Member Review

My thanks to Bonnier Books U.K. Zaffre for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘A Death in Diamonds’ by S.J. Bennett.

This is Book 4 in Bennett’s Her Majesty the Queen Investigates series of cosy mysteries. I have read and enjoyed all of the earlier books.

While the first three books in the series were roughly contemporary set in 2016-17, here S.J. Bennett moves backwards in time to 1957. She also introduces a new assistant to the Queen - Joan McGraw, a former Bletchley codebreaker. Joan comes to the position as a temporary replacement for the Queen’s assistant private secretary, who has taken leave.

The mystery involves the murder of a young woman in a Chelsea mews house. She was found clad only in silk undies and wearing a valuable diamond tiara. An older man is also discovered nearby, garrotted and pierced through the eye with a long, sharp implement.

So why does the young Queen discreetly involve herself with the investigation? According to the police, a high society card game was held at the property that night. One of the players surely had committed the murders, though each of them can give the others an alibi. When someone very close to the young Queen is implicated, she is drawn into the investigation, utilising Joan’s discreet assistance.

S.J. Bennett weaves in a number of historical figures and events into the narrative. I was impressed throughout with Bennett’s attention to period detail. This felt a slightly darker whodunnit than the previous books.

The book concludes with a sneak preview of Book 5, due for publication in 2025, that will be set in 1961 and is titled ‘The Queen Who Came in From the Cold’. I can hardly wait!

Overall, I was impressed by ‘A Death in Diamonds’ and am enthusiastically recommending it.