Down Among the Dead Men: A Peter Diamond Investigation

In Lovesey’s less-than-inspired 15th Peter Diamond whodunit (after 2014’s The Stone Wife), the chief superintendent’s annoying and clueless boss, Asst. Chief Constable Georgina Dallymore, asks him to partner with her on a sensitive internal investigation. The Chichester CID is under a cloud after a senior officer, who turns out to be an old friend of Diamond’s, is accused of allowing personal feelings to affect a homicide inquiry. In 2007, Danny Stapleton was charged with murder after he was found driving a stolen car with a corpse in the trunk. But DNA evidence indicates that the investigating officer’s niece was in the vehicle as well, though that lead was never pursued. Early on, Diamond suspects that another agenda is at work in assigning Dallymore to the case. In a subplot, an art teacher goes missing from a Sussex girls’ school. The byplay between Diamond and Dallymore compensates for a mystery that’s not one of the series’ best. [em]Agent: Jane Gelfman, Gelfman Schneider. (July) [/em]