Cop to Corpse

Starred review from April 2, 2012
Who’s gunning for beat cops? That’s the frantic question Peter Diamond must try to answer in British author Lovesey’s superlative 12th novel featuring the irascible chief superintendent (after 2011’s Stagestruck). The so-called Somerset Sniper has killed three police constables in three months, most recently one shot in the head while on foot patrol in Bath. The lack of an apparent connection among the dead men points to a maniac randomly targeting the police, but Diamond, who as usual dissents from the obvious theory, seeks a link that could suggest a rational motive for the crimes and the selection of victims. Diamond and his colleagues come tantalizingly close in a number of nail-biting scenes to trapping the murderer, only to have him escape and possibly strike soon again. Lovesey, winner of the CWA Gold and Silver Daggers, leavens the suspense with Diamond’s trademark gallows humor, and closes with one of his cleverest solutions. Agent: Jane Gelfman, Gelfman Schneider.