BY PETER LOVESEY
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| St. Michael's |
Shirley-Ann Miller is fairly new to town and has found that she is getting a little bored on her free evenings. She makes her way to the crypt of the Church of St. Michael with St. Paul in Bath, England. Here is a meeting of like minded people who like to discuss murder mysteries or as the purists of the group would label themselves students of crime novels. They call the group The Bloodhounds. The name comes from people having to sniff around to find the group. When Shirley joins she is the seventh member.
On the other side of town Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is moaning because he too is bored and hoping for an exciting case to stimulate him. He has only recently been returned to his current position as head of the Serious Crime Squad but he is chomping at the bit.
After the news media receives a cryptic puzzle a very rare penny black stamp with the visage of Queen Victoria on it is stolen. Soon there is another puzzle delivered and behold the stamp is recovered being used as a bookmark from a book of John Dickson Carr's being read to the Bloodhounds as a lesson in locked room murder cases. Before the night is over the corpse of one of the group, a very quiet man named Syd is found in the locked room of another member's house boat which is completely locked up. The member, Milo, is the only person to have an airtight alibi. He was at the police station turning in the stamp.
Peter Diamond has no use for detective or crime stories but now he does have to stretch his imagination about a truly locked room mystery.
Peter Lovesey is in great form in this mystery. It is the fourth in the Peter Diamond series. The mystery is delicious, and the murderer is smart, cunning and patient. The pace is quick and and the clues are all present to help us along on a challenging case.
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