This is yet another of Lovesey’s Peter Diamond mysteries, and frankly it’s not up to par. The writing’s nice, and I enjoyed it well enough, but the Maguffin fails to convince.

The book begins with that hoary chestnut, a person waking up in the hospital with no memory of their past life. I can cope with that; if it’s hoary it’s also remarkably effective if properly used. In fact, I was with Lovesey right up to the moment where we find out why the individual has amnesia. I won’t go into details–it’s a good series, and if you like the others you might as well read this one as well–but the mechanism failed to satisfy. Diamond doesn’t seem entirely himself, either; I think he’s a bit restrained. But there are some good characters, and if the story isn’t up to snuff Lovesey’s story-telling almost makes up for it.

Ah, well, no one bats a thousand.