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A review by gulshanbatra
The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey
4.0
This is a terrific police procedural, filled with fairly deep detailed characterizations and a somewhat convoluted whodunit.
I actually heard this one on Audible, narrated by Simon Prebble, and that man is a genius narrator. He made the book - I'm convinced - much more interesting than it would have been had I been reading it. But, more on that later.
The plot is quite loopy, and it twists and turns in all directions, and the story is divvied up into different characters' perspectives. Only one part is first-person narrative, but none of that really takes away from the story, which is deliciously intricate, and reminded me more than once of some of the best Jane Marple novels. Meandering, and having a life and mind of their own, the stories had a habit of amusing you, intriguing you, and surprising you too - every now and then. Overall, speed was a problem with this story as well - at least for me. The plot went around in circles at times, and I thought briefly of relegating this book to DNF pile.
This is where the brilliant Mr. Prebble came to the rescue. His narration was like listening to a radio play, the classic episodic broadcasts, filled by not just narrators but by performers. Despite being by himself, Mr. Prebble made it very easy to separate the different characters, and vastly enhanced the enjoyment of the story.
Speaking of which (the story), the book does have its moments when it gently peels back a layer, only to reveal another layer of questions and doubts. The fact that it is a police procedural makes the story move along rather slowly at times, but the interaction between the characters (especially, any scene with Mr. Diamond) fills up the story quite amply and you don't feel like nothing is happening - almost ever. Mr. Diamond is shown to be a force to reckon with, but still there were times when I would have been happy seeing more of him and his actions. Like when he discovers key evidence - towards the end - there was an abrupt cut-to-the-next-scene, that felt as if the author had made up his mind to speed things up a bit, to make up for the slack.
Other than those minor quibbles, this is a good yarn.
I'd definitely look for the next book in the Peter Diamond series.
I actually heard this one on Audible, narrated by Simon Prebble, and that man is a genius narrator. He made the book - I'm convinced - much more interesting than it would have been had I been reading it. But, more on that later.
The plot is quite loopy, and it twists and turns in all directions, and the story is divvied up into different characters' perspectives. Only one part is first-person narrative, but none of that really takes away from the story, which is deliciously intricate, and reminded me more than once of some of the best Jane Marple novels. Meandering, and having a life and mind of their own, the stories had a habit of amusing you, intriguing you, and surprising you too - every now and then. Overall, speed was a problem with this story as well - at least for me. The plot went around in circles at times, and I thought briefly of relegating this book to DNF pile.
This is where the brilliant Mr. Prebble came to the rescue. His narration was like listening to a radio play, the classic episodic broadcasts, filled by not just narrators but by performers. Despite being by himself, Mr. Prebble made it very easy to separate the different characters, and vastly enhanced the enjoyment of the story.
Speaking of which (the story), the book does have its moments when it gently peels back a layer, only to reveal another layer of questions and doubts. The fact that it is a police procedural makes the story move along rather slowly at times, but the interaction between the characters (especially, any scene with Mr. Diamond) fills up the story quite amply and you don't feel like nothing is happening - almost ever. Mr. Diamond is shown to be a force to reckon with, but still there were times when I would have been happy seeing more of him and his actions. Like when he discovers key evidence - towards the end - there was an abrupt cut-to-the-next-scene, that felt as if the author had made up his mind to speed things up a bit, to make up for the slack.
Other than those minor quibbles, this is a good yarn.
I'd definitely look for the next book in the Peter Diamond series.