Peter Lovesey’s Peter Diamond series, set in Bath, brings the detective with his out challenging case yet in Killing with Confetti. Louise Penny calls Lovesey “a masterful plotter” with all good reason.

The son of Bath’s Deputy Chief Constable, George Brace, presents Diamond with an unusual problem. His son, Ben, is marrying a lovely girl, Caroline Irving, but there’s a major hitch: Caroline’s father is the notorious and wealthy criminal Joe Irving, a gang leader who will be released from his latest prison term just in time to walk the bride up the aisle to her groom.

What this means for Diamond is that Brace puts him in charge of Irving’s security. It’s no secret Irving has enemies and many rival gangs who would be happy for a chance to take him out. With the elaborate wedding set at Bath’s Abbey and a reception at the Roman baths that evening, Diamond must see that the father of the bride remains alive throughout the day.

His role as secret agent not a comfortable one, Diamond is uncomfortably armed, and draws on his team to help him watch Irvings’ back, while he tries all day and evening to keep Irving in his sights, despite the parents, photographers, and bridesmaids he encounters.

This is vintage Lovesey, a case Diamond takes on sufferance and executes flawlessly, although at times it won’t seem that there’s a good end in sight. Another from the master of mystery who’s received Lifetime Achievement Awards in both the US and the UK.