This is the thirteenth British DS Peter Diamond novel. I had not planned to read it so soon after Diamond Dust, but when I closed that book, I realized a profound truth about TBRs and omnibuses: you cannot remove the book from the TBR until you have read both stories.
Shirley-Ann, who is new to Bath, joins the local crime fiction club, The Bloodhounds, a small group of individualists who discuss their favourite subgenres heatedly. Then a very valuable stamp is stolen, and one of the group is involved in the crime - apparently someone has grown tired of fictional crime and decided to play games with the local police.
This book struck me as more interesting than Diamond Dust, partly because the characters, e.g. the female members of the crime fiction club, Shirley-Ann and Jessica, seemed more real to me. Besides, lovers of crime fiction will probably enjoy the discussions of real crime fiction writers.
It is not likely that I will read all the volumes before these two (see my review of Diamond Dust), but I may return to Peter Diamond at some point.
I bought the omnibus myself.
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5 kommentarer:
Dorte - I've had that happen, too, with omnibuses, so I know what you mean about not being able to stop in the middle. I'm glad you thought Bloodhounds was a decent read, and that crime fiction club sounds interesting!
I'm interested in the fact that you thought it was the characters that made a difference to your enjoyment of the book...that they seemed more real. So did he write different characters for "Bloodhounds" or did he just portray them more realistically than in "Diamond Dust?"
Margot: I think you´d enjoy the interesting members of the crime club a lot.
Elizabeth: good question (scratching my neck). I think these ´book fanatics´ struck me as more engaging, more fleshed out with both positive and negative sides than the fairly bland criminals of Diamond Dust. And to be honest, the lonely copper chasing his wife´s murderer has been done before, hasn´t it?
Sounds like a clever plot. I especially like the idea of the fictional characters discussing real crime writers.
Kelly: yes, that was also an element that appealed to me - characters I could relate to!
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