I think I have read most if not all Mr Lovesey’s, Peter Diamond books. This one is a little different to any of the others in that it features a Private Eye, Johnny Getz, (no relation to Stan Getz the jazz saxophonist). Diamond meets Johnny Getz while he is trying to enjoy a quiet drink at the end of a working week in his local. Getz is working for a new client, the daughter of an antiques’ dealer trying to trace her missing father.
Diamond reluctantly gets involved in Getz’s inquiry when with his client they investigate the break in at the shop that had prompted the hunt for the antique shop’s owner. The story is a convoluted one, entwining the world of art, high class consumerism, journalism and of course murder.
Johnny Getz the Eye in question, models himself on the fictional thirties and forties private eyes created by among others, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. However, the mean streets Getz pounds, are not those of forties California but the somewhat grander ones of present day Bath.
Diamond doesn’t welcome the intrusion of this reincarnation of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, as Getz acknowledges in his own account of events. However, eventually an uneasy alliance is formed to solve the case.
I enjoyed the story, although I found the point of view of Mr Getz a little difficult to cope with to start with. It will be interesting to see if Mr Getz turns up in future books.
A quick, absorbing and enjoyable read; well done Mr Lovesey.
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