Against the Grain - (Detective Peter Diamond Mystery) by Peter Lovesey

About the Book

"Detective Peter Diamond goes undercover at a seasonal festival in this delightful and bittersweet conclusion to the multi-award-winning series. Detective Peter Diamond, chief of the Avon and Somerset Murder Squad, is taking a short holiday in the country. His former colleague Julie Hargreaves has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville (no relation to the Sherlock Holmes story, so he's told). It turns out Julie's invitation was not without ulterior motives. The woman who owns the village's largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie's ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose-but Julie's been keeping secrets of her own, and can't take her inquiry any further. Diamond takes the bait; the case is a fascinating one, and he's quite enjoying his incognito information-gathering, getting to know the villagers as they prepare for their annual Harvest Festival. The deeper into the cow dung Diamond mucks, the more convinced he becomes there was foul play. But maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. To protect his alias, he might have to learn how to operate a tractor or drive a herd of wayward cows. He might even be forced to attend a hoedown-not that he'd dance, not even to catch a killer. Or would he? The curmudgeonly detective has plenty to learn about himself as he tries on some new hats: undercover private investigator; village detective; country gentleman"--

Book Synopsis

Detective Peter Diamond goes undercover at a seasonal festival in this delightful and bittersweet conclusion to the multi-award-winning series.

Detective Peter Diamond, chief of the Avon and Somerset Murder Squad, is taking a short holiday in the country. His former colleague Julie Hargreaves has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville (no relation to the Sherlock Holmes story, so he's told). It turns out Julie's invitation was not without ulterior motives. The woman who owns the village's largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie's ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose--but Julie's been keeping secrets of her own, and can't take her inquiry any further.

Diamond takes the bait; the case is a fascinating one, and he's quite enjoying his incognito information-gathering, getting to know the villagers as they prepare for their annual Harvest Festival. The deeper into the cow dung Diamond mucks, the more convinced he becomes there was foul play. But maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. To protect his alias, he might have to learn how to operate a tractor or drive a herd of wayward cows. He might even be forced to attend a hoedown--not that he'd dance, not even to catch a killer. Or would he? The curmudgeonly detective has plenty to learn about himself as he tries on some new hats: undercover private investigator; village detective; country gentleman.

Over 30 years and 21 other novels, Peter Lovesey has bewitched his enormous fandom with the wry, stubborn, and fiendishly clever Peter Diamond. Now he brings his Anthony, Macavity, and CWA Dagger-winning series to a close with this delightful and bittersweet final installment.

Review Quotes

Praise for Against the Grain

A Parade Best Mystery Book of 2024

"Crime-fiction writers from Conan Doyle to Dorothy Sayers to Donald Westlake have mixed whimsy with mystery to a lesser or greater degree, but it's hard to name any who've achieved a better balance of comedy with harsh reality than Peter Lovesey . . . In Against the Grain, he has arranged for both his endearing character and himself to bid goodbye to us all in a satisfying and elegant manner."
--Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"Lovesey derives genuine emotion from Diamond's potential retirement, and his golden age-style plotting is as tight as ever. This sends the series out on a high note."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

Praise for Peter Lovesey

"Mr. Lovesey excels at mixing character-driven humor with legitimate suspense."
--The Wall Street Journal

"Lovesey is careful to remind us that Bath holds hidden secrets behind its gracious Georgian architecture . . . Light and dark imagery is a fixture of Lovesey's Bath novels, in which life is lived on many levels, some in full sunshine and others buried in shadow."
--The New York Times Book Review

"Next to Jane Austen, Peter Lovesey is the writer the tourist board of Bath, England, extols most proudly . . . The enduring draw of the Peter Diamond books derives both from the beguiling Bath cityscape and the brusque character of Diamond himself."
--NPR

"Peter Diamond is impatient, belligerent, cunning, insightful, foul, laugh-out-loud funny . . . A superb series."
--Louise Penny

"I'm jealous of everyone discovering Lovesey and Diamond for the first time--you have a wonderful backlist to catch up on. Me, all I can do is wait for the next book."
--Sara Paretsky

"Lovesey is the real deal."
--Seattle Times

"Masterly, atmospheric . . . On the 50th anniversary of the publication of his first novel, Lovesey is still going strong."
--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

About the Author

Peter Lovesey (1936-2025) was the author of more than forty highly praised mystery novels, including the Peter Diamond investigations and the Sergeant Cribb investigations. He was honored with the two highest awards in mystery fiction, Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger of the Crime Writers' Association, as well as many other international accolades. He lived in Shrewsbury, England.