The Crime Scene: 'The Headhunters' by Peter Lovesey

As a sportswriter back in 1970, I was fascinated to read the first novel by Peter Lovesey, "Wobble to Death," which had as its background a six-day walking race (popular at the turn of the 19th century) called a "wobble."

It is an extraordinary detective story in that it has two avenues of suspense: not only the expected whodunit element but also, and equally exciting, the description of the grueling race — the strategies of various competitors, the desperation to win the significant cash prize, the personalities of the racers and how those may have affected the likelihood of their being the murderer.

Attempting to figure out how the race would end, and how it connected to murder, was as difficult as Captain Hook trying to thread a needle.

The novel featured Sgt. Cribb and Constable Thackeray, who went on to star in seven additional Victorian mystery novels and became the subjects of one of the first, and most entertaining, of the "Mystery!" series on PBS. It is available on DVD, so treat yourself.

Mr. Lovesey then moved from the Victorian setting to novels of the 1920s (the hilarious "The False Inspector Dew"), the 1940s (the Edgar-nominated and Gold Dagger-winning "Rough Cider"), and, more recently, contemporary times. All of them — even what should have been the far-fetched trilogy featuring Prince Albert (known as "Bertie") — have an air of absolute authenticity.

Which brings us to his 30th novel, "The Headhunters" (Soho, 324 pages, $24), the third in a series about the unfortunately named Hen Mallin, Criminal Investigations Department Inspector.

On a Saturday evening, Gemma is bowling with a huge hulk of a man, Jake, who is capable of little more than monosyllabic responses, when she spots her friend Jo, who is a few lanes over with the handsome Rick. They later meet for drinks and it soon becomes evident that both girls fancy the fellow with whom they did not begin the evening.

A strange and slightly troubling conversation takes place when Gemma says she hates her boss so much she could kill him, and the discussion devolves into the best way to do it. While the women laugh at the game, calling themselves the Headhunters, Rick seems chillingly serious.

Gemma is attracted to the good-looking smooth-talker, while Jo finds depth and sensitivity in the nervous, nearly mute giant. Hoping to run into him on a nearby beach the next morning, Jo instead discovers the drowned body of a woman, white and bloated, a sight so hideous it could cure hiccups.

When she reports her disquieting find to the police, Inspector Mallin is rather tough on her, making her feel like a suspect, so when Jo discovers another drowned woman, she decides to say nothing, for fear of being persecuted by the policewoman.

Suspicion soon falls on Jake who, it turns out, did some serious jail time in the past, and has a connection to both victims. When Mallin begins to focus her investigation on Jake, she considers his frightening size, menacing face, and proximity to the crimes, a relationship with both women, and his criminal record, all of which send up more red flags than a North Korean parade.

In the best tradition of the pure detective story, every character introduced in the novel comes under suspicion at some point, with the surprising but fair denouement introduced only at the very end.

Oddly, virtually all the characters, even those with minor roles, are convincingly portrayed, with the exception of the series detective, Hen Mallin. I've not read the previous two books in the series, so perhaps Mr. Lovesey felt he'd already said enough about her, but that would be a poor decision, both for those who come to the series late or those who are interested to know even more about her.

This is a quibble, because "The Headhunters" is a thoroughly delightful detective story, old-fashioned in the way that reminds us why we started reading and loving mysteries in the first place.

If you are unfamiliar with the works of Mr. Lovesey after nearly 40 years of excellence, it's time to remedy that gap in your experience. His Peter Diamond novels (nine to date) are currently in development for a television series in the U.K., and you might like to know that he won a Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers' Association.

Try him. You'll love him.

Mr. Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan and the series editor of the annual Best American Mystery Stories. He can be reached at ottopenzler@mysteriousbookshop.com.