Diamond Solitaire

By Peter Lovesey

Fired from the police for insubordination, Peter Diamond is reduced to working as a security guard at Harrod's. There he finds an abandoned Japanese girl after the store closes. He must identify her in order to save her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jul 1, 2003
• ISBN: 9781569477991

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 Diamond Solitaire

[fhudnell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love this series. Diamond is such a solid presence. This one has an abandoned autistic girl, corporate chicanery and a sumo wrestler.

[deaconbernie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Now, this is Peter Lovesey at his best. Some of the slick writing that appears in later books does not appear here. True, the Peter Diamon here is a much broader character not bogged down by the requirements of his job as Detective Superintendent, but this Peter Diamond is a more interesting character than usual.

[4hounds · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved the 2nd one, too. The actual mystery seemed a bit unbelievable - the convoluted way the child was wound into the mystery, the rationale behind all the events - but Diamond is fantastic regardless.

[johngrant1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I loved Lovesey's The Last Detective, which introduced the character Peter Diamond. This follow-up, while palpably more far-fetched, is even more entertaining. Fired (er, "resigned") from the cops, Diamond is reduced to working as a night security man at Harrods. One night the alarm goes off, and it's discovered an autistic Japanese toddler has been dumped in Diamond's area. Sacked for negligence, he decides to solve the mystery of where the little girl came from, a quest that takes him eventually to NYC and to Japan. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments (some to do with Diamond's non-prowess as a home handyman, others concerning this very British bobby's interaction with the NYPD), but what sticks more in the mind are the moments of genuine emotion. This is a gloriously fast read: get it and read it gloriously fast!

I have a confession to make. Many years ago I took a small daughter to an Author Event at the Exeter (UK) Waterstones. One of the authors was Peter Lovesey. He has the look of an English vicar whose tea parties are the scandal of the parish. He also has extraordinarily bushy eyebrows. He's got extraordinarily bushy eyebrows! said my daughter in one of those whispers that may one day reach Alpha Centauri. Lovesey looked across at us and, if ever eyebrows could be said to twinkle, his did.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So far I have found this mystery series to be enjoyable. Peter Diamond is the last of the old-school English detective, a true gumshoe. In fact, he was fired from the police service and in this story is a security guard at Harrod's. He has taken up the investigation of a small mute child abandoned in the store while he was on duty. Unfortunately it's a bit too far-fetched to be completely satisfying.

[downtownlibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful series. This particular entry involves Big Pharma, a Sumo wrestler, and police forces on several continents. You never know what will happen next with Peter Diamond.

[theoclarke · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although this book contains the many elements that make Lovesey such a favourite of mine, I felt that it was diminished by its plethora of locations. It remains, however, a fine solid mystery novel.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Diamond Solitaire by Peter Lovesey is the second book in his Peter Diamond Mystery series. This book starts off with an alarm going off indicating an intruder on the 7th floor of Harrods Department Store, a search by police discovers a small Japanese girl. This event causes the 7th floor security guard to be sacked but all investigations into who this little girl is come to a dead end. She doesn’t speak and eventually is placed in a school for autistic children. The security guard who lost his job is none other than Peter Diamond, and he decides to find out who this child is and reunite her with her family if possible.Curmudgeon Peter Diamond has met his match with this little girl, Naomi. They form a bond and he is devastated when he arrives at the school one morning to find she has been taken by someone posing as her mother. As he follows the trail to New York City his journey soon involves a pharmaceutical R&D ethics case and murder. Eventually the trail leads to Japan and an exciting conclusion.Even though I have now only read two books of this series, it is fast becoming a favorite. The gruff but tender-hearted Peter Diamond is just one of the many interesting characters in this book. Some of the others include a group of autistic children, a sumo wrestler, and, after coming into contact with Diamond, some very frustrated cops. Diamond Solitaire was a fun read and I am looking forward to the next book.

[ffortsa · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I finished this second installment of the Peter Diamond mystery series, but found it became more annoying and preposterous as it went along. I have the next book in the series on my Kindle, but I might ignore it for a long time to come.