Saturday, September 11, 2010

Murder She Wrote: The Queen’s Jewels-Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain

Murder She Wrote: The Queen’s Jewels
Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Obsidian, Oct 5 2010, $22.95
ISBN: 9780451231260

Cunard offered writer Jessica Fletcher a chance to travel on the Queen Mary II from England to New York at no cost if she serves as a writing instructor. Jessica eagerly agrees and flies to London. She goes to a dinner hosted by her publisher; there she meets Kim Chin-Hwa whose partner Walter Yang bought a blue diamond called the Heart of India.

She learns the gem was stolen and Yang murdered. Jessica’s Scotland Yard friend Inspector George Sutherland expects the diamond to be sold as he tells her the business partner has an air tight alibi. Also attending the party Jessica’s British publisher throws for her is M-16 Agent Michael Haggerty who has come in from the cold to find the diamond., Former jewel thief now insurance investigator Dennis Stanton wants to find the Heart of India before the QM-II docks in the States. There are others connected to the stolen gem so Jessica applies her grandmotherly kindness asking questions until she concludes who is involved in the theft and now all she has to do is prove her theory.

Ut has been years since the show ended, yet Donald Bain still captures the essence of Jessica that makes her a fan favorite. The Queen’s Jewel is a very complex amateur sleuth tale due to the numerous characters with multiple motives concerning the deceased and the jewels. In an ironic twist of fate, a notorious jewel thief on board is connected to a series of jewelry robberies that occured just prior to the ship’s departure. However, once again this is Jessica’s mystery as she calmly investigates the suspects sailing with her.

Harriet Klausner

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