57 books
—
14 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Upon A Dark Night (Peter Diamond, #5)” as Want to Read:
Upon A Dark Night
(Peter Diamond #5)
by
A young woman is dumped, injured and unconscious, in a private hospital’s parking lot. She is an amnesiac with no memory prior to her discovery by hospital personnel. Detective Inspector Peter Diamond of the Bath homicide squad is unwilling to become involved. He has other, more important cases to solve: A woman has plunged to her death from the roof of a local landmark wh
...more
Get A Copy
Paperback, 346 pages
Published
June 1st 2005
by Soho Crime
(first published 1997)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Upon A Dark Night,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Upon A Dark Night
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of Upon A Dark Night (Peter Diamond, #5)
I am a dedicated fan of crime and mystery writing. That is really an understatement because I have read entire series of authors like Louise penny, Dexter Collins, Sue Grafton, Stieg Larsson, Mo Hayder, Henning Mankell, Carl Hiaasen, O. D. James, Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, the original mystery and crime writer Edgar Allan Poe who is credited with inventing the Detective story with The Purloined Letter written in 1844. If ever a writer was b
...more
The focus in this tale was on a girl who experienced total memory loss, how her case was handled and who she made alliance with in the face of social agencies ill equipped to keep her safe. Safe she was not. Really cannot summarize plot without spoilers. Good book.
First Sentence: A young woman opened her eyes.
An unconscious woman, found in a hospital parking lot, awakens to find she has no memory. Released to social services, she is placed in a hostel and befriended and named “Rose” by Ada Shaftsbury; a good soul with a large personality and a penchant for shoplifting. The Bath police have their own problems with the apparent suicides of an elderly farmer by shotgun and a woman off a roof. But were they suicides and how do they link to Rose, whom Ada is p ...more
An unconscious woman, found in a hospital parking lot, awakens to find she has no memory. Released to social services, she is placed in a hostel and befriended and named “Rose” by Ada Shaftsbury; a good soul with a large personality and a penchant for shoplifting. The Bath police have their own problems with the apparent suicides of an elderly farmer by shotgun and a woman off a roof. But were they suicides and how do they link to Rose, whom Ada is p ...more
Maybe if I'd been reading about Peter Diamond for the previous 4 books I'd have liked this one better. The idea of a young woman with amnesia was interesting. Reading from her POV actually worked for me. Being American, I have no idea how accurate her experience with British Social Services was.
Our young woman, christened Rose until she figures out her true name, is put in a sort of apartment with several other women who are at loose ends and can't afford to live on their own. One is a large wom ...more
Our young woman, christened Rose until she figures out her true name, is put in a sort of apartment with several other women who are at loose ends and can't afford to live on their own. One is a large wom ...more
It's a mystery, and a cracking good one. Upon a Dark Night opens with a case of amnesia, a young woman found unconscious in a hospital parking lot. "Rose" is released into the care of Bath Social Services, and is soon reunited with her step-sister. In the meantime, head of murder squad Peter Diamond is bored and listless, in the absence of any murder cases, stuck working on an apparent suicide and a woman who fell off a roof. He won't be bored for long.
Though his colleagues believe Diamond has s ...more
Though his colleagues believe Diamond has s ...more
I am really enjoying this mystery series. Peter Diamond is a great detective who even admits to getting things wrong. In this story he gets a lot wrong before he stumbles into the truth. I enjoy watching his interactions with his second-in-command, Julie Hargraves. He respects her detective skills, but still wanders down the road of misogyny every once in a while...will he get himself out of the current problem he has gotten into with her. While his wife, Stephanie, doesn't appear too often, whe
...more
This is the second Peter Diamond book I've read and I've definitely enjoyed them both! Diamond is a believably flawed, cantankerous, politically incorrect man who has amazing inducive reasoning abilities. He's also very oddly likable. I enjoy the humor in these books and, for me, Ada completely stole the show in this one! I found myself smiling and chuckling many times at her antics. "Rose" was a fascinating character and it was interesting learning about what used to be called fugue state. The
...more
Dec 16, 2016
Mal Warwick
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mysteries-thrillers
A young woman turns up at a private hospital with total amnesia of the incident that left her in a coma — and of everything that came before. She remembers nothing of her life, not even her name. Social Services assigns her the name Rose and moves her into temporary housing once the hospital releases her. There, she encounters a remarkably bright homeless woman named Ada who insists on helping her investigate how she came to be injured. Then a woman turns up who identifies herself as Rose’s sist
...more
Great thriller from an author I hadn’t heard of before. Set in Bath, it’s fast paced, exciting and delightfully English. Couldn’t put it down. Really had me riveted until the very end.
Thanks again to Veronique Bradley for bringing me this book during lockdown.
