AGAINST THE GRAIN marks the conclusion of the beloved Peter Diamond series and is the great Peter Lovesey’s final book. I initially approached these milestones with trepidation but then decided to treat this novel as any other Peter Diamond investigation. I was not disappointed.

Diamond and his partner (on the job and in life), Paloma Kean, are looking for some R&R and have opted for the village of Baskerville where they will visit with his former colleague, Julie Hargreaves. Regrettably, Julie is now legally blind. She is living on the property of a wealthy and wild debutante, Claudia Priest, who is spending time in prison for her role in the death of a former lover during a controversial sex and wine-induced party.

"AGAINST THE GRAIN is a pure delight, albeit a bittersweet one knowing that Peter Lovesey’s stellar career has come to an end. Run, don’t walk, to your local bookstore to pick up this future classic."

Roger Miller perished amidst the mountain of grain in one of Claudia’s farm silos. The body was not found for months, and his reason for being in that precarious situation was the hunt for a woman’s garter belt that was tied to the sex game being played at the party. Claudia denied ever placing her garter in the dangerous silo, yet she was still found culpable and was sent to a women’s prison. Even with rumors of his upcoming retirement, Diamond cannot resist a juicy mystery and takes it upon himself to look into Miller’s death to see if the right person was brought to justice.

Miller was a well-known art dealer, and Claudia’s father was a big collector, which may explain his connection to the family. Diamond adopts the name “Peter Dee” when meeting people from Julie’s new hometown and refuses to admit that he is a vacationing police detective. His first plan of attack is to speak with the other attendees of the infamous party to see if anyone truly holds Claudia responsible or if there might be another suspect. Then he will talk to members of the farm staff who might have had a chip on their shoulder against Claudia for how she treated her parents.

As the newly adopted Peter Dee character, Diamond is able to drop his usual curmudgeonly demeanor and instead takes on the guise of a fictional detective he highly respects: Lieutenant Columbo. He goes about his meetings with each potential suspect in the clever-like-a-fox bumbling manner that made Columbo so beloved.

Diamond clearly is focused on one gentleman in particular. This person, who claims to have been in contact with Claudia during her time in prison, is proven to be a liar. Claudia returns from a week at a spa following her two-year incarceration. There is a big dinner and dance party planned at her barn with all of the townspeople and usual suspects in attendance. Diamond finally gets to speak with Claudia, who is every bit as cunning as he expected and completely sex-starved.

The book’s finale shows how much danger Diamond has put himself in by not being honest about who he really is. In fact, his phony persona may be the last mistake he ever makes. AGAINST THE GRAIN is a pure delight, albeit a bittersweet one knowing that Peter Lovesey’s stellar career has come to an end. Run, don’t walk, to your local bookstore to pick up this future classic.