Breakaway Books

Authored by Peter Lovesey; Published 1991; Mystery

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️

The hero of The Last Detective, Peter Diamond, is a classic hardboiled detective. Thirty years after publication, he doesn’t look quite as heroic as he used to, but the mystery is as compelling as ever.

The Last Detective follows English detective Peter Diamond as he solves the murder of TV star Geraldine Snow. Along the way, he gets caught up in the theft of rare Jane Austen letters and a drug trafficking scheme. The mystery was exceedingly well-constructed, with just enough information to leave the reader guessing and then satisfied with the conclusion. 

But, Diamond himself looks very different in 2024. Reading the novel, I was almost confused—was I supposed to see this blunt man, skeptical of science, technology and change, as the hero? He came off as almost immediately unlikeable, even lazy, to me. His attitude with regard to accusations of police brutality has aged possibly worst of all, clearly no longer in step with the times. The other police officers seem afraid of his occasional outbursts, all of which made him out to be nearly a villain. 

Fortunately, with the emphasis on interrogations and the perspectives of the witnesses, much of the novel isn’t told from his perspective. I found these long episodes, narrated by two of the suspects, to be refreshing intervals. As the novel came to a close, I was surprised to be enthused by the complex mystery, if not the primary detective. The novel followed the case from the discovery of the body all the way through the trial—and I found the peek into the British court system quite interesting, especially in its differences from the American system.

The Last Detective is a classic mystery, with all of the positive and negative implications that come along with it. If you’re looking for an old-school caper, this could fit the bill!