Short Synopsis
Assigned to investigate the theft of a priceless stamp from a local museum, detective Peter Diamond of the Bath police department soon stumbles upon a homicide linked to the theft and must use all his sleuthing skills to uncover a multiple murderer.

Full Synopsis
A rare stamp and a corpse are discovered in Bath within hours of each other. As he investigates, Inspector Peter Diamond discovers that both the person who found the stamp and the victim belong to the Bloodhounds, an elite group of mystery lovers, who now urge Diamond to bring the murderer to justice. But there's a hitch: the body lies inside a padlocked houseboat and the only key is in the pocket of a man with an airtight alibi.

"Lovesey demonstrates that his embrace of crime fiction reaches from John Dickson Carr to Andrew Vachss as he skillfully pays homage to the old style whodunit in this thoroughly modern mystery." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

“A perfect blend of psychology and technique.” ---Boston Review

“Lovesey, always something of a Golden Age writer out of his time, provides some ingenious variations on the old ‘locked room’ mystery formula, while gleefully lecturing the reader on genre lore.” ---Kirkus

"A real brain-banger. . . . This pyrotechnic teaser had my head spinning." ---New York Times

Publishers Weekly Review