Thanks again to Veronique Bradley for bringing me this book during lockdown.
Several chapters into this title I knew I had read it some years ago but kept going because the usual convenient forgetfulness I suffer meant I could not recall the progress of the plot or it's finale.
And what a finale!
Also re-reading Lovesey is worth it because he just writes so damn well. Efficiently and vividly. Even during the little side scenes: "The wretched man trudged toward the front door like the closing shot of a somber East European film." How much more succinct can you be in such a ...more
And what a finale!
Also re-reading Lovesey is worth it because he just writes so damn well. Efficiently and vividly. Even during the little side scenes: "The wretched man trudged toward the front door like the closing shot of a somber East European film." How much more succinct can you be in such a ...more
A Diamond I’d forgot to get. I can read out of order and it doesn’t bother me. I liked the scenes in this book with him and Steph, and his relationship with Julie and thought that Lovesey was a master handler with them in the following books. The main character here is a girl who has amnesia, and is befriended by a great comic female with kleptomania, one of the two corpses is also a girl. So Diamond is surrounded by women, with the exception of his hated rival, D.S. Wigfull. Let us say that he
...more
Lovesey certainly knows how to spin a good tale. This book featuring DCI Peter Diamond finds him and his partner searching for a young woman who has lost her memory and may or may not be involved in a murder disguised as a suicide. When a second murder cum suicide occurs, the chase is on even though Diamond takes a few wrong turns on the way to the solution. This is one of my favorites of the Peter Diamond series and it will keep you guessing as red herrings abound. Recommended.
This was another excellent mystery by Lovesey! I read it over a wedding weekend trip to Atlanta and was not disappointed. From the very beginning he had me hooked with the young woman who has suffered amnesia. The setting of Bath is always a welcome one and I thought the characters were excellent especially Ada and "Rose"
Highly recommended!! ...more
Highly recommended!! ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
I read Peter Lovesey's WHOLE Peter Diamond series (16 books in all) in June and July of 2017, sequentially and without an iota of boredom. Forgive me for posting this as a comment/review into each book's space: I didn't think to do it as I was reading morning to night with no intervening literature.
The main detective, Peter Diamond, a few other police types, and a couple of non-police characters are incorporated into a series of crimes set in and around Bath, England. Historical and literary inc ...more
The main detective, Peter Diamond, a few other police types, and a couple of non-police characters are incorporated into a series of crimes set in and around Bath, England. Historical and literary inc ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
It's a complicated story. A well-dressed woman with no memory is left in the parking lot of a hospital. She's banged up a bit. What happened to her? Who is she? Why has she no memory?
A local farmer is found dead of an apparent suicide. Well, he was a loner and maybe depressed, but the manner of suicide seems impossible.
A young German woman is found dead in the street after a big party. She had been seen earlier on the roof. Did she jump or was she pushed? Was it an accident or deliberate?
The Bat ...more
A local farmer is found dead of an apparent suicide. Well, he was a loner and maybe depressed, but the manner of suicide seems impossible.
A young German woman is found dead in the street after a big party. She had been seen earlier on the roof. Did she jump or was she pushed? Was it an accident or deliberate?
The Bat ...more
This is the first time that I have read a Peter Lovesey novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He writes at a good pace, keeps the story going, no boring bits and though sometimes a little predictable ( like most authors are at times ) also writes with a sense of humour.
A young woman is left in a hospital car park, she is found to have lost her memory. An old farmer is discovered in his cottage with his head half blown off and a shotgun between his legs. From there on, an intriguing case for DI Pete ...more
A young woman is left in a hospital car park, she is found to have lost her memory. An old farmer is discovered in his cottage with his head half blown off and a shotgun between his legs. From there on, an intriguing case for DI Pete ...more
Recommend to fans of police procedurals.
Loved the story which was a little different to normal. 3 seperate events - a woman dumped outside a private hospital with total memory loss, a farmer committing suicide and a young woman who fell from the roof of a building, which turn out to be connected.
I found the detective, Peter Diamond a little too grumpy for my taste.
I must admit I became very distracted at times because the story is set in an area I know very well. Unfortunately, knowing the area ...more
Loved the story which was a little different to normal. 3 seperate events - a woman dumped outside a private hospital with total memory loss, a farmer committing suicide and a young woman who fell from the roof of a building, which turn out to be connected.
I found the detective, Peter Diamond a little too grumpy for my taste.
I must admit I became very distracted at times because the story is set in an area I know very well. Unfortunately, knowing the area ...more
This story begins with a young woman stricken with amnesia and found in a hospital parking lot with no identification. Social Services puts her up in a hostel where she makes friends with Ada and Hildegard, and they are suspicious when a woman claiming to be her sister shows up and whisks her away. Then Hildegard falls or is pushed from a roof, and Ada turns up at the police station, demanding to be taken seriously. She is the most interesting character in the book, and could be a good recurring
...more
A woman is dumped in a parking lot, suffering a concussion and memory loss. Another young woman falls off a roof during a party. An elderly man is found shot through the head in an apparent suicide. As Peter Diamond investigates these separate incidents, he finds what could be a common thread running through them.
