Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Secret Hangman-Peter Lovesey

The Secret Hangman
Peter Lovesey
Soho, Apr 2008, $13.00
ISBN: 9781569474884

Bath Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond still grieves the death of his wife even as he feels some guilt over her being murdered. He currently pretends to not be excited over a secret admirer sending him notes, but inside he is thrilled and albeit a shade more guilt.

On the job, Diamond investigates the public park hanging death murder of waitress Delia Williamson, a mother of two young girls. He quickly finds three prime suspects: her former spouse, her current significant other, and a traveling salesman witnessed as having dined with her just before she died. When they find the ex Danny dead hanging in a cave, Diamond believes two murders occurred while his boss Assistant Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore insists it was a murder-suicide. As he digs deeper to prove his theory, Diamond uncovers a shocker of similar double murders by a serial killer on the loose.

THE SECRET HANGMAN is an exciting Diamond English police procedural. The serial killer case is cleverly dawn so that Diamond and Dallymore can argue over the deaths of Delia and Danny; whereas all these Ds mean delightful to fans as the crusty widower soon seeks a diabolical brilliant serial killer who hides his or her work in the guise of murder-suicide. This is a wonderful entry in a strong crime series.

Harriet Klausner

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