the team dynamics of the crime investigation squad are improving. In previous books, Detective Diamond was inconsiderate, and sometimes outright rude, to his staff. In this book, he’s more self aware and makes a conscious effort to be a much better manager. This makes him significantly more likable for me to read about and I am wholeheartedly rooting for him.
The crime-solving elements of this story are superbly executed. A cold case and a contemporary case are linked, and along the way we learn about race horses, Eastern European immigrants, human trafficking, and battle reenactments.
It’s a terrific read! I got it for free with my Audible subscription and the narration was top notch too.
Read by.................. Michael Tudor Barnes Total Runtime......... 10 Hours 25 Mins
Description: Battle and burial are built into the history of Lansdown Hill near Bath, so it is no great shock when part of a skeleton is unearthed there. But Peter Diamond, Bath's Head of CID, can't ignore the fresh corpse found close to the folly known as Beckford's Tower. The hill becomes the setting for one of the most puzzling cases he has investigated, involving golf, horseracing, Civil War re-enactment and the Cyrillic alphabet. Inevitably, 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 by sending him to Bristol and handing the skeleton investigation to his deputy, Keith Halliwell. Fortunately matters don't pan out as Georgina plans...
Yet another change of narrator.
This is the one with golf humour, a headless corpse, Ukranian modern history, and Noddy.
5 July 1643
3* The Last Detective (Peter Diamond, #1) 2* Diamond Solitaire (Peter Diamond #2) 3* The Summons (Peter Diamond #3) 3* Bloodhounds (Peter Diamond, #4) 3.5* Upon A Dark Night (Peter Diamond #5) 3.5* The Vault (Peter Diamond, #6) 3* Diamond Dust (Peter Diamond, #7) 3.5* The House Sitter (Peter Diamond, #8) 2.5* The Secret Hangman (Peter Diamond, #9) 3* Skeleton Hill (Peter Diamond, #10)
I have been catching up with the unread Peter Diamond books leading up to the new one coming out this year. It seems like each book gets better. There was much to like here: Peter and car troubles leading to him unwisely driving his boss Georgina's Mercedes, his wily ways of consolidating a team from another office (where he did not want to drive) to work together in Bath under his oversite, re-enactment of Civil War on Lansdown leading to murder and the uncovering of another murder from 1993, the disappearance of a prime horse from that time period as well as working with other teams to investigate Ukrainian sex trade that led to his sergeant being shot....lots of action and interesting characters. Packed Full! A very good read.
Another enthralling tale from one of my current favourite authors.
We dont live far from Bath where this series is set but I am still learning about its history, fascinating areas and buildings of interest from these stories. I feel that it adds to the atmosphere of the tale when you look up mentioned places like the Lansdowne area and Beckfords Tower. There is another that I shall be looking for on our next trip but I will leave the reader to discover this too.
The story concerns two deaths up on Lansdown tops but many years apart. Are they linked? the answer and the search for the culprits make for a good read. I almost got one of the killers right but for totally the wrong reason. If the clues were there for the reader to find then I missed them, but there again, I am not Peter Diamond.
I listened to half of this and read the rest. The incomparable Simon Prebble did his usual stellar job with the narration.
I enjoyed the Bath setting, which played a big part in this installment. The middle was a bit draggy but overall this was another fine read in a fine series.
Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond has a headless skeleton turn up on Lansdown Hill shortly after a civil war reenactment battle was held. This leads to the mystery man seen wanding about the same area and then another body. He cannot find links and is at loggerheads with the ACC Georgina who wants separate investigations. He's blundering about in the true manner of his character, which grows on you the more of this series you read. Lots of local history from the Bath area which in itself is interesting. Money and greed are at the root of another case.
A good detective novel in the traditional manner. 4 stars.
