Best Peter Lovesey Audiobooks
Peter Lovesey is one of British crime fiction's most quietly accomplished craftsmen — a writer who has spent decades honing a style that's wry, precise, and deceptively comfortable before it turns on you. His Peter Diamond series, anchored by the rumpled, technophobe Bath detective, is the heart of his reputation: procedurals with genuine wit, sharply observed English settings, and plots that reward readers who pay attention. Bloodhounds, featuring a locked-room mystery inside a mystery readers' circle, is Lovesey at his most playful; The Last Detective introduces Diamond with all the stubbornness and charm that makes him so enduring. Lovesey doesn't do flashy or sensational — his strength is patience, character, and the slow tightening of a well-engineered trap. For readers who prefer their mysteries intelligent and drily funny over breathless and lurid, he's essential.
Where to Start with Peter Lovesey
- Best entry point → The Circle
- What fans keep coming back to → The Last Detective
- Best narrator for Peter Lovesey → Diamond Solitaire
- Highest rated by listeners → The House Sitter (Peter Diamond #8)
Best Peter Lovesey Audiobooks
- 1
The House Sitter
Peter Diamond • Book 8
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.12 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)★ 4.09 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.59 Audible (546)More about this pick
A beautiful profiler tracking a serial killer turns up strangled on a Sussex beach, but Detective Diamond is mysteriously barred from investigating her murder.
- 2
Another One Goes Tonight
Peter Diamond • Book 16
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.06 ABR Score (2.5K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.54 Audible (468)More about this pick
Two officers respond to a final call that ends in fatal crash and mysterious circumstances, pulling Diamond into a case questioning police ethics versus justice.
- 3
Diamond Solitaire
Peter Diamond • Book 2
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.04 ABR Score (4.2K ratings)★ 3.88 Goodreads (3.0K) ★ 4.51 Audible (1.1K)More about this pick
Fired detective Peter Diamond works security at Harrods until he discovers an abandoned Japanese girl showing signs of autism. His determination to communicate with 'Naomi' and solve her mystery drives this compassionate investigation outside official channels.
- 4
Down Among the Dead Men
Peter Diamond • Book 15
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.00 ABR Score (2.9K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.41 Audible (844)More about this pick
When an unpopular art teacher vanishes from an elite girls' school, Detective Diamond uncovers secrets darker than simple disappearance. Prebble handles the dry wit expertly.
- 5
The Secret Hangman
Peter Diamond • Book 9
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.99 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)★ 3.91 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.51 Audible (491)More about this pick
Delia Williamson, a waitress and mother, is found hanged from a children's swing set with no apparent motive for suicide. Simon Prebble narrates as widowed Inspector Diamond pursues the killer while dodging his own secret admirer.
- 6
Diamond Dust
Peter Diamond • Book 7
Narrated by Steve Hodson
★ 3.96 ABR Score (2.1K ratings)★ 4.1 Goodreads (1.6K) ★ 4.4 Audible (479)More about this pick
Detective Peter Diamond faces his most personal case when his wife becomes a victim in a series of murders targeting police spouses. Steve Hodson's performance captures Diamond's anguish and determination despite orders to step aside.
- 7
Showstopper
Peter Diamond • Book 21
Narrated by James Langton
★ 3.93 ABR Score (1.4K ratings)★ 4.05 Goodreads (1.3K) ★ 4.58 Audible (100)More about this pick
Since 2013, the hit show Swift has been plagued by cast deaths—falls, fires, drownings—but are they accidents or murder?
- 8
Skeleton Hill
Peter Diamond • Book 10
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.92 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)★ 3.96 Goodreads (2.0K) ★ 4.38 Audible (666)More about this pick
A Civil War reenactment on Lansdown Hill turns deadly when participants discover a headless female skeleton that's only twenty years old. Simon Prebble guides listeners through Diamond's investigation with measured precision.
- 9
The Last Detective
Aurelio Zen • Book 2
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.91 ABR Score (4.9K ratings)★ 3.81 Goodreads (2.6K) ★ 4.35 Audible (2.3K)More about this pick
Inspector Zen gets assigned to frame someone for a high-level murder in Italy's corruption-riddled system. Prebble captures Zen's weary navigation of a society where law-bending is standard procedure.
- 10
Cop To Corpse
Peter Diamond • Book 12
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.89 ABR Score (2.5K ratings)★ 3.87 Goodreads (1.9K) ★ 4.39 Audible (606)More about this pick
Three policemen shot dead by an unseen sniper creates Bath's most dangerous case for Inspector Diamond, and Simon Prebble's narration matches the escalating tension of this manhunt.
- 11
Upon A Dark Night
Peter Diamond • Book 5
Narrated by Michael Healy
★ 3.87 ABR Score (2.0K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (1.6K) ★ 4.34 Audible (331)More about this pick
An amnesiac woman appears in a hospital parking lot, launching Peter Diamond into one of his most puzzling cases. Michael Healy captures Diamond's dogged determination beautifully.
- 12
Beau Death
Peter Diamond • Book 17
Narrated by Steven Crossley
★ 3.78 ABR Score (2.0K ratings)★ 3.91 Goodreads (1.7K) ★ 4.24 Audible (274)More about this pick
Detective Peter Diamond investigates a centuries-old murder when builders uncover a skeleton in period costume in Bath's historic district. Steven Crossley handles the blend of contemporary investigation and Georgian-era mystery.
- 13
The Stone Wife
Peter Diamond • Book 14
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.77 ABR Score (2.2K ratings)★ 3.7 Goodreads (1.7K) ★ 4.32 Audible (497)More about this pick
Armed robbers target a Chaucer-carved stone at auction, killing a professor who recognized its historical significance mid-bidding. Simon Prebble brings his usual sophistication to Lovesey's latest Diamond mystery.
- 14
The Tooth Tattoo
Peter Diamond • Book 13
Narrated by Clive Anderson
★ 3.73 ABR Score (2.6K ratings)★ 3.94 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.14 Audible (441)More about this pick
Detective Peter Diamond's Vienna vacation ends when Bath CID calls about a missing violinist and a body with a musical note tattooed on her tooth. Clive Anderson handles both the classical music world and police procedural elements.
- 15
Diamond and the Eye
Peter Diamond • Book 20
Narrated by James Langton
★ 3.72 ABR Score (1.4K ratings)★ 3.9 Goodreads (1.3K) ★ 4.15 Audible (166)More about this pick
A missing Bath antiques dealer forces Detective Diamond to work with a Philip Marlowe wannabe private investigator, and James Langton captures both the humor and genuine mystery perfectly.
- 16
The Circle
Inspector Henrietta Mallin • Book 1
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.68 ABR Score (1.8K ratings)★ 3.61 Goodreads (906) ★ 4.23 Audible (923)More about this pick
Van driver Bob Naylor joins the Chichester Writers' Circle expecting literary snobs but finds potential arson victims instead, with Simon Prebble handling the cozy mystery elements with understated menace.
- 17
Bloodhounds
Peter Diamond • Book 4
Narrated by Michael Healy
★ 3.56 ABR Score (2.8K ratings)★ 3.93 Goodreads (2.4K) ★ 3.85 Audible (328)More about this pick
A rare stamp discovery and a murder in Bath connect through an elite mystery-lover's club called the Bloodhounds, who pressure Inspector Diamond to solve the case.