Another One Goes Tonight by Peter Lovesey

First sentence: Another one goes tonight.

            

A traffic accident involving two policemen, one fatally injured, results in Peter Diamond being assigned to investigate his fellow officers to find whether the policeman were at fault. At the site, Peter finds an elderly man seriously injured and saves his life.  However, the investigation raises more questions than answers and causes Peter to wonder whether the man whose life he saved is, in fact, a serial killer.

            

Lovesey provides us a wonderful description of giving someone CPR, not just from a technical standpoint, but the emotional connection that is created.

            

The information on Railway fanatics, as well as for Courtney dresses, adds interest to the story, as we watch Diamond build the case, clue by clue, but not always by himself; he brainstorms with his seconds, Ingeborg and Hallawell; and with his friend, and sometimes lover, Paloma.  Those things add veracity to the story, as well as watching Diamond have to change his perspective and beliefs in a person's innocence, while Halliwell raises the question as to whether what they believe has been murdered could, in fact, have been accidents or natural deaths.

            

Diamond does like to play outside the rules just a bit, but one has to admire his philosophy--"One thing Diamond had learned in life was not to feel sorry for himself. Rage against the gods by all means, but don't have anything to do with self-pity. It's toxic."  It is refreshing to have a detective admit his case isn't holding up "and you say there are problems with your original theory?" "Large holes."

            

For those who have not read the previous books about Peter's wife, it is nice to have a brief summary included. Details about the city of Bath provide a sense of history, local color, and a strong sense of place--"Bath has many amusing ironies. The best is the fact that thousands of tourists arrive because of the Jane Austen connection while the author herself could hardly wait to quit the place with "happy feelings of escape."

            

"Another One Goes Tonight" is a wonderfully complex mystery-- perhaps a bit too complex--with a killer one doesn't spot, and plenty of twists galore.  It's perhaps not the best of the Diamond series, but it's still a very enjoyable read.

Another One Goes Tonight (Pol Proc-CDI Peter Lovesey-Bath, England-Cont) – G+

            Lovesey, Peter – 16th in series

            Soho crime - July 2016