During a re-enactment of the English Civil War on a hill, 2 Cavaliers who were among those downed by the Roundheads snuck off to an old oak tree to sneak in a couple of beers from a six-pack that had been hidden prior to the battle. In the process of searching for additional cans of beer, they find an old bone, which appears to be a femur. They bury it back, thinking it belongs to a skeleton of an actual soldier during the battle and go on their merry way. Wouldn't you know, a dog being walked by his owner finds the disturbed ground and digs around, finds the bone and brings it to his owner, who decides to call the police. As the crime scene team get busy, a headless skeleton is uncovered.
In another part of Bath though, an apparently homeless man is found dead on the hill, seemingly having struck his head on a boulder.
Nothing immediately ties these 2 incidents together and the head of CID isn't even convinced that any crimes have taken place at all. However, our unfit and cranky Inspector Peter Diamond, more for want of something meaty to chew on, does manage to find slivers of evidence that the skeleton is not as ancient as everyone had assumed, and that starts his task force on locating the identity of the headless skeleton.
As the identity of the dead man is finally uncovered as a history professor in Bristol, but also someone who participated in the re-enactment, our tenacious Inspector Diamond heads down to Bristol to supervise the local task force there, much to their disgruntlement.
Trying to find clues to these 2 murders stretches even the creativity and imagination of Inspector Diamond and as the 2 task forces reach out for any straw they can find. But through the proverbial haystacks, they do manage to gradually uncover a few meagre clues and at that point, things start trotting along at a fair clip.
What makes this series interesting is not just the well developed characters but all the background descriptions about the setting and historical information pertinent to location and sociology of the times.
Wonderful. I found it a little slow between pages 50 and 100 and almost gave up, but I'm very glad that I didn't. The subsequent plot twists were great, and I love this ensemble of characters. I guessed around the middle that Tipping's being a former racehorse owner was a key fact, but I didn't foresee the entire "solution" -- not by a longshot.
I think that this Peter Diamond series by Lovesey is in the same class as the Wexford series by Ruth Rendell. Why isn't it better known and more popular than it is?
Although this series is categorized as "police procedural," it has the feel of a cozy mystery series. Not the kind of "cozy" featuring a sweet, bumbling amateur sleuth, but the kind of book you want to cozy up with. Add a dog and a cup of tea, and all is well. This wasn't even my favorite of the series, but it was perfect.
Clever and well-written police procedural with a great detective-protagonist. Peter Diamond is slightly unconventional and irreverent but indefatigable and dedicated. The solution to the puzzle builds logically and ends with a bang. I've never read earlier entries in this series but definitely will seek them out.
The re-enactment of an English Civil War battle near Bath leads to two murder cases for policeman Peter Diamond and his teams, who must unravel both past and current events to solve the cases
Nothing wrong with this little crime novel -- somewhere between a police procedural and a whodunit and unlikely to be a huge favorite with readers of either genre who haven't read at least several of the early books in the series.
British usage query: At one point, Diamond asks for a torch (UK English for flashlight, yes?) But then the officer says all he has is his flashlight. Is there a specific type of "torch" that is also called a flashlight in England? I'm thinking of the ones with red / blue lights that strobe and are sometimes used to indicate a road hazard? Any Brits with insights, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Lots of red herrings and a very roundabout plot for the solve-along reader. Lots more of Peter Diamond's personal life for regular readers of the series; as this was my first, it was lost on me. I think you have to love the lead character before you pick this one up to enjoy much of the intraoffice politics. For a whodunit, it spends an awfully long time on the details of who gets what case room, which officer is assigned to what, etc., etc.
Didn't love the ending.
Best for fans of the series. 3 stars as a casual read.
What I most enjoy about this series is that it’s an opportunity to read a good murder mystery that’s relatively free of profanity, contains no graphic sex, and has a bit of quirky humor to boot. In this novel, Detective Diamond is finally figuring out some of the benefits of a mobile phone, much to the chagrin of his team. He means well, but he can also do some pretty bone-headed things. In the end, they always get the bad guy.
