The Yellow Diamond: A Crime of the Super-Rich

by Andrew Martin

Overview

Detective Superintendent George Quinn — Mayfair resident and dandy with a razor-sharp brain — has set up a new police unit, dedicated to investigating the super-rich. When he is shot in mysterious circumstances, DI Blake Reynolds is charged with taking over. But Reynolds hadn't bargained for Quinn's personal assistant — the flinty Victoria Clifford — who knows more than she's prepared to reveal...

The trail left by Quinn leads to a jewellery theft, a murderous conspiracy among some of the most glamorous (and richest) Russians in London - and the beautiful Anna, who challenges Reynolds' professional integrity. Reynolds and Clifford must learn to work together fast — or risk Quinn's fate.

Set in the heart of twenty-first-century Mayfair, a world of champagne, Lamborghinis and Savile Row suits, The Yellow Diamond is a brilliant new venture from one of our best loved crime authors — meticulously plotted, wonderfully humane and hugely enjoyable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780571288212
Publisher:	Faber and Faber
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Edition description:	First Trade Paper Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Andrew Martin is a journalist and novelist. His critically praised 'Jim Stringer' series began withThe Necropolis Railway in 2002. The following titles in the series, Murder at Deviation Junction and Death on a Branch Line, were shortlisted for the CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award and, in 2008, Andrew Martin was shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award. The Somme Stations won the 2011 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Crime Award.

Editorial Reviews

06/20/2016
In this intricate standalone from Martin (The Baghdad Railway Club and seven other Jim Stringer mysteries), a shooting leaves Det. Supt. George Quinn in a coma, creating a vacancy for the head of the new Operational Command Unit formed to keep tabs on London’s so-called super-rich. Behind Det. Insp. Blake Edwards’s somewhat surprising appointment is Victoria Clifford, Quinn’s secretary, who wields unusual influence. Edwards discovers that Quinn was looking into several things, including the affairs of billionaire Andrei Samarin; the theft of a valuable yellow diamond ring involving Andrei’s daughter, Anna Samarina; and the murder of hedge-fund analyst John-Paul Holden. Edwards is thrown into the unfamiliar world of the super-rich, guided and manipulated by Clifford. As he follows Quinn’s trail, he’s seduced by Anna, bribed by Andrei, and threatened by Andrei’s partner, Viktor Rostov. The role and aims of the enigmatic Clifford add an unusual element to what develops into a complex tale of financial skullduggery. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Full of memorable character portraits and incisive observations on wealth and social class... this stylish departure by the author of the long-running Jim Stringer series is full of droll humor." — Kirkus

"A complex tale of financial skullduggery" —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2016-05-17
When a veteran detective is shot while on special assignment, uncovering the truth involves layers of deceit and secrets that might be best left unrevealed.Shortly after establishing the Operational Command Unit, which looks into crimes perpetrated by the rich, DS George Quinn has been shot and lies in a coma. It falls to DI Blake Reynolds to figure out what happened and perhaps continue Quinn's work. His assignment appears to be nearly impossible, both because Quinn, a star homicide detective, had carte blanche within the department to keep his investigation under wraps and because Quinn's personal assistant, Victoria Clifford, is equally secretive. Even after Reynolds' suspicions about Victoria are confirmed by a meeting at Scotland Yard, he finds himself attracted by her crisp efficiency. Martin's thriller unfolds as a study of class and character. Quinn, who is gay, lives in London's posh Mayfair district; Reynolds is from something like the wrong side of the tracks. The cat-and-mouse game between the two adversaries, whose perspectives are explored in alternating chapters, adds an extra dimension to Reynolds' dogged probe long before he unearths the investigation Quinn had been working on: a complex case involving two uber-wealthy families, the eponymous jewel, and the grand dames of each clan who lay claim to it. Full of memorable character portraits and incisive observations on wealth and social class, this stylish departure by the author of the long-running Jim Stringer series (Night Train to Jamalpur, 2014, etc.) is full of droll humor.

Kirkus Reviews