Close Modal

The House Sitter

Look inside
Paperback
$16.95 US
5.06"W x 7.55"H x 0.93"D   | 15 oz | 24 per carton
On sale Jun 01, 2004 | 374 Pages | 978-1-56947-361-0
"Peter Lovesey loves strong women, cerebral killers and diabolical puzzles—the very ingredients that make The House Sitter one of the most cunning mysteries in his Inspector Diamond series." The New York Times Book Review 

The corpse of a beautiful woman, clad in only a bathing suit, is found strangled to death on a popular Sussex beach. When she is finally identified, it turns out she was a top profiler for the National Crime Faculty, who was working on the case of a serial killer. And though she was a Bath resident, the authorities don't want Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond to investigate the murder. How strange. What could they be trying to hide?
Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Mystery Writers of America 2018 Grandmaster

Praise for The House Sitter


Winner of the Macavity Award
A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery of the Year
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Shortlisted for the Barry Award 

"Peter Lovesey loves strong women, cerebral killers and diabolical puzzles—the very ingredients that make The House Sitter one of the most cunning mysteries in his Inspector Diamond series."
—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“Splendid . . . [an] elegant and suspenseful puzzle.”
Los Angeles Times
 
“An extraordinary mystery.”
Chicago Tribune
 
“Compelling . . . a tour de force.”
Boston Herald
 
“Lovesey demonstrates . . . how richly he deserves the British Crime Writers Association’s Lifetime Achievement award . . . Lovesey is a master of intricate plotting. A Paiute water basket is not more tightly constructed than this extraordinary story nor more exquisite. The identity of the killer, when finally revealed, is genuinely startling.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
“An ingenious and complex novel, this is Lovesey at the top of his form.”
Booklist, Starred Review
 
“This deliciously intricate puzzle makes for very pleasurable reading. The plotting is airtight, and there are any number of arresting and interesting characters.”
Denver Post
 
“True wit is the hallmark of the classic British mystery, and Peter Lovesey delivers it, and a lot more, in The House Sitter . . . A literate and delightful mystery."
Baltimore Sun

Praise for The Peter Diamond series


“Peter Diamond is impatient, belligerent, cunning, insightful, foul, laugh-out-loud funny . . . A superb series.”
—Louise Penny
 
“I’m jealous of everyone discovering Lovesey and Diamond for the first time—you have a wonderful backlist to catch up on. Me, all I can do is wait for the next book.”
—Sara Paretsky
 
“What'll it be today? A knotty puzzle mystery? A fast-paced police procedural? Something more high-toned, with a bit of wit? With the British author Peter Lovesey, there's no need to make those agonizing decisions, because his books have it all.”
—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Mr. Lovesey's narrative is swift, but he takes time out for local color and abundant humor, the latter springing from the book's quirky characters . . . Lovesey is a wizard at mixing character-driven comedy with realistic-to-grim suspense. And in a writing career spanning four decades, he has created a stylish and varied body of work.”
The Wall Street Journal
 
“Next to Jane Austen, Peter Lovesey is the writer the tourist board of Bath, England, extols most proudly . . . The enduring draw of the Peter Diamond books derives both from the beguiling Bath cityscape and the brusque character of Diamond himself.”
—NPR
Peter Lovesey is the author of more than thirty highly praised mystery novels, including the Peter Diamond Investigations and the Sergeant Cribb Investigations. He has been awarded the CWA Gold and Silver Daggers, the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, the Strand Magazine Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards, and many other honors. He lives in West Sussex, England. View titles by Peter Lovesey

About

"Peter Lovesey loves strong women, cerebral killers and diabolical puzzles—the very ingredients that make The House Sitter one of the most cunning mysteries in his Inspector Diamond series." The New York Times Book Review 

The corpse of a beautiful woman, clad in only a bathing suit, is found strangled to death on a popular Sussex beach. When she is finally identified, it turns out she was a top profiler for the National Crime Faculty, who was working on the case of a serial killer. And though she was a Bath resident, the authorities don't want Detective Superintendent Peter Diamond to investigate the murder. How strange. What could they be trying to hide?

Praise

Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Mystery Writers of America 2018 Grandmaster

Praise for The House Sitter


Winner of the Macavity Award
A Publishers Weekly Best Mystery of the Year
Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
Shortlisted for the Barry Award 

"Peter Lovesey loves strong women, cerebral killers and diabolical puzzles—the very ingredients that make The House Sitter one of the most cunning mysteries in his Inspector Diamond series."
—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“Splendid . . . [an] elegant and suspenseful puzzle.”
Los Angeles Times
 
“An extraordinary mystery.”
Chicago Tribune
 
“Compelling . . . a tour de force.”
Boston Herald
 
“Lovesey demonstrates . . . how richly he deserves the British Crime Writers Association’s Lifetime Achievement award . . . Lovesey is a master of intricate plotting. A Paiute water basket is not more tightly constructed than this extraordinary story nor more exquisite. The identity of the killer, when finally revealed, is genuinely startling.”
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
 
“An ingenious and complex novel, this is Lovesey at the top of his form.”
Booklist, Starred Review
 
“This deliciously intricate puzzle makes for very pleasurable reading. The plotting is airtight, and there are any number of arresting and interesting characters.”
Denver Post
 
“True wit is the hallmark of the classic British mystery, and Peter Lovesey delivers it, and a lot more, in The House Sitter . . . A literate and delightful mystery."
Baltimore Sun

Praise for The Peter Diamond series


“Peter Diamond is impatient, belligerent, cunning, insightful, foul, laugh-out-loud funny . . . A superb series.”
—Louise Penny
 
“I’m jealous of everyone discovering Lovesey and Diamond for the first time—you have a wonderful backlist to catch up on. Me, all I can do is wait for the next book.”
—Sara Paretsky
 
“What'll it be today? A knotty puzzle mystery? A fast-paced police procedural? Something more high-toned, with a bit of wit? With the British author Peter Lovesey, there's no need to make those agonizing decisions, because his books have it all.”
—The New York Times Book Review
 
“Mr. Lovesey's narrative is swift, but he takes time out for local color and abundant humor, the latter springing from the book's quirky characters . . . Lovesey is a wizard at mixing character-driven comedy with realistic-to-grim suspense. And in a writing career spanning four decades, he has created a stylish and varied body of work.”
The Wall Street Journal
 
“Next to Jane Austen, Peter Lovesey is the writer the tourist board of Bath, England, extols most proudly . . . The enduring draw of the Peter Diamond books derives both from the beguiling Bath cityscape and the brusque character of Diamond himself.”
—NPR

Author

Peter Lovesey is the author of more than thirty highly praised mystery novels, including the Peter Diamond Investigations and the Sergeant Cribb Investigations. He has been awarded the CWA Gold and Silver Daggers, the Cartier Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement, the Strand Magazine Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards, and many other honors. He lives in West Sussex, England. View titles by Peter Lovesey