Another great read by Peter Lovesey. Skelton Hill tells the story of Lansdown Hill near Bath where the battle of Roundheads and Cavaliers took place over 350 years ago. During a reenactment of the battle, the body of a female, minus the head, is discovered in a hole created by a fallen tree and Peter Diamond heads up the investigation team. One of the discoverer of the body is later murdered and Peter is now faced with two murders to solve. A group called the Lansdown Society keeps tabs on the area and Peter finds out that his supervisor is a member. The plot is extremely intricate and involves a famous racehorse that disappeared. Only the great Diamond has initiative and intelligence enough to solve this case and he does so with his usual tenacity and wit.
Do you ever feel you have become addicted to a series of books? I have step away to read others but I keep coming back to the Series with the Detective Perter Diamond. Why well as a character he is believable and the stories are also the same well written crime fiction. This is no exception. Is the skeleton part of civil war History? Of course not we have to have a story for him Another great book taking the reader step by step through the logical process of solving puzzle murders
This Peter Diamond mystery did not hold my interest. There seemed to be too much going on and the book was slow-paced. It involved golf, horse racing, Civil War enactment on Landsdown Hill, Ukrainian prostitutes--none of this I found very interesting. I do enjoy the references to the area around Bath, but other than that I did not enjoy this book.
I read Peter Lovesey's WHOLE Peter Diamond series (16 books in all) in June and July of 2017, sequentially and without an iota of boredom. Forgive me for posting this as a comment/review into each book's space: I didn't think to do it as I was reading morning to night with no intervening literature.
The main detective, Peter Diamond, a few other police types, and a couple of non-police characters are incorporated into a series of crimes set in and around Bath, England. Historical and literary inclusions enrich the texts without being excessive. The inclusion of the music of a string quartet in one book was stupefying to this music lover.
The depth of description of the main characters is Just Right: they are rich, real, fully settled in the time and place where they appear. Minor characters reappear and are developed as their roles in each book's situation grows. There are a couple of emotionally shocking developments (no need for suspension of disbelief) one of which made me quite sad on a summer's day.
I was so absorbed by these book (MUST read chronologically) that I was unable to take in any other book in Lovesey's prolific bibliography. Probably my fault. They weren't Peter Diamond books, hence not worthy....
Peter Diamond is on the case--or cases. When a human bone is found on Landsdown on the site of a centuries-old Civil War battleground during a historical re-enactment, initially it was thought to be a bone from a long-dead soldier. But when the pathologist lets Diamond know that the bone is likely much more modern, a fuller investigation leads to the discovery of full skeleton--minus its head, and determined to be that of a young woman. A zip closure found with the skeleton was made in the Ukraine for only a few years, thus setting the time frame of her death about 15 years previously.
Then a fresh body is found, first presumed to be a homeless man who subsequently is discovered to be a University lecturer in history who had participated in the re-enactment and sustained a head injury rendering him amnesic and wandering homeless for a couple of weeks before his head was bashed in more thoroughly. Are the two cases tied together?
The mysteries in this story was a good one. I do find it hard to believe nobody else - none of the other detectives figured out why the killings happened. Seems odd nobody else seems to be able to get there. Considering how often he can be so slow to figure things out apparently he's the only one who can figure things out in the final moments.
The other glaring issue is the whole Paloma thing. In the last book *spoilers ahead* she stalked Diamond and tricked him into becoming her boyfriend in order to try and save her son who happened to be a serial killer. None of that was mentioned in this book. Everyone apparently is okay with how Paloma came into the picture[they had to know some of it with the son being arrested] and even amongst themselves Diamond and Paloma never mention the son or his trial or anything else it's like it never happened. Really weird. Unless Diamond lied to everyone about how he knew Paloma and Paloma also lied when interviewed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Enjoyed this book tremendously. It did not earn five stars because of the ending--it seemed a bit rushed as is the case I think in many books now -a-days. Enjoyed the premise of the two murder investigations and Lovesey did a great job of showing the connection and how the detectives get to the conclusions (all except at the end when we were left in the dark at the end. The biggest loophole was there was no explanation fro why the girl had to be buried near the tree when she could have been left with the horse in the grotto? The idea was that the horse would never be found, so why not leave the human remains there too?
