2010: Forty Years a Mystery Writer

Peter’s Wobble to Death was published in 1970, won the Macmillan/Panther first crime novel award and was later voted by the Mystery Writers of America as one of the top 100 mystery novels of all time. Forty years on, he is still gaining honours. The most recent is the Grand Master Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection, joining a list of honorees that includes Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Georges Simenon. Graham Greene and John le Carré. The first eight novels, set in Victorian England and featuring Sergeant Cribb, have been reissued as handsome paperback editions by Soho Press.

Peter’s 2009 novel, Skeleton Hill, featuring the modern Bath detective, Peter Diamond, received the best reviews of his career.

"Diamond is a classic — better catch him while you can."
Marilyn Stasio (New York Times)

"Lovesey’s combination of wit, deduction and great characters is on display in a cunning mystery that would make Agatha Christie envious."
Margaret Cannon (Toronto Globe & Mail)

"Lovesey, who’s won every prize going, deserves another for Diamond’s tenth."
(Kirkus Reviews)

"One of the best opening lines I’ve read in years … Lovesey is famous for the fine craftsmanship of his cunning plots, along with a gentle wit and a clear eye for human foibles, and this 10th book in the Diamond series is a perfect showcase for all those skills."
Mat Coward (Morning Star)

"Thank goodness for Peter Lovesey. When you pick up a book with his name on it, you can always be assured of a good read … he’s a master of it all — characterisation, atmosphere, plot."
Tom & Enid Schantz (Denver Post)

"Peter Lovesey is the real deal."
Adam Woog (The Seattle Times)

"Our hero is rediscovering life, and his company is a joy."
Clea Simon (Boston Globe)

"One of the year’s best novels by a master storyteller."
George Easter (Deadly Pleasures)

"I could have cried when I finished this one — I may not read another mystery this good for a long time to come."
Roberta Rood (Books to the Ceiling)

See a clip of Peter introduced by Barbara Peters at the Poisoned Pen bookshop in Scottsdale, Arizona on YouTube

Another Diamond novel, the eleventh in the series, is already written. For full details of Skeleton Hill and Peter’s other publications and awards please browse this website.