With such a name, drawn from an illustrious heritage, one expects great things. No magical tales here, no golden rings or underground caves, however we do find our share of monstrous Nazis, hidden diamonds and damsels in distress.
The tale, set in Britain in 1960, has Inspector Trave of the Oxford constabulary investigating two murders at Blackwater Hall, both allegedly committed by young David Swain, the jilted lover of young Katya. The first murder was the new boyfriend, out of jealousy and the second, for which Swain had to breakout of prison to commit, the revenge killing of Kaya herself.
Trave, who is the lead detective, refuses to remove himself from the investigation even though the owner of Blackwater Hall is now courting his soon to be ex-wife and indeed seems to be going out of his way antagonize the family. This period tale reads more like England in the stilted era of the thirties more than the country of loosening mores of the sixties. Without the references to the happenings of Nazi Germany one might be forgiven to think they where reading about circumstances after the Great War, however in no way does this period-mixing detract from the grand storyline that has Tolkein sweeping us away with its telling.
With a trail of blood diamonds from Antwerp, two Jewish brothers seeking the truth of what happened to their parents and a trail that leads to the concentration camps of Mechelen, Belgium, Tolkien leads us on the familiar and mysterious path of deceit, revenge and betrayal.
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Simon Tolkien is the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien (which must be a nightmare in a way if you're an author, too). Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's talk about his book.

The King of Diamonds is a very British, very Gothic, but nuanced thriller - more Patricia Highsmith than Agatha Christie for sure. There are shades of Jane Eyre here, too - or of any other tale that involves someone locked in an attic with an evil caretaker. This time that someone ends up dead.

I liked this book for all those elements - add in Nazis, a jealous and vengeful lover, and the ickiest weirdest family ever and you've got a fun read.

This book also has two things that I love - a sense of place and a sense of its place in time. Set in the late fifties/early sixties in Oxford you can feel everything poised on the precipice of change. It's easy to imagine linoleum floors in the kitchen, a Sunday roast in the oven.

My one criticism is that things move just a tad too slow in the beginning. While this feels right for the setting and time, it makes it a little more difficult to engage as a reader. That said it was great fun. ( )

(In the U.S., “post war” meant post World War II, but largely referred to the late 1940s and early 1950s. By 1960, the U.S. had moved on – through Korea, into Viet Nam, and a whole new generation was coming: Camelot was around the corner, and the middle class was on the rise.

But in England – where THE KING OF DIAMONDS largely takes place – “post war” was a concept that lasted well into the early 1960s. Signs of the Blitz lingered in London, with scars from bombings in the surrounding areas. The economy continued to struggle. Distinct class separations remained, foreigners were often regarded with suspicion, and the death sentence was still in use.)

Tolkien has set THE KING OF DIAMONDS in an interesting time period, 1958-1961 – an interim period of sorts -- and created a suspenseful story that weaves elements of the traditional police procedural with those of the gothic romance and even the international thriller.

The gothic romance begins with a lovely young woman writing in her secret diary, convinced that her wealthy uncle and his scarred and menacing brother-in-law are trying to kill her, while keeping her locked up on a beautiful country estate. With the aid of a thief and gambler, a murderer convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend’s lover escapes from a nearby prison. Upon his escape, the murderer makes his way to the estate, intent on seeing his former girlfriend, who just happens to be the lovely young diary-keeper. Angry at her betrayal and armed with a gun, he makes his way to the girl’s room. Shots are fired, the girl is killed, the con escapes…

And thus the traditional police procedural begins. Enter Inspector Traves of the Oxford Police, a man of integrity but somewhat jaded, and his young assistant, Constable Clayton, inexperienced but intelligent and eager to prove himself.

Tolkien has captured almost perfectly the atmosphere and tone of the novels from the 1960s – Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney, Helen MacInnes and the like. When the scarred henchman and the wealthy handsome foreigner enter the story, it’s not surprising. But it is intriguing to see how Tolkien plays the bitter policeman against the rich landowner. He makes it work, bringing in first political infighting within the police force, then an element of international intrigue element through the zealous brother of the first murder victim (the dead girl’s Jewish boyfriend). Then, just to keep things interesting, we get one more romantic twist.

THE KING OF DIAMONDS is suspenseful and engaging, weaving three different plot lines in a beguiling and convincing fashion — if it falls short, it does so with its ending, which disappointed me with its heavy-handedness. But the ride along the way is worth it: the characters are well-drawn, the plotting complex but not convoluted, and the time period and setting evocative of a by-gone era. ( )

See what I thought of it at Reviewing the Evidence. (In short: not much.)