The Tooth Tattoo (A Detective Peter Diamond Mystery) Paperback – July 15, 2014

Once again, Peter Lovesey comes up with a story line that is highly original, researched and developed in great depth with one hundred percent credibility, and moves along smartly to a very satisfactory conclusion. The title gives no clue that the major theme to this crime novel is classical music--and more specifically, the workings of a world-class quartet of musicians who are producing music at the highest level possible. It delves into the characters of the musicians, the complexities of their music and even the mechanics and histories of their instruments.Because it's a crime novel, there are deaths/murders woven into the stories of the musicians. Those connections are not easily sorted out, but are at the core of the novel.Lovesey is a marvel in how he produces one interestingly themed novel after another--all in the geographical context of Bath, England which always serves as a fascinating backdrop for the action. Reading this novel, as generally is the case, makes the reader want more. Fortunately, there's a respectably long backlist to choose from.

I enjoyed the first half, at the very least , of this mystery immensely. The workings of quartet music works. Works beautifully. A lovely surprise!I don’t think that Diamond's analysis of the solution, as it echoes the music being recorded by the main players, works.: a tour de force that falls flat. Peter Diamond does not seem quite himself; he could well have been some other character from some other book.I enjoyed most of this book and stuck with it, wondering how in the world ALL of it would all come together and beginning to think that there was nothing truly interesting about the mystery in itself. The ending was so unsatisfying that I lay in bed thinking of the awful review I was going to give this book.I can’t do it because Peter Lovesey takes such pains, pushes the envelope, with each book, and that is something rare.Note: Maybe I’m missing the point of the opening scene? Are we not to think it is going something to do with the puzzle itself? Does it?

SPOILERS, SPOILERS:Why was Mel's viola stolen and thrown into the canal? That is the most intriguing remaining question to me, and it was never explained. Now, the reason for its inclusion in the story is explained as a red herring to cast suspicion on Mel. Or at least I think that was it. But I certainly would like to know what motivated the Asian girl and her male accomplice and who they were. Maybe they just hated his playing? I mean, throw us a crumb.Other than that. . . author Lovesey said at a booksigning that he had been working on the idea of conflicts in a quartet for more than 20 years and going back to it from time to time. So he had collected a lot of info. He wondered aloud if readers had noticed the resolution of the mystery being accompanied by the Grosse Fugue and the parts being related to each other. To me, a lover of both classical music and mysteries, it was a clever parallel development. But it was a bit awkward that Diamond would intentionally do such a thing -- Diamond was not a lover of classical music, in fact could barely stand the bedlam, and on pg. 326 of the paperback states that to say he was familiar with the piece would be an overstatement. So Diamond's synch-ing his solution with the music had to be pure improvisation and good luck. Whereas Lovesey's ability to do it, of course, is a given.Mr. Lovesey succeeded in nicely weaving his interest in quartets and their instruments and music into a mystery, and on that score, pun, the readers profit by the treat, or feat.

This is one of Peter Diamond’s most memorable adventures. The string quartet and their manager restrict the number of suspects to five. Add their former cellist who disappeared 4 years ago and the number is just 6. The references to classic music are knowledgeable and the counterpoint at the end between Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge and Diamond’s analysis of who done it is quite brilliant. Bravo!

Lovesey has woven the threads of Beethoven, string quartetplaying, netsuke, the Japanese mafia, jealousy and love,into a fugue worthy of the Viennese master himself.Filled with musical and instrumental themes , one always comes away from his mysteries with a sense of a puzzle well crafted,and a satisfying resolution as the last chord is played.

I purchased "The Tooth Tattoo" simply because it is the latest in the Peter Diamond mystery series. It was a delight and my favorite of the many excellent Peter Diamond stories. It starts in Vienna with Peter and Paloma, his female companion, touring movie sites for one my favorite movies. It continues with a plot that revolves around a famous classical music quartet. The characters are very interesting, and classical music is referenced throughout with sophistication. Peter Diamond, our burly hero, continues to eat all the wrong things, is characteristically abrasive, clumsy, cynical about technology and positively caustic about acronyms and, as ever, a genius at solving crime. I found the ending very satisfying not least because, Peter Diamond delivers the solution to the crime with Beethoven playing in the background. And, the last paragraph in the book was perfect and may point to another volume in the series.

