The Circle

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"A treat....Lovesey's restraint, wit, and charming cast ensure him a place in the winners' circle."—Entertainment Weekly Van driver Bob Naylor, a jingle writer, joins the Chichester Writer’s Circle fearing that he will be shunned by literary snobs. Instead, he finds himself plunged into the midst of a circle of murder victims and murder suspects—including himself. The other members, enthusiastic but not necessarily talented, come from all walks of life and write all sorts of things: fantasy, household hints, even torrid romances, but there seems to be no common thread to tie the arson victims together. Inspector Henrietta Mallin, Peter Diamond’s partner from The House Sitter, is the investigator in charge of the case and with Bob’s help—and despite other would-be sleuths’ hindrance—she discovers the motive for the serial murders and the identifies the killer.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Inspector Henrietta "Hen" Mallin, an ingenious and acerbic sleuth who played a supporting role in Lovesey's Peter Diamond novel The House Sitter (2003), proves herself fully capable of carrying a story on her own when she takes over a serial murder case connected with the Chichester Writers' Circle, an eccentric amateur writers' group The chair of that group, an author hoping to make a splash with a work on unsolved mysteries, has already been arrested for the arson that killed an unscrupulous publisher who used a speaking invitation before the writers' group to lure his eager audience into a vanity publishing racket. But while the writer's incarcerated, a similar attempt is made on the life of an aspiring poet who's the group's newest member, followed by two more fatal fires. Lovesey's trademark dark humor and playfulness are very much in evidence, as he presents a crafty fair-play puzzle replete with quirky, three-dimensional characters. As with his classic Diamond novel, Bloodhounds, Lovesey employs the device of competing amateur detectives to good effect, increasing suspense and conveying valuable clues through their efforts. While there's every reason to believe Diamond has plenty of life left in him, traditional mystery fans will have no regrets if Lovesey's next few books continue to focus on Mallin. (June 7)From BooklistIn The House Sitter (2003), Inspector Diamond teamed up with Inspector Henrietta Mallin to solve a murder. Now it's Mallin who gets an assist from Diamond. A publisher of shaky repute has been murdered--incinerated in his own home. The chairman of a local writers' group is a prime suspect, but the other members of the group think he's innocent. They appoint the group's newcomer to spearhead their inquiries, and eventually (close to halfway through the book) Mallin applies her own unique gifts to the mystery. The pace may seem a tad languid for some readers, and it's certainly unusual for the star of a story to delay her appearance so long. But Lovesey's portrait of the Chichester Writers' Circle and its members is agreeable and amusing, and the mystery itself is engaging enough to keep us turning the pages. Mallin's potential as a series lead remains unrealized, but she's undeniably a strong and likable character. This isn't Lovesey's best novel, but when a writer is this accomplished, even a pedestrian offering is still pretty darn good. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved