Killing With Confetti
Launched July 2019 in UK and USA
As a New Year begins in Bath, Ben Brace proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline, the daughter of notorious crime baron, Joe Irving, who is coming to the end of a prison sentence. The problem is that Ben’s father, George, is the Deputy Chief Constable. A more uncomfortable set of in-laws would be hard to imagine. But mothers and sons are a formidable force: a wedding in the Abbey and reception in the Roman Baths are arranged before the career-obsessed DCC can step in.
Peter Diamond, Bath’s head of CID, is appalled to be put in charge of security on the day. Ordered to be discreet, he packs a gun and a guest list in his best suit and must somehow cope with potential killers, gang rivals, warring parents, bossy photographers and straying bridesmaids. The laid-back Joe Irving seems oblivious to the danger he is in from rival gang leaders while Brace can’t wait for the day to end. Will the photo session be a literal shoot? Will Joe Irving’s speech as father of the bride be his last words? Can Diamond pull off a miracle, avert a tragedy and send the happy couple on their honeymoon?
The Critics’ Verdict on Killing with Confetti
‘Mr Lovesey’s book seems like a combination of Romeo and Juliet and The Day of the Jackal . . . Mr Lovesey has been writing his Peter Diamond series for nearly three decades, and it’s a pleasure to note no discernible flagging of energy in author or detective. And how refreshing to hear the inimitable Diamond erupt in righteous expletives, ‘F – forensics . . . We’re detectives . . . We investigate.’
Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal
‘Lovesey plants clever clues, a big surprise and a tense climax in the labyrinthine ruins of the town’s Roman baths.’
Adam Woog, The Seattle Times
‘Fun is something guaranteed by the name Peter Lovesey on a book cover . . . There’s certainly going to be a killing, but as Lovesey fans will expect, there’ll be plenty of twists and misdirections before the story behind the death is finally unravelled.’
Mat Coward, The Morning Star
‘The crafting of all this is superb, and consistent with the author’s handling of the series. Killing with Confetti is book 18 in Lovesey’s Diamond mystery series, and it has yet to let readers down.
Carolyn Haley, New York Journal of Books
‘Two seemingly unconnected events are brought together in this marvelous mystery . . . Peter Lovesey brought us his first mystery in 1970 and since then has enjoyed a sterling career with many, many highlights along the way.’
George Easter, Deadly Pleasures
‘We’re treated to Lovesey’s enchanting style, urbane wordplay and sucker-punch plotting. Don’t believe anyone who says, “I knew it all along.”
Booklist
‘Lovesey connects the dots plausibly and as always lightens the plot with dry wit.’
Publishers Weekly
‘When I closed the cover, I thought, Where has this man been all my life? . . . Lovesey’s series is rich with the history of the scenic area of Bath, England, and laced with wit, danger, pathos, love and loss. His protagonist, Peter Diamond, is a fully rounded human being with his own unique crime-solving methods . . . So kick back and enjoy a delightful summer escape from the drumbeat of real-world events that pays off with a surprising, page-turning denouement.’
Roz Shea, BookReporter
‘I absolutely loved Peter Diamond. He’s a no-nonsense policeman and Lovesey is a no-nonsense writer. I felt like I was watching an episode of a British crime series and enjoyed every minute of it. I completely forgot I had jumped in at book 18.’
Kerry Hammond, Mystery Playground
‘A new novel by Peter Lovesey is always an event to be savoured . . . in breathtaking manner, Lovesey turns the story around so that we finish up with a highly entertaining puzzle involving an impossible crime and a reconstruction of what actually happened that results in a brilliant plot twist. This is an unexpected book by a master of tales of the unexpected.’
Martin Edwards, Do You Write Under Your Own Name?
