“Tolkien’s writing has a timeless quality [and] the haunting undertones of other great masters of mystery.” –USA Today
"Compulsively readable... Crafted with cunning and imbued with menace, The King of Diamonds adds luster to Tolkien's growing reputation as a brilliant star in the thriller firmament." --Richmond Times Dispatch
"A thick web of family tensions and psychological dysfunction with a whodunit chaser… [The King of Diamonds] is elegantly written, with Masterpiece Theatre pacing and embellishments." --Kirkus, starred review
A sophisticated mystery layered with dark secrets from the past and slow-burning suspense
It's 1960, and David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya. In the dead of night, David escapes, and Katya is found murdered. Inspector Trave of the Oxford Police heads the manhunt for David. Trave's suspicions lead him to Katya's uncle Titus Osman, a rich diamond dealer, and his sinister brother-in-law, Franz Claes who will go to any lengths to conceal his past connections to the Nazis. But Trave's motives are suspect - Osman is having an affair with Trave's estranged wife. Once David is captured, Trave is willing to risk everything-professionally and personally-to pursue his obsessive belief in Osman's guilt.
In this expertly crafted novel, Simon Tolkien has once again written a gripping and nuanced thriller laced with historical detail, treachery, and his signature writing style—a uniquely suspenseful blend that the Los Angeles Times called “half Christie and half Grisham.”
The King of Diamonds is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Mysteries title.
From Publishers Weekly
J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson continues to burnish his credentials as a solid writer in his own right with his second suspense novel featuring Oxford Det. Insp. William Trave (after The Inheritance). In 1958 at London's Old Bailey, David Swain is on trial for the murder of Ethan Mendel, the man who he believed horned in on his relationship with Katya Osman. Thanks to Trave's testimony, Swain is convicted and sentenced to a life term, but Trave is unable to rid himself of nagging doubts about the case. Two years later, Trave's marriage has fallen apart. His wife, Vanessa, finds support in the unlikely person of Titus Osman, Katya's uncle, unaware that Titus is keeping Katya a virtual prisoner in her own home. Meanwhile, an embittered Swain plots an escape from prison to get his revenge on his former girlfriend, a plan that results in yet another murder. While some of the twists strain credulity, everything comes together at the end. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Oxford police inspector Bill Trave wasn't fully convinced that David Swain was guilty of murder, but Swain is serving a life sentence. Trave found the residents of Blackwater Hall, the murder site and the country estate of a wealthy Belgian diamond merchant named Titus Osman, distinctly unsettling. It doesn't help matters that Trave's estranged wife is falling in love with Osman. But then Swain escapes from prison, and Osman's niece is murdered, and once again Trave must pursue Swain. As in The Inheritance (2010), Tolkien sets his story in 1960 but ties it to Nazi wartime crimes, this time against Jewish diamond merchants in Antwerp. Tolkien seems to be mixing crime and melodrama. His Agatha Christie'like style clashes with his content'gritty plot strands about both bent cops who torture confessions from suspects and Osman's odious brother-in-law, who aided Adolf Eichmann's genocidal efforts. It's all too much for the normally phlegmatic Trave, who disgraces himself before seeing justice done. A bit of a disappointment after Tolkien's first two novels, this one fails to get its disparate elements to emulsify. Still, fans of the previous books won't be deterred. --Thomas Gaughan
Description:
“Tolkien’s writing has a timeless quality [and] the haunting undertones of other great masters of mystery.” –USA Today
"Compulsively readable... Crafted with cunning and imbued with menace, The King of Diamonds adds luster to Tolkien's growing reputation as a brilliant star in the thriller firmament." --Richmond Times Dispatch
"A thick web of family tensions and psychological dysfunction with a whodunit chaser… [The King of Diamonds] is elegantly written, with Masterpiece Theatre pacing and embellishments." --Kirkus, starred review
A sophisticated mystery layered with dark secrets from the past and slow-burning suspense
It's 1960, and David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend, Katya. In the dead of night, David escapes, and Katya is found murdered. Inspector Trave of the Oxford Police heads the manhunt for David. Trave's suspicions lead him to Katya's uncle Titus Osman, a rich diamond dealer, and his sinister brother-in-law, Franz Claes who will go to any lengths to conceal his past connections to the Nazis. But Trave's motives are suspect - Osman is having an affair with Trave's estranged wife. Once David is captured, Trave is willing to risk everything-professionally and personally-to pursue his obsessive belief in Osman's guilt.
In this expertly crafted novel, Simon Tolkien has once again written a gripping and nuanced thriller laced with historical detail, treachery, and his signature writing style—a uniquely suspenseful blend that the Los Angeles Times called “half Christie and half Grisham.”
The King of Diamonds is a Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Mysteries title.
From Publishers Weekly
J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson continues to burnish his credentials as a solid writer in his own right with his second suspense novel featuring Oxford Det. Insp. William Trave (after The Inheritance). In 1958 at London's Old Bailey, David Swain is on trial for the murder of Ethan Mendel, the man who he believed horned in on his relationship with Katya Osman. Thanks to Trave's testimony, Swain is convicted and sentenced to a life term, but Trave is unable to rid himself of nagging doubts about the case. Two years later, Trave's marriage has fallen apart. His wife, Vanessa, finds support in the unlikely person of Titus Osman, Katya's uncle, unaware that Titus is keeping Katya a virtual prisoner in her own home. Meanwhile, an embittered Swain plots an escape from prison to get his revenge on his former girlfriend, a plan that results in yet another murder. While some of the twists strain credulity, everything comes together at the end. (Mar.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Oxford police inspector Bill Trave wasn't fully convinced that David Swain was guilty of murder, but Swain is serving a life sentence. Trave found the residents of Blackwater Hall, the murder site and the country estate of a wealthy Belgian diamond merchant named Titus Osman, distinctly unsettling. It doesn't help matters that Trave's estranged wife is falling in love with Osman. But then Swain escapes from prison, and Osman's niece is murdered, and once again Trave must pursue Swain. As in The Inheritance (2010), Tolkien sets his story in 1960 but ties it to Nazi wartime crimes, this time against Jewish diamond merchants in Antwerp. Tolkien seems to be mixing crime and melodrama. His Agatha Christie'like style clashes with his content'gritty plot strands about both bent cops who torture confessions from suspects and Osman's odious brother-in-law, who aided Adolf Eichmann's genocidal efforts. It's all too much for the normally phlegmatic Trave, who disgraces himself before seeing justice done. A bit of a disappointment after Tolkien's first two novels, this one fails to get its disparate elements to emulsify. Still, fans of the previous books won't be deterred. --Thomas Gaughan