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Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is the last detective: a genuine gumshoe, committed to door-stopping and deduction rather than fancy computer gadgetry. So when the naked body of a woman is found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath with no one willing to identify her, no marks, and no murder weapon, his sleuthing abilities are tested to the limit.
Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.
The producer of a troubled play invites the cast to spend the weekend in his remote Scottish Highlands estate to hash out the problems. When the housemaid finds the playwright murdered in bed, Thomas Lynley and his partner must unmask the villain.
Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife's death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause. But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he's so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for.
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.
Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who've screwed up cases in any number of ways - by leaving a secret file on a train or blowing a surveillance. River Cartwright, one such "slow horse", is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself.
Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond is the last detective: a genuine gumshoe, committed to door-stopping and deduction rather than fancy computer gadgetry. So when the naked body of a woman is found floating in the weeds in a lake near Bath with no one willing to identify her, no marks, and no murder weapon, his sleuthing abilities are tested to the limit.
Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.
The producer of a troubled play invites the cast to spend the weekend in his remote Scottish Highlands estate to hash out the problems. When the housemaid finds the playwright murdered in bed, Thomas Lynley and his partner must unmask the villain.
Homicide Detective Max Rupert never fully accepted his wife's death, even when he believed that a reckless hit and run driver was the cause. But when he learns that in fact she was murdered, he devotes himself to hunting down her killers. Most of his life he had thought of himself as a decent man. But now he's so consumed with thoughts of retribution that he questions whether he will take that last step and enact the vengeance he longs for.
When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.
Slough House is a dumping ground for British intelligence agents who've screwed up cases in any number of ways - by leaving a secret file on a train or blowing a surveillance. River Cartwright, one such "slow horse", is bitter about his failure and about his tedious assignment transcribing cell phone conversations. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, River sees an opportunity to redeem himself.
In the small hours of a Sunday morning in the city of Bath a policeman on beat duty is shot dead by an unseen gunman - the third killing of an officer in Somerset in a matter of weeks.
The emergency services are summoned. Ambitious to arrest the Somerset Sniper, the duty inspector, Ken Lockton, seals the crime scene, which is confined by the river on one side and a massive retaining wall on the other. He discovers the murder weapon in a garden - and is himself attacked and left for dead.
Enter Peter Diamond, Bath's burly CID chief. Middle-aged and not built for action, he pits himself and his team against the killer in a hunt that will test his physical powers to the limit....
It felt as if this book was written by a different author than the books at the beginning of the series. The characters were not as developed and the story seemed to wander. I think I will go back and listen to the earlier books but I will not listen to this book again.
Lovesey always has good story to tell, cops and robber's with twist & turn to keep you listening.
Well narrated with good range of voices.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This is book number 12 in the Peter Diamond series and, up to now, I have heard and loved every one of them. This one was, for me, rather tedious. There was far too much time spent in a wooded area - it went on for ages and became boring. I also found the sub plot with the amateur detectives tiresome. Had this been my first Peter Diamond book I would not have gone further with Peter Lovesey's detective - incidentally Mr Diamond seems to be getting more and more curmudgeonly with each book.
Would you be willing to try another book from Peter Lovesey? Why or why not?
I will certainly be going on to find what adventure Peter Diamond has next. This last book was, as I said, a disappointment but it has not put me off the series
What about Michael Tudor Barnes’s performance did you like?
I find this reader quite the best one for portraying the detective and the rest of the cast.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
My only reaction was one of disappointment that it made me feel rather bored.
Once again, Peter Lvesay has produced an interesting storyline with enough twists to keep the listener or reader guessing.
Where does Cop to Corpse rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
A story with enough contrast between thought and action to keep the pace moving. The plot is gentle enough to keep the blood pressure under control and at the same time has enough red herrings to hold the interest.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Cop to Corpse?
Diamond is fallible enough to be believable. Some of the action scenes are well written and portray a man past his best physically but on top of his game mentally.
Have you listened to any of Michael Tudor Barnes’s other performances? How does this one compare?
MTB never disapoints - good characterisation without descending in to caricatures
Any additional comments?
Don't be put off by some other reviews. If you like a story in the classic detective style and want a plot that you can gently walk through, have a lsiten. If you want wizz bang or great literature -look elsewhere.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
Did not at all work for me. Turgid. Had to look that up. But it is. The reader did his best. . Read great PL in the past. But this one . No. Sorry.....
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
What would have made Cop to Corpse better?
I really can't even be bothered to finish listening to this story, some tales are dull and slow and this is one of them. Beautifully read but that's no help !
Would you ever listen to anything by Peter Lovesey again?
no
What about Michael Tudor Barnes’s performance did you like?
lovely voice and diction
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Cop to Corpse?
most of it
Any additional comments?
very dull
1 of 3 people found this review helpful