Reviews for Upon A Dark Night

The average rating for Upon A Dark Night based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-05-31 00:00:00 Martha Elizalde I am a dedicated fan of crime and mystery writing. That is really an understatement because I have read entire series of authors like Louise penny, Dexter Collins, Sue Grafton, Stieg Larsson, Mo Hayder, Henning Mankell, Carl Hiaasen, O. D. James, Lawrence Block, Harlan Coben, Patricia Cornwell, Arthur Conan Doyle and of course, the original mystery and crime writer Edgar Allan Poe who is credited with inventing the Detective story with The Purloined Letter written in 1844. If ever a writer was before his time, it was Poe who first recognized the importance of elements of writing a great detective story: Good setting, interesting characters, high tension, complex riddles, a realistic premise and a red herring dragged across the trail to heighten the readers interest. As soon as I finish a series, I declare it is the best I have read, so now that I have just finished the Peter Lovesey's series with CID inspector Peter Diamond as the main character, I again shout bravo! Upon a Dark Night is the fifth in a series of ten with the latest being The Tooth Tattoo published in 2013. I have only four to go and will be desolate when I finish declaring to myself, "Why did I read so quickly?" I have the consolation this time of another series by Lovesey with Sergeant Cripp. I especially enjoy Lovesey's use of allusions to classic literature. In one passage another detective asks if a woman could have ripped a tire with a sharp blade, and Diamond says if anything, she was more forceful than her husband and quotes the passage from Macbeth where Lady says to her husband who has failed to kill the king: "Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers." Another powerful strong point is his humor. Diamond has a phobia against being driven fast in a car and on one occasion where he is being careened around corners he asks the youthful looking driver how long he has been driving: "Since my seventeenth birthday, sir." he replies and Diamond asks, "How old are you now?" and the boy replies, "Eighteen, sir." Diamond's witty retorts are priceless and his imagery powerful as he tells his cohort Julie, "You are driving as if you had a sleeping cobra on your lap." His dialogue is witty, brusque, and filled with one-liners like his terse conversation with his wife when Diamond is slow to leave for work one morning when he is scheduled to view a autopsy which he detests, "She taps on the bathroom door and inquires, "Are you all right in there?" He replies, "Why? Are you waiting to get in?" "No, I am only asking. As you know how the time is going." He replies curtly, "Sixty minutes an hour when I last heard." And his wife's reply: "Sorry I spoke my lord." This book is meticulous in plot, characterization, and presenting the perfect riddle to be solved. I give it an A+.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-02-24 00:00:00 Carlos Alvarez The focus in this tale was on a girl who experienced total memory loss, how her case was handled and who she made alliance with in the face of social agencies ill equipped to keep her safe. Safe she was not. Really cannot summarize plot without spoilers. Good book.