Member Reviews

Absolutely loved this book. Blending fact and fiction, SJ Bennett brings a well known character to life with an intriguing insight into the late 1950s and life at Buckingham Palace.

An outrageously easy read, despite many characters and interwoven stories.

I haven’t read all the books in the series, this can be read as a standalone without any issues.

Highly recommended

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I really enjoy SJ Bennett’s series. I like the premise and I love to think of our highly intelligent Queen secretly solving mysteries without anyone realising her capabilities! I enjoyed this one too but not as much as the others. This has gone back in time and I prefer the older Queen and her aides. Having said this, I still hoovered this up over a weekend!!

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A very enjoyable series, this time featuring a younger HRH Elizabeth II in her thirties with three young children who finds herself at a challenging political turning point for the UK. She is advised on Royal matters by her father’s old courtiers “the men in moustaches”, until happenstance intervenes and she meets Joan McGraw an ex-Bletchley code breaker. This coincides with the gruesome Chelsea Murders taking place that may indicate a connection or two to the Royal Household so they join forces to secretly investigate and prove to be a formidable team.

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Really enjoyed this next instalment of the series. The story was well written and enjoyed reading about gge old and new characters. Thank you for the copy.

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A fun and easy romp through another adventure where the Queen investigates crime, with a little help from her staff.

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Such a joy to read. I enjoyed the earlier books in this series but this one harks back to earlier in the queens reign and is an amazing mesh of real events and fictionalised sleuthing. The mystery at the heart of the story is a head scratcher and I never guessed who did it before the big reveal. Lovely to meet new characters and also revel in the company of those already known to us.

Thank you Netgalley

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This was probably the weakest of the series so far for me. I think the older setting was done well and i liked seeing the Queen when she was younger but the modern day books just have a better edge to them. I liked how this introduced a new set of characters and found the story easy to follow. The action was fine but nothing really stood out at me. The writing was also decent but i feel like it just felt weaker than previous books in the series overall as nothing seemed super special.

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A wonderful cosy murder mystery set in 1957 with a young Queen Elizabeth II as protagonist. When a young woman in murdered found wearing just a tiara at an exclusive men's club a mile from Buckingjam Palace, the tabloid press are quick to point fingers at the men playing cards downstairs from the incident. Some very important men were at that playing table. The young Queen has a keen eye ans ear for information and finds herself gathering the key facts. The book is fun and entertaining, as well as a great mystery. It perfectly sums up the life and routines of the Palace, as well as the societal interest in a high profile murder mystery. #adeathindiamonds #sjbennett #netgalley #murdermystery #cosymystery #book4

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A lovely confident addition to the series, keeping it fresh by changing the tone period, as always combining a good mystery and a respect for real life characters, but with some cheeky winks.

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As much as I was excited to read a new SJ Bennett, I worried that I'd miss the 80-something year old Queen, and of course, Rozie, her wonderful APS. I did miss them, but I very quickly fell in love with the thirty year old Queen, and her APS Joan, and loved the mid-1950s setting, as it allowed Bennett to explore the Queen in her early days, in a world still very much recovering from the second world war. A wonderfully twisty-turny plot that gradually pulls together a terrible murder and a series of would-be threats to the Queen kept me turning the pages, racing to try to piece things together and work out who was behind it. Really glad to have read this, and hope that Bennett plans more mysteries for the Queen and Joan to work out together.

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This is the second book I've read of these stories and this was just as much fun as the first. It's fun to imagine our late queen being an amateur detective, running about solving crimes. This is so well written, it's a really fun and cosy read, my favourite genre.

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I love this series of books and this is just lovely! Now that the Queen is no longer with us, this series also brings back happy memories of her!

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The return of the late Queen in young vibrant and detective mode is most welcome. Set in the past this time, it’s 1957. She has young children but also the privilege of staff. She also has an independently minded husband who might just be involved in the latest scandal. As we know the real Queen believed in doing her duty and you can almost believe this might extend to righting wrongs and seeking out the wrongdoers, almost.
After a murder of a young woman and a man in a place known for encounters with prostitutes there is a definite sniff of whitewash and cover up but the Queen’s attention is caught. During her State visit to France the Queen strongly suspects one of her team has tried to sabotage her and it. She shares the front page with the ‘Chelsea Murders ‘and finds that she’s being asked to be Phillip’s alibi on the night they died. She can’t resist trying to get to the bottom of her husband’s late night and possibly the murders themselves.
This novel draws on this heady post war era when society is a little freer and the dark and seedy underbelly of London is oozing into the public consciousness. There is a lot more scope here for the Queen to be more directly involved than previous novels that acknowledged her great age. I like the way this is integral to the plot and the period setting is spot on being the year that we finally moved on from the Deb being presented at Court. It marks the passing of an era. Full of nuggets about society, royal protocol, period detail and general sleaze this is an outlandish and enjoyable fantasy about HM Queen PI which I hope will continue.

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I hadn’t read any others in the series but it didn’t matter at all. Such a fun look at the royal family and especially The Queen. This cosy crime story is as fun as it is believable and I’m looking forward to more.

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I have enjoyed every book in this series thus far. Incredibly witty and well observed it is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
This time we journey back in time to an early investigation of our detecting Queen. A girl is found dead, a man murdered by being stabbed through the eye, in a house rented by a senior cleric. There is more going on here than meets the eye: seedy escort agencies, gentleman's clubs and the intelligence services. The Queen sets out to disentangle the mess with the help of an APS, somehow not from the usual circles (late of Bletchley Park).
It's a great read, and I'm looking forward to the next installment in this series.

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I really enjoyed A death in diamonds! S J Bennett seamlessly take us back in time to 1957 without disappointing fans of this wonderfully enjoyable series. Our young Queen is faced with someone trying to sabotage her royal tour, and she suspects someone in the royal household might be involved. After coming to her rescue after an important speech goes missing, typist Joan becomes her majesty’s new partner in crime!

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Love live to this series as it's gets better and better. A well plotted historical mystery, a change of setting and characters that makes everything more exciting.
A solid mystery that kept me guessing.
Loved it, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

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Whoddunnit set in late 1950s Britain. Queen Elizabeth's personal assistant is away and Joan is second dedicated from the typing pool to replace her. A murder happens in Chelsea and DI Darbishire is tasked to finding the killers but people are hiding the truth. Meanwhile the Queen suspects that someone is trying to sabotage her foreign visits and a link begins to form. Can Joan and the Queen solve the mystery?
This is so clever the way fact and fiction intertwine. The characterisation is spot on.

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I love these books written as though the late Queen solved mysteries/murders.
She only just ascended the throne but things keep going wrong on her tours. And then there’s a double murder in a flat where Prince Phillip might have been. And the woman is wearing a royal diamond tiara. Luckily she has Joan McGraw ex of Bletchley Park to help her put the clues together.

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This is the second book in this series that I have read, a wonderful respectful homage to our beloved late Queen. Set in the 1950's when the Queen was young she gets involved in a murder of a call girl found dead wearing a diamond crown !! I really enjoyed this book , the characters were delightful and I liked the new character Joan very much .Interesting twisty good story and I didn't guess the murderer .I look forward to reading the next book in the series .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

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