Televised as Dead Gorgeous, 2002
Rose and Antonia had a good war. As WAAF plotters they had all the excitement and independence of a difficult and fulfilling job, and all the fun of being two women on an RAF base. But peacetime is a disappointment. Rose’s war-hero husband has turned brutal out. Antonia, bored with her rich manufacturer, wants to move to America with her lover.
But what are plotters for, if not to plot? Antonia’s ruthless scheme would give them what they both want. If Rose doesn’t lose her nerve, they could get away with murder.
UK Publisher: Century Hutchinson, 1989
US Publisher: Mysterious Press, 1989
UK Paperback: Arrow, 1990
US Paperback: Mysterious Press, 1990
Reissued as Dead Gorgeous by Time Warner Paperbacks, 2002
Latest US Paperback: Soho Press, 2002 ISBN 1-56947-309-9
Latest UK Paperback: Sphere, 2014 ISBN 978-0751553543
“Lovesey is one of the very best of the current generation of crime writers and he controls his plot like clockwork – everything timed to precision so that the final uncertainty is resolved just as the bell tolls … If I were judge I’d pencil this one onto the short list for the ’89 Gold Dagger.”
Tim Heald, Evening Standard
“Brilliant is the only word for veteran Peter Lovesey’s latest venture into the macabre … A whipcrack pace, gasps all the way, and yet another winner for Lovesey.”
Scotland on Sunday
“Never has Lovesey’s wizardry been so effective as in this tale of the duped and the duper … The story dodges from one unguessable outcome to the next.”
Publishers Weekly
“Irrepressible joie de mort.”
New York Times Book Review
