Beau Death
By Peter Lovesey
Soho Crime, 406 pages, $35.95
Peter Lovesey is one author who can grab me on the title page. Witness his first book Wobble To Death, introducing Sergeant Cribb. Beau Death is his 17th Peter Diamond novel set in the exquisite city of Bath, where murder can be as recent as a druid's spell. I was caught immediately when a small boy watched the demolition of a row of 18th-century townhouses and as the walls collapsed a skeleton appeared, sitting in a chair.
Peter Diamond and his team are on the scene and it's clear the skeleton is old, dressed in the same century as the houses and wearing the remains of a black wig. Beside him is a smashed white hat. Only one man in Bath history wore that combination, the late Beau Nash, bon vivant and unofficial city mayor, whose life ended in scandal and poverty. But Beau Nash was given a fancy funeral and burial. Or was he? If you like real history turned into crime clues, this is your book. Lovesey isn't Josephine Tey in The Daughter of Time but he's very, very good and knows his Bath history inside out. This is a great puzzle plot that will keep you guessing. Just what Lovesey does best.