A LATE SURPRISE
Just when you thought you were safe from Peter Lovesey newsletters, one pops up to let you know he isn’t extinct.
NEW DIAMOND DELIVERED
No, not a birth announcement. Diamond is a little old for that and so is his partner Paloma. This is advance news of a forthcoming Peter Diamond book called AGAINST THE GRAIN, my way of letting my patient readers know that 2023 wasn’t wasted - and telling the impatient ones to get off my back!
Patience is still required because publication is scheduled for November, 2024, simultaneously in the UK and USA by my trusty publishers, Sphere and Soho Press.
AGAINST THE GRAIN takes Diamond out of his usual setting in Bath and into deepest Somerset for a village murder (or two or three). After much protesting, he grasps his opportunity to match his skills against the classic sleuths he watches on TV: Poirot, Miss Marple and Tom Barnaby of Midsomer Murders.
PAPERBACK SHOWSTOPPER
Meanwhile, if you haven’t read the latest Diamond, SHOWSTOPPER, you can get it now in paperback from Soho and from Sphere on January 11th.
“Another triumph for a veteran sleuth who’s pretty unstoppable himself.” Starred review in Publishers Weekly
“More than thirty years into this series, Lovesey shows no sign of losing steam or ingenuity.” Kirkus Reviews
“Peter Lovesey continues to amaze with his ingenious plotting and pleasing style.” Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine
“An enticing, fast-paced mystery that will leave readers guessing at every turn.” Goodreads
A MYSTERIOUS PROJECT
I also found time this year to write a booklet for the Mysterious Profiles series published by my friend, Otto Penzler, owner of The Mysterious Bookshop, New York. The idea is that authors contribute new insights of their main characters for a signed, limited edition. My script has just been delivered for publication. Previous profiles in the series have come from the likes of Colin Dexter, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Jeffery Deaver and Ian Rankin. Each author finds his own way to reveal more about his sleuth. My approach is to let Diamond loose as a writer, a chance to tell his story in his own way, revealing much that isn’t in any of the books. The opening lines set the tone: “You cannot imagine how infuriating it is to be a character in a book, let alone a series of books. More than thirty years ago a chancer by the name of Lovesey fastened onto me and has been plundering my personal history ever since. He’s a writer, by which I mean he makes things up and gets them published – except that in this case they’re not made up.”
PURE POETRY?
Another experiment for me this year was a short story entirely in verse. It is called Knox Vomica and can be found in a collection published by the upmarket specialists in short stories, Crippen and Landru.
In 1928, Father Ronald Knox had the amusing idea of drawing up ten commandments necessary for the full enjoyment of a detective story. For example, he ruled out the use of undiscovered poisons, Chinamen, intuition, the supernatural and identical twins. The challenge set by this new book is to write a story that breaks one of the commandments. I thought it would be fun to break all ten at one go, and the only way to get away with it was by using comic verse. My contribution is used as the tailpiece to the collection.
BLASTS FROM THE PAST
What else? I’m always happy to see so many of my previous books still in print. A couple of weeks ago, Soho Press had a down-price promotion for Wobble to Death and sold 1490 copies in a single day, which isn’t bad for a book first published 53 years ago. And another title, The Last Detective, from 1991, is being reissued by Soho in a deluxe edition next May, and will include a generous tribute from top-selling author Louise Penny as well as a new introduction from me.
AND FINALLY . . .
I usually end these newsletters with a family picture, so here’s a happy one with my wife Jax and one of our granddaughters, Kim, who, was recently over with her parents from America.
Have a lovely festive season and may 2024 bring some joy to you and to the world.
Peter
Please feel free to forward this to anyone you think may care to see it. They can sign up for future newsletters at my website www.peterlovesey.com