Paula Messina Reviews: The Finisher by Peter Lovesey

  

Please welcome back Paula Messina to the blog today…

 

 

 

The Finisher

by Paula Messina

 

In The Finisher, the nineteenth installment in the Peter Diamond Investigation series, Peter Lovesey weaves sexual depravity, human trafficking, and a half marathon into an entertaining mystery that keeps the reader guessing until the end.

Lovesey fills his story with a cornucopia of characters. First, there’s Diamond himself, a likable if irritable character with a penchant for making and finding trouble. Among the suspects: Maeve Kelly, who is not an athlete, or so her mother insists. When Maeve accidentally destroys a valuable Toby jug marked for donation to the British Heart Foundation, she feels obligated to train for the Other Half, Bath’s annual half marathon. To her surprise, she has no trouble finding generous sponsors for BHF. Maeve cannot back out. She has to finish the race, so she starts training. Her fellow teacher, the athletic Trevor, provides Maeve with advice, advice she is glad to do without. While running, Maeve hears cries for help and comes to the aid of Olga, a Russian who was beaten and robbed. This chance encounter blossoms into a close friendship.

Meanwhile, Albanians Spiro and Murat are on the run after they escape the Finisher, the enforcer of human trafficking victims. Spiro and Murat will pay with their lives if the Finisher finds them. The Finisher has already killed and won’t hesitate to do it again. The day of the race, Spiro believes there is safety in the Other Half crowds. He quickly realizes that was wishful thinking.

Spiro isn’t the only one who encounters danger at the half marathon. Twelve years before, Diamond helped put sexual predator Tony Pinto behind bars for viciously attacking a woman. When he spots Pinto in the pack of runners, Diamond realizes the long stretch up the river didn’t cured Pinto’s predilections. Pinto is up to his old tricks harassing runner Belinda Pye. When Belinda goes missing, Diamond is convinced Pinto killed her and organizes a search for her body. Diamond’s instincts are on the money. A body is discovered in one of Bath’s many abandoned quarries.

Lovesey is great at surprising his reader. Just when the reader thinks he knows where the story is going, Lovesey pulls the old switcheroo and yanks the reader in an unexpected direction. He also employs subtle humor throughout. Lovesey is no slouch in the breathless prose department. For example, here’s the novel’s opening:

“The city of Bath isn’t all about Roman plumbing and Georgian architecture.

“It offers unrivaled facilities for getting rid of unwanted corpses. Beneath the cream, sun-kissed squares, crescents and terraces is a rat-infested underworld undreamed of by most visitors, a dark, dank warren of cellars, vaults, culverts, sewers and drains.”

It’s easy to imagine the inestimable Charles Dickens giving Lovesey a thumbs up.

Bath is as much as character as Diamond and the rest of the cast. Maeve’s training takes the reader on the ups and downs of Bath’s terrain. Diamond’s search for Belinda descends into Bath’s abandoned stone quarries.

The cover of The Finisher, which was published in 2020, notes “fifty years of Peter Lovesey mysteries.” The author blurb says he wrote “forty highly praised mystery novels.” The number of books now is closer to fifty. The masterful, wry Lovesey, who received numerous awards and recognition, including being named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, died this past April, but Peter Diamond lives. As do nearly fifty more novels for readers to savor. 

Amazon Associate Purchase Link:  https://amzn.to/4mFezaK 

 

Paula Messina ©2025

Paula Messina is a native New Englander who writes contemporary, historical, and humorous fiction as well as essays. Her work has appeared in such publications as Black Cat Weekly, Devil’s Snare, Wolfsbane, Ovunque Siamo, and THEMA. She does not own a cat.