The writing was sharp, the wit subtle, and the story line intriguing. As my first Peter Diamond read, I can guess it won't be my last.
I have never previously read Peter Lovesy, but very much enjoyed the book. It was a fairly quick read (it took me a while longer than I'd have expected to finish it, but that is because I kept misplacing the book -- but that's another story).
Anyway, it had a variety of interesting characters -- clearly differentiated --and a complex mystery (involving two murders, decades apart, linked only by geography), and enough clues along the way that it was fun to guess at who did it and why (some mysteries don't reveal the useful clues until the brilliant detective tells you at the end -- those are no fun).
Anyway, not genius, but worth your time if you like mysteries.
Too much back and forth. Two murders thirty years apart. Seems the owner of a horse had spent a lot of money to purchase and care for him. He was just coming into his own, when he became lame. They owners were to sell the horse for stud, but he was infertile. So, the best they could do was to get the insurance money if the horse was kidnapped. The owners took the horse, killed him and buried him in an abandoned tunnel thinking he would never be found. An immigrant from the Ukraine is murdered because she witnessed the horse kidnapping. A battle reenactor was killed because he found the corpse of the dead horse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
If books were made from marmite this would be a candidate, all depends on your likes of a reader, Peter Lovesey does not float my boat, not a Miss Marple, or Morse, MacBride, or Booth but not quiet an Agatha Raisin, Father Brown (tv shows). So where does it sit ! Its a bimble, some light procedural, not gruesome, very few twists. Two central stories to this one with a conjoining of the two murders involved, an old vs new murder. A 2 1/2 stars for me, but please give them a go as many do enjoy Mr lovesey, I gave it a go so why don't you.
I really enjoy the good writing in this series. Especially the clever little phrases from time to time. Here's an example: "Septimus Ward and three others from Bristol CID arrived at Bath Central in the morning looking about as comfortable as the Burghers of Calais." *
*see
The main character is so very real with his human qualities of seeking comfort in food and drink, and getting impatient, yet he redeems himself in so many other ways. I'm happy I began reading this series at the beginning and will continue to read every one.
Skeleton Hill � A Peter Diamond Investigation � Published 2009 - - Diamond is trying to solve two murders at the same time � one recent and one twenty years old. He connives to be the manager for both at the same time by out maneuvering his boss, Georgina. Diamond runs across horse racing, civil war reenactments, golf, sex trafficking, and vigilantes as he works to the truth. This is a great police procedural that keeps the process from being dull and laborious. Great read. Kudos to Lovesey.
Diamond is called to the site of an uprooted tree on Landsdown Hill when a skeleton is unearthed - minus its head - following on from a Roundheads V Cavaliers battle reenactment. When one of the 2 cavalier volunteers who unearthed the first bone goes missing; & the skeleton bones are dated to within 20 years; suspicions are aroused that the dead person may have been involved with the anniversary reenactment in 1993. Later the missing man, a Bristol University professor, is found dead having spent the 2 weeks he was missing roaming round Landsdown & living rough in a seemingly amnesiac state
Civil War reenactors, a deranged man "living rough," Eastern European human traffickers are all linked to a headless skeleton found buried in the loose soil around a downed tree. Another victim turns out to be a history professor who was participating in the reenactment, and that turns out to be a tragic failure of the social system. As usual, Peter Diamond's boss, Georgina, is causing difficulties, but he perseveres.
If you buy the Soho Crime edition of this work, you will have to deal with extremely tiny type. It was a misery to read. The work itself is awesome. The tenth book in the series, and the writing is not suffering the usual boredom of tired plot, or vapid characters. And, I'm reading this series straight through, which is usually a buzz kill on a set of books. I'm still excited to read the next one.