Book Review: The Secret Hangman

Reviewed By: Lynn Harnett

The Secret Hangman     Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon UK HC Amazon Canada HC
Peter Lovesey
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural   Serial Killer
Series: Peter Diamond # 9
Soho, June 2007, 316 pgs

Gruff, sharp and very much in charge, Bath Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond, still mourning the murder of his wife, Stephie, contends with a secret admirer as well as a murderer in this ninth outing.

The story opens with an anonymous letter from a reasonable and cultured sounding woman who Diamond decides to ignore. When a woman is found hanging in a public park his solicitous underlings offer to spare him the trauma (he discovered his wife’s body in a park), but Diamond deals with that in summary fashion.

The victim was murdered then strung up to look like a suicide. When her husband is found hanging from a bridge a few days later Diamond suspects murder though his superiors prefer a neat murder-suicide solution.

Meanwhile, Diamond has met a woman, a charming lady who, it will surprise no one, is his spurned secret admirer. Diamond feels used when Paloma gets around to admitting this, but he gets over it. Meanwhile, he has found a pattern in the hanging case – two very similar cases, with nothing to connect them but the method.

While as witty and sharp as ever, this is not the strongest in the Diamond series. There are a couple plot holes big enough to drive a truck through and the tension with his boss, Georgina, while clever, sometimes seems unnecessary. Still, Diamond is always entertaining and Lovesey remains a cut above most.

Lynn Harnett

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett