The Headhunters
An Inspector Hen Mallin Investigation
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3.6 • 8 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Praise for Peter Lovesey:
“Lovesey’s restrained wit and charming cast ensure him a place in the winner’s circle.”—Entertainment Weekly
“A master of black humor and macabre plot twists.”—The New York Times Book Review
“One of Britain’s foremost mystery novelists.”—Houston Chronicle
“Lovesey is a master.”—The Washington Post Book World
“One of the delights of contemporary crime fi ction.”—The Wall Street Journal
Gemma loathes her sleazy boss; Jo is her confidante. On a double date with Rick and Jake, they discuss forming a mutual murder society, in jest of course. The next day, Jo, walking on Selsey Beach, discovers the corpse of a drowned woman, a stranger. But one of the men in the lineup at the police station is Gemma’s date Jake, who Jo rather fancies.
Then Gemma and Jo discover the corpse of Fiona, Gemma’s annoying colleague from work. And Gemma’s boss is missing. When an older woman whom Rick was involved with is drowned in her pool, the police begin to close in.
Can this outbreak of deaths by drowning be coincidental? Or has the joke gone too far?
Peter Lovesey has been awarded the Silver, Gold, and Diamond Daggers by the British Crime Writers’ Association. This is his third mystery featuring Inspector Hen Mallin.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lovesey's second novel starring Chichester CID inspector Henrietta \x93Hen\x94 Mallin (after 2005's The Circle) provides further proof that the CWA Diamond Dagger winner has no peer in presenting a traditional mystery, with all the clues hiding in plain sight. When a half-naked female body washes up on a beach, Mallin and her team must identify the woman as well as determine whether she met her end through foul play. Before the corpse can be named, Jo Stevens, who found the body tangled in seaweed, comes across another one in remarkably similar circumstances. Fearing that she'll fall under Mallin's intense scrutiny, Stevens fails to report this second death. Between the alternating perspectives of Mallin and Stevens, the suspense builds, enhanced by credible characters and healthy doses of black humor. The police eventually connect the two cases and focus on Stevens's new beau, a laconic ex-con who had a past with both victims, but the solution is, of course, not so straightforward. Inspector Mallin deserves as long a fictional career as Lovesey's other current series sleuth, Peter Diamond.
