Throwback Thursday: The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey

Author: Peter Lovesey
First published in 1991 by Doubleday

A nude female floats dead in a large reservoir lake south of Bristol. To solve the "Lady of the Lake" mystery, and save a woman unjustly accused, Sussex Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond must find two missing letters attributed to Jane Austen, and defy his superiors. 

The Last Detective is a random pick from my library.  I haven't read any of the books from this series so I figured I'd give it a try.  I really enjoyed this book. It's a straight police procedural with a great mystery.  I liked the way it was told from different points of view because it made the book more interesting.  There are a few twists with several suspects, but it wasn't annoying.  

I will admit to not liking Peter Diamond much in the beginning of the book.  He was kind of a jerk.  But, I started liking him more by the end of the book. He is an "old school" detective who is resistant to technology and changes in investigation.  But, he does prove a point that technology isn't everything by solving the case with old fashioned sleuthing.  

If you haven't read this first in the series, I highly recommend giving it a try.