The Deadly Mystery of the Missing Diamonds

A Dizzy Heights Mystery, Book 1

By: T E Kinsey

Narrated by: Simon Mattacks, Elizabeth Knowelden

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.

©2020 T E Kinsey. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

A fun character-driven mystery

I’m a huge fan of the Lady Hardcastle series by this author. This new book is a spin-off, with a few cameo appearances by “Lady H” and “Flo”. These cameos are voiced by the regular reader of that series, Elizabeth Knowlton (sp?), who I think is absolutely stellar! The reader of this book is good, with easy to differentiate voices, but doesn’t quite reach the heights of Elizabeth in the LH books. Still, quite entertaining!

Like the Lady Hardcastle books, for which the mystery is just a set up for colorful characters and witty banter, this book follows suit. The draw is not so much the mystery, but the characters and their interactions, as well as the setting. If you’re looking for hard-boiled crime drama, this isn’t it. But if you want a light, entertaining mystery, this is perfect!

Overall, I still prefer the characters and setting of the LH books, but this one was still quite fun. I’ll definitely get the next one!

Loved how

This takes place maybe 15-17 years after the Flo and Lady Hardcastle meet Skins and Dunn. It is not a story Revolving around lady Hardcastle and Flos adventures. But it is very very good and still maintains the Kinsey style. Quite a few times I found myself exploding in laughter and giggles at the subtle comedic statements of the character’s British humor.

While I was startled by a different reader (Mattacks) of this story than had been in Kinsey’s books in the past, after a while, it dawned on me that a majority of the characters were male and it made it a more comfortable read. Flo (Knowelden) still has her voice as she responds in letter readings.
Good content. At first a few too many characters to follow but that settles out as we learn about who they are.
If you can get past the expectation of a female voice, this story will reward you with laughter and the developed character gifts common to Kinsey’s previous books. Enjoy.

Great sequel

Laughed my way through this mystery. Enjoyed the inclusion of Lady H, Flo and Sunderland!

Kinsey does it again!!

A must read or listen for any Lady Hardcastle fans. We started listening on a long road trip. My husband, whose not a fan of mysteries, end up so involved he was making assumptions on who was guilty. We still had a few hours of the book left so spent this evening finishing it up instead of turning on the TV. I look forward to the next one.

Fun

It took me a bit to get into this one but it was so worth it!! Love the band and mystery
Plus a cameo by our great team of Lady Hardcastle and Flo
Cannot wait for more!