What I Iove about the Lovesey series is how different each book is from all the others. This one is about a string quartet who plays Beethoven. Lovesey did his homework on how quartets operate and the musical numbers played. And the characters are again so well drawn. And he explores another part of Bath, England. Of course, it's also another complicated enthralling mystery to enjoy

The latest novel featuring the churlish Superintendent Peter Diamond represents a welcome return to top form for Peter Lovesey. The action is, as usual, set in Bath but this time centres around the intense circles of string quartets.The body of a young Japanese woman is retrieved from the Avon, and she is identified by means of a tooth tattoo in the form of a musical note. Further investigation reveals that she was passionate about classical music and had formed an obsession about Staccati, a leading string quartet that has only recently begun performing again after replacing their virtuoso viola payer who had disappeared four years previously. As might be expected, all four members of Staccati have their own idiosyncrasies, and it is surprising that they have managed to stay together. However, when united for a performance they cohere with devastating impact.Lovesey has obviously done a huge amount of research and imparts a wealth of information about the type of music that string quartets play, without ever seeming to lecture or harangue his readers. Even the surly, Diamond, who generally wears his philistinism as a badge of pride, briefly succumbs to the power of music, though his customary bad temper soon reasserts itself.The plot moves through various twists, but never loses credibility, and, as usual, the city of Bath plays a huge role. I wonder whether Lovesey receives commission from the city's tourist board, and I am surprised that, given how photogenic the city is, these books have now made their way onto television.

The body of a young Japanese girl is found in the river in Bath. Peter Diamond - for a variety of reasons - believes it is a murder case though at first sight it could have been an accident or a suicide. A prestigious quartet of classical musicians has taken up a period of residency at Bath Spa University.Diamond has quarrelled with Paloma and they have parted company following a Third Man themed weekend in Vienna. Why does he think there is a connection between the body in the river and a shrine to a similar death of a Japanese girl in Vienna several years before?This is an excellently well plotted mystery with well-drawn characters and brilliant dialogue. Few writers in this or any other genre can beat Peter Lovesey for dialogue. I found this mystery kept me reading late into the night because I wanted to see how all the various strands fitted together and precisely who the murderer was.If you like crime novels with interesting backgrounds - Bath is a character in its own right this one as in most of the Peter Diamond mysteries - then try this. It can be read as a standalone novel or as part of the series.

The Tooth Tattoo centres around a quartet of classical musicians ‘The Stacatti’ - a group so lovingly described I felt I wanted to see and hear them. At times it also felt like two totally different stories, so good were the bits about The Stacatti, I almost groaned when it got back to far less interesting (than usual) sections in Bath, focussing on the murder of a young Japanese woman and Peter Diamond’s rather unlikely relationship with Paloma.It is always good when you work out who ‘dunnit’ based from the clues and storytelling but even better when you don’t. I won’t say which I did as anything could be perceived as a spoiler to a keen Peter Lovesey reader. But suffice to say I enjoyed it very much even if I think a few loose ends weren’t tied up at the end and it was just a tad too contrived for me to give 5 stars to. But for the musical sections alone I am tempted to upgrade my 4 to a 5 … (I wish I could give it 4.5)More about The Stacatti please!

It is only in the past 12 months that I have discovered Peter Lovesey. I started with the first book and, although not particularly drawn to the character of Peter Diamond at that point, I persevered. By the third novel I was 'hooked' and have subsequently read them all in sequence. What I have found particularly engaging is the way in which Lovesey contrives to present each novel from a different angle; taking for each one a particular theme with which I have found it very easy (as someone who has qualifications in both English literature and classical music) to relate. With each novel I have marvelled at the new direction in which Lovesey has taken the narrative; so different from the usual sequence adopted by the majority of crime writers.With 'The Tooth Tattoo' I believe the author has reached a new height. Once I started reading I could hardly bear to put it down. I picked it up at every available moment, let mundane tasks go unheeded and eventually stayed up all of one night to finish it. I found myself at times exclaiming out loud, ‘What fabulous writing, what meticulous research, what a wonderful book!’Why then only four stars? The ending has left me seriously puzzled! No matter how many times I reread the last few pages I cannot make any sense of the time sequence on which the denouement depends. All I will say to perspective readers is, read it for yourself and see if you encounter the same problem. Nonetheless I believe it is a suburb book; it deserves to be read and savoured.

I've always considered this author to be on a par with the 1930's Golden Age writers and the vast bulk of his output would bear witness to this. I've been reading Mr Lovesey since the days of Sgt Cribb. I've read all the Diamond series from book one about 25 years ago. This is a very strange book. The first 90% is very well written indeed and I devoured it. Sadly the last 10% is a major let down. Imagine that the author gave a dozen lesser authors his book without the solution to the mystery and asked each one to write their version over thirty some pages. If he then reviewed them and chose to use the least credible most unsatisfactory contribution then that I'm afraid is how it seems to me. Trust me when I say I could offer two or more better solutions to this mystery.