MoonglotexasHaving absolutely adored T E Kinsey’s Lady Hardcastle series, I tucked into The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds with excitement! Skins, Dunn, Ellie and Sutherland are minor characters in the other series but no previous introductions are required to enjoy this one. Set in post-World War I London, our jazz musicians receive a request to help the police with an undercover observance at a gentlemen’s club. Shortly after meeting the key suspects, one of their own is murder and the trio are determined to find the killer.
The banter is lovely and the story unfurls gently but there is a spark missing in this one for me. Perhaps it is the sorrow of the war which each has as part of their story or the much smaller cast, but, in comparison to Lady Hardcastle and Flo, it doesn’t quite measure up. The mystery is a little light on plausibility too. That said, it’s well-written and I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading it. I will be looking forward to the next in the series. It’s a four out of five on the en-JOY-ment scale!
P.S. If you enjoy Jazz, you may want to play a little 1920s music to get you in the mood!
I received a complimentary copy of the book from Amazon Publishing UK through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
From the back cover:
Missing diamonds. Mysterious deaths. And all that jazz.
London, 1925. With their band the Dizzy Heights, jazz musicians Ivor ‘Skins’ Maloney and Bartholomew ‘Barty’ Dunn are used to improvising as they play the Charleston for flappers and toffs, but things are about to take a surprising turn.
Superintendent Sunderland has had word that a deserter who stole a fortune in diamonds as he fled the war is a member of the Aristippus private members’ club in Mayfair—where the Dizzy Heights have a residency. And the thief is planning to steal a hoard of jewels hidden there under the cover of a dance contest.
As mutual pal Lady Hardcastle has suggested, Skins and Dunn are perfectly placed to be Sunderland’s eyes and ears—and Skins’s wife Ellie soon lends a hand with a bit of light snooping. But the stakes change dramatically when a mysterious death at the club brings a sinister note to the investigation.
With the dance contest fast approaching, the trio must solve the mystery of the missing diamonds, unmask the murderer, and prevent more deadly crimes—all without missing a beat.
