The House Sitter

Written by Peter Lovesey

Narrated by Simon Prebble

Winner of the Macavity Award • A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery of the Year • Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize • Shortlisted for the Barry Award

The corpse of a beautiful woman, clad in only a bathing suit, is found on a popular Sussex beach. When she is finally identified, it turns out she was a top profiler for the National Crime Faculty who was working on the case of a serial killer.
And though she was a Bath resident, the authorities don’t want Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond to investigate the murder. What could they be trying to hide?

“Peter Lovesey loves strong women, cerebral killers and diabolical puzzles—the very ingredients that make The House Sitter one of the most cunning mysteries in his Inspector Diamond series.”—The New York Times Book Review

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781501919909

Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey is a British writer of detective fiction. His work has won many awards, most notably the CWA Gold and Silver Daggers, the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, as well as the Macavity, Barry and Anthony Awards.

Reviews for The House Sitter

[deaconbernie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The best Peter Diamond thus far. Once again, Lovesey takes a more light hearted approach to his sharp thinking detective. Although the ultimate baddie is not really a surprise, it is very entertaining the way he drops clues in front of us that Diamond seems to ignore. Of course, the large detective ignores nothing but sometimes he can be surprised. Totally ignored is the biggest mystery of all: how did his boss react to how Sultan the cat was treated by the big man. Georgianna would not be happy if she learned the full truth.

[ehines_20 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

OK, but the plot seems to be a bit strained--too much very superficial serial killer stuff brought in in deference to the then-already-past-its-peak trend. Not bad by any means, but the tighter focus of most of the Diamond mysteries is really what makes them viable. This novel is both geographically (lots of travel) and thematically (the serial killer trend, profilers, national television, national police power structure, etc.) less focused and Diamond really seems cheapened by that.

[4hounds · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of my favorites...partly because I love the character of the "house sitter." Lovesey does a really good job of creating strong, funny, quirky female characters.

[ant.harrison · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The House Sitter is the latest Peter Diamond mystery and fans of Peter Lovesey's flawed detective, will not be disappointed. As ever, the Bath locations are skillfully recreated and Lovesey's warmth for the city certainly comes through. The plot, concerning the apparent murder of a psychologist whilst sunbathing on the beach, is well constructed, with plenty of twists to keep the reader wrong-footed. At first it appears that the case isn't going to allow Diamond to take centre stage, with much of the action centred on the south east coast. But that soon changes, and with his usual tact, Diamond once again solves the mystery. For me, one of the high points is his love-hate relationship with his superior office, Georgina Dallimore - their scenes are brilliant.

For fans and those new to Lovesey's work alike, read this book - it's up there with his best. This is an intricate and involving story from a highly skilled crime fiction practitioner. Read it.

[condorena · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A woman is strangled on a crowded public beach and no one sees a thing! Amazing. While the way Lovesey describes it it seems possible I had a hard time picturing it. The device used to screen the victim from view was something called a wind screen that she put around herself, and that people couldn't see around or even over. I found a picture of one and they are three sided tent -like structures which are three or so feet high.

I have never seen one on our local beaches because I think they would probably cause trouble since they obscure other bathers view of the ocean, and making it hard to watch your kids playing in the waves. in the waves.

Well nothing comes easy for Peter Diamond and as the murdered woman comes from Bath he is in on the case. The story also introduces Hen Mallin a policewoman who gets featured in later books as well. Even after the dead woman is identified she remains an enigma for a long time. She was a private person who just seemed to be an innocent.

There is a careful murderer who is very clever on the prowl and a famous personage has been killed. A message from the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is left t the scene of the crime and more murders are promised. Only Diamond thinks the two cases are related but he has a nose for the unusual.

[cameling_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the middle of a crowded beach in Sussex, a woman is murdered without a single witness to the crime. In addition, her bag is missing and therefore anything that could identify her. When the Sussex police finally identify her, she is found to be a Bath resident and Peter Diamond is called in to be part of the joint investigation with Inspector Hen Mallin of the Sussex police. The woman is identified as a professor at a University and also a consultant profiler for the police. The last case she was working on before she was murdered adds a complexity to the investigation into her own murder because she was profiling what appeared to be a serial killer. Could this serial killer have killed her too?Identifying and finding the serial killer who seems to know where police safe houses are and codes to security systems, before the other 2 names on his list are murdered is a race against time without any obvious clues for Peter's and Hen's teams to work with.The twists in this novel make it a page turner and the ending was a surprise.

[nclmysterygroup · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the group's favorite books. We seem to always enjoy English police procedurals and this one was well plotted with interesting characters. Red herrings sprinkled throughout the book kept us guessing.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

#8 in the Peter Diamond series and one of Lovesey's best (although imho he has never written a bad one). "If you were planning a murder and wanted a place to carry it out, a beach would do nicely" - so the first chapter begins. It is not until the tide begins to come in late on Sunday afternoon that the few remaining people on Wightview Sands, busily packing up their belongings, realise that the water is lapping the feet of the woman behind the blue beach shelter. So not only is the crime scene unable to be preserved, but no-one knows who the woman is. Trying to find out who she is leads SIO Mallin into collaboration with Peter Diamond, whose reputation precedes him, and they venture together into highly classified material. Don't worry if you haven't read any Lovesey before - this one will get you looking for more.