Diamond, with all his faults, is a highly likable character and this series is a delight to read. This mystery is complex, and the motive doesn't seem strong enough in the end, but over ...more
Diamond, with all his faults, is a highly likable character and this series is a delight to read. This mystery is complex, and the motive doesn't seem strong enough in the end, but over ...more
When a young woman is found dumped in a hospital parking lot with no memory of who she is, DI Peter Diamond of the Bath police isn't interested. He has more important cases:that of a young woman who fell, or was pushed, from the roof of a house on the Royal Crescent, and that of an elderly farmer who allegedly shot himself - or did he? However, when it turns out all three cases are intertwined, Diamond becomes very interested indeed. Good plotting, moments of humour and wonderful descriptions of
...more
(3.5) The 5th in the Peter Diamond series. A young woman awakes in a hospital with no memory of who she is, what her name is, where she lives. She (nicknamed "Rose" for now) and her new friend Ada seem to be making headway in learning more about her when a woman who says she's Rose's sister comes and whisks her away. Meanwhile, a cantankerous old farmer has died of a shotgun wound through the jaw, and a young woman is found dead after a fall from a roof during a party. Of course, everything is c
...more
I had read another book in this series a few years ago and disliked the Peter Diamond character. After watching Vera and Cracker on BBC, i got a better understanding of the "obese and obnoxious but competent detective" genre. Once you kind of get that, then Diamond is actually just fine. I just finished The Last Detective and then picked up Upon a Dark Night, which is even better; i'm flying through it and can't put it down. i look forward to trying other books in this series.
...more
I love detective mysteries but had never read any of Lovesey’s Peter Diamond books, or any of his writing. I completely enjoyed “Upon a Dark Night”. He gave just enough clues to think I had it all solved, only to find I didn’t. Great book & great author. I guarantee I will be reading more of Diamond’s adventures!
Well structured mystery
This was another good Peter Lovesay mystery, well structured. Starting with a woman with amnesia, the story evolves on multiple disparate fronts not coming together till the end. My one complaint is the "motive" of the murderer. It could have been fleshed out more. Still, a good easy read that held my interest to the end. ...more
This was another good Peter Lovesay mystery, well structured. Starting with a woman with amnesia, the story evolves on multiple disparate fronts not coming together till the end. My one complaint is the "motive" of the murderer. It could have been fleshed out more. Still, a good easy read that held my interest to the end. ...more
I have to admit that this one had me stumped right up to the end. I can usually put the clues together and come up with a hypothesis on whodunit and why partway into a crime novel. But this one proved to be tricky. Not that anything was hidden from the reader that wasn't hidden from the characters. It was just a well-thought-out plot with enough twists to keep you guessing. Well done.
...more
Feb 23, 2020
Frederick (Ted) and Barbara K. Hecht
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Super
Not surprisingly, this is an excellent tale with a lovely charming ending. Peter Lovesey is, of course, a fine writer. Peter Diamond, his best-known creation, is a diamond in the rough. A large one.
And “Upon a Dark Night” is a page-turner so well crafted that it warrants rereading.
Not surprisingly, this is an excellent tale with a lovely charming ending. Peter Lovesey is, of course, a fine writer. Peter Diamond, his best-known creation, is a diamond in the rough. A large one.
And “Upon a Dark Night” is a page-turner so well crafted that it warrants rereading.
This is book 4 in a series of British detective stories with Peter Diamond as the protagonist. In this story, an elderly farmer has been found dead (suicide?)and a young woman has been found injured in the parking lot of a local hospital. Working these two cases into a single one, CID Diamond cleverly untwists the connection. Great read.
I like this series. I'm getting used to them now. You have to be alert to every character being relevant and the circle coming round to those you met early on. Peter Diamond is a rich and flawed character, his wife is sensible and his female deputy challenges his sexist attitudes. It was good to be introduced to the fascinatingly named Ingeborg Smith who features in later stories. All good stuff!
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Readers also enjoyed
Peter (Harmer) Lovesey (born 1936 in Whitton, Middlesex) is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath. Lovesey's novels and stories mainly fall into the category of entertaining puzzlers in the "Golden
...more
Other books in the series
Peter Diamond
(1 - 10 of 19 books)
News & Interviews
Ah yes, the allure of new love! Be prepared to be charmed, wooed, and—of course—seduced by these most popular romance novels of the past three...
195 likes · 69 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
