The Stone Wife
Peter Lovesey
ISBN: 9781616953935
Published: September, 2014
Pricing
Paperback $15.95
More books by Peter Lovesey
Description
At a Bath auction house, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale. At the height of what turns into very competitive bidding, there is a hold-up attempt by three masked raiders, who are trying to steal the stone. They shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as Chaucer’s ...
At a Bath auction house, a large slab of carved stone is up for sale. At the height of what turns into very competitive bidding, there is a hold-up attempt by three masked raiders, who are trying to steal the stone. They shoot and kill the highest bidder, a professor who has recognized the female figure carved in the stone as Chaucer’s Wife of Bath. The masked would-be thieves flee, leaving the stone behind.
Peter Diamond and his team are assigned to investigate, and the stone is moved into Diamond’s office so he can research its origins. The carving causes such difficulties that he starts to think it has jinxed him. Meanwhile, as Diamond’s leads take him to Chaucer’s house in Somerset, his intrepid colleague Ingeborg goes undercover to try to track down the source of the fatal handgun used in the murder.
Media
“Thickly textured, amusing, unpredictably mixing puzzle and procedural ... one of the best. ”
—Los Angeles Times
“Extremely stylish ... utterly surprising. ”
—Newsweek
“I’m jealous of everyone discovering Lovesey and Diamond for the first time—you have a wonderful backlist to catch up on. Me, all I can do is wait for the next book.”
—Sara Peretsky
“These erudite and wondrously witty books are unlike any police procedural you've ever read. ”
—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“One of the great things about reading one of Lovesey’s police procedurals starring Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond of the Bath CID is the natural way Diamond’s cases take the reader into the history of Bath itself. Lovesey’s latest is filled with details ... riveting. If you’ve never encountered Diamond before, this is a good place to start.”
—Booklist, STARRED Review
“Dogged police work, nasty revelations about respectable citizens, dollops of suspense, Chaucerian tidbits—all the pleasures you expect from much-honored Lovesey are here.”
–Kirkus Reviews on The Stone Wife
“As always, this character and his team are sharp, funny, and grab the reader’s attention from beginning to end!”
–Suspense Magazine on The Stone Wife
“Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond is a warm, witty, and wonderful creation by one of England’s most talented crime writers.”
–The NY Journal of Books on The Stone Wife
“This is a 100 per cent win from Lovesey, who proves an embarrassment of authorial riches by managing to keep the plot propulsive, the dialog pithy, the cops’ jokes and good humor strong, and the characters easily identifiable. A great procedural whodunnit with an interesting maguffin. This is the 14th book in the “Peter Diamond” series, and it’s enough to make readers flip back through the previous 13.”
–Library Journal on The Stone Wife
“This fourteenth in the series is filled with red herrings, plot complications, deception and fascinating characters, all the components which make for a good read ... humor is rampant throughout. Very higly recommended.”
–I Love a Mystery on The Stone Wife
“Peter Lovesey knows just how to combine a fascinating historical tidbit with an intriguing investigation conducted by one of the best policemen in all of crime fiction. The dialogue and humor sparkle, the characters are individual and memorable, and the plot is a finely tuned race car.”
—Kittling Books on The Stone Wife
“Lively, surprise-filled ... Peter Lovesey is himself a master of historical mysteries. ”
—Wall Street Journal on The Stone Wife
“Peter Lovesey's nicely paced British crime fiction takes the old-fashioned taste for classic Agatha Christie, and updates it with quirky humor and just enough staff friction to make Chief Superintendent Peter Diamond tear out a bit more hair. [A] stylish series.”
—Kingdom Books on The Stone Wife
“[W]onderful tidbits of Chaucerian scholarship enliven the novel. And whatever you think of Peter Diamond, he proves himself a “verray, parfit, gentil knyght. ”
—The New York Times Book Review on The Stone Wife
““Diamond's short temper and quirky investigative tactics are pleasing, and readers familiar with English literature are sure to love all the Chaucerian allusions.” ”
—Shelf Awareness
“THE STONE WIFE is a beautifully written novel that catches you from the very beginning. Putting THE STONE WIFE down for any length of time is not an option... once you start it you have to finish.”
–Fresh Fiction
“Lovesey once again proves himself a master plotter and one of the most entertaining writers in the field. ”