The King of Diamonds

In this expertly crafted follow-up to his acclaimed novel The Inheritance 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.It''s 1960 and David Swain is two years into his life sentence for murdering the lover of his ex-girlfriend Katya Osman. In the dead of night David escapes from prison and that same night Katya is found murdered in her uncle''s home Blackwater Hall.Inspector Trave of the Oxford Police last seen in The Inheritance heads the manhunt for David whom he first brought to justice two years earlier. But Trave''s suspicions lead him to Katya''s uncle Titus Osman a rich diamond dealer and his sinister brother-in-law Franz Claes who has gone to great lengths to hide his former ties with the Nazis.However Trave''s motives are suspect - Osman is having an affair with Trave''s estranged wife Vanessa and a newcomer to the Oxford Police Inspector Macrae is eager to exploit Trave''s weaknesses to further his own ambition. Caught up in his superiors'' rivalry Trave''s young assistant Adam Clayton finds himself uncertain who is right and which side to choose.Once David is captured and put on trial for his life Trave is willing to risk everything that is dear to him―professionally and personally―to pursue his obsessive belief in Osman''s guilt.The King of Diamonds is a Kirkus Reviews Best of Mystery of the Year