A Death in Diamonds By S.J. Bennett: Review/Giveaway/Interview

Feb 1, 2025 | 2025 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Sarah E. Burr

This week we have a review and giveaway of A Death in Diamonds By S.J. Bennett, part of a mystery series featuring the Queen of England as a sleuth. Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book and a link to purchase the book from Amazon.

A Death in Diamonds by S.J. Bennett
Review by Sarah E. Burr

Readers will have a royally good time.

A Death in Diamonds is the second Her Majesty the Queen Investigates novel I’ve read; I loved The Windsor Knot when it was first released, and I must say, these mysteries get better and better as the series continues. While Knot follows an elderly Queen Elizabeth, Diamonds takes us back to the late 1950s, when the Queen is at the “grand old age of 30.” I loved reading from her point of view at this age, which is closer to my own. S.J. Bennett lets us see the world through the Queen’s surprisingly relatable eyes in the most delightful way.

The story itself revolves around a high society event that turns deadly when two bodies are found at the Artemis Club in Chelsea. A club that the Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, belongs to. When Philip’s name is dragged into the papers, the Queen decides to discreetly investigate the crime, navigating through a web of secrets, lies, and intrigue. Her Majesty’s unique perspective and calm demeanor make her an unexpected yet formidable detective as she unravels this glamorous mystery, all while balancing her royal duties and motherhood. The novel is a wonderful blend of historical fiction and cozy mystery, offering a charming glimpse into the Queen’s life and the complexities of her role.

Beyond the Chelsea murders, readers are also treated to a second mystery, focusing on the Queen’s innermost circle of trusted advisors. Bennett expertly weaves tension and breadcrumbs about this storyline throughout the book, keeping readers on their toes at every angle!

Fans of The Crown and Miss Marple will find A Death in Diamonds a true delight. With its clever intertwining of royal intrigue and classic whodunit elements, Bennett offers a sophisticated yet cozy escape. She masterfully captures the charm and wit of historical figures we know and love, making this mystery an enjoyable treat for lovers of regal drama and timeless detective stories.

Sarah E. Burr, the award-winning author of Glenmyre Whim Mysteries, Trending Topic Mysteries, Book Blogger Mysteries, and Court of Mystery series, co-hosts It’s Bookish Time TV, featuring live author interviews. She enjoys reading everything from mystery to manga, playing video games, and walking with her dog, Eevee. Connect with Sarah and get free short stories via her newsletter: bit.ly/saraheburrbookssignup.

Interview with S. J. Bennett:

KRL: How long have you been writing?

S.J: I recently found my first book in my parents’ attic. It was called Harold the Horse and was fully illustrated by the author, aged six. I couldn’t draw horses then, and fifty years later, I still can’t – but I’ve got a lot better at writing!

KRL: When did your first novel come out, what was it called, and would you tell us a little about it?

S.J: My first mystery novel came out in the UK 2020, which was not an ideal time for new writers. If you remember – everything was closed, and in the US in 2021. It’s called The Windsor Knot and features the late Queen Elizabeth II as an active ninety-year-old, a busy monarch entertaining the Obamas, among other things, and a spare-time sleuth.

S.J. Bennett

A brilliant Russian pianist has been found dead at Windsor Castle after an evening playing for the Royals and their guests. First, suicide is assumed, then possibly a long-distance assassination ordered by President Putin. But, having met Putin, the Queen thinks she knows better and works with her assistant private secretary to find out what really went on.

A Death in Diamonds is technically the fourth in the series, but it’s the first chronologically, because I’ve gone back in time to 1957, when the Queen was thirty and fairly new to the throne, so it’s a good place to start.

KRL: Have you always written mysteries/suspense and if not, what else have you written?

S.J: I started off writing mystery novels, but my first attempts didn’t get very far. My first published book, called Threads, came out in 2009. Threads was a Young Adult novel about three London teens who befriend a teenage refugee from Uganda, who turns out to be a genius fashion designer. She helps them fulfill their dreams, and in turn they try and help her.

I wrote it when my kids were young and I was surrounded by their friendships and concerns – but it’s also about everything that fascinated me as a teenager myself, including the fashion world and the buzzing creativity of London. At the time of writing, I was also interested in what was going on in Uganda, where many children lived in danger from rebel armies, and that became part of the plot. It won the Times/Chicken House prize for unpublished writers, run by Barry Cunningham, the publisher who discovered Harry Potter.

Threads became a trilogy, and I still get letters from all over the world from readers in their twenties who read my books when they were at school and still return to them for comfort and inspiration. It gives me more joy than I can say.

KRL: How cool. What brought you to choose the setting and characters in your latest book/series?

S.J: I grew up reading Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers, Rex Stout and PD James, and I wanted to create my own detective one day. In the end, though, I was inspired by the life and work of a real person. I ended up turning Queen Elizabeth II (very much alive at the time) into a sort of Golden Age detective. She’s the Queen as you would know her but also a canny and experienced solver of mysteries.

I first got the idea after an episode of The Crown. I loved the first two series, starring Claire Foy. The late Queen has inspired lots of British writers in fact, from Peter Morgan and Alan Bennett to Sue Townsend, who’ve written plays, films and novels about her. I think it’s the air of mystery she somehow maintained for over ninety years, combined with the fact that we knew so much about her. My father met her many times in the course of his career in the army, so he could tell me what she was like behind the scenes. She was intelligent, observant and an expert on a surprising number of things. Perfect for a detective, in fact.

The Queen’s life was a gift to a novelist in terms of settings – there’s the thousand-year-old Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, the Royal Yacht Britannia and all the places she visited around the world. She also got to meet most of the great names from the twentieth century, from Buzz Aldrin to Nelson Mandela. Duke Ellington wrote a suite of music for her, which I mention in A Death in Diamonds, and which I listened to while I was writing.

However, I couldn’t write convincingly about her until two things happened. The first was the creation of a decent sidekick, who was new to the complications of the royal court, and so we could see it all through their eyes. In A Death in Diamonds this is Joan McGraw, a typist at the palace who becomes the Queen’s Assistant Private Secretary – a role I interviewed for myself in the 1990s – and who happens to be an ex-Bletchley Park codebreaker, which I wasn’t!

The second thing was to find the kind of sparkling dialogue I love to write. This came when I started writing scenes between the Queen and Prince Philip. I imagined them sparking off each other behind the scenes: in love, but also occasionally exasperated with each other, like many long-term married couples. Those scenes are usually my favorite ones to write.

KRL: Do you write to entertain or is there something more you want the readers to experience from your work?

S.J: First and foremost, I do write to entertain. Novels kept me going in low moments throughout my childhood and teenage years. I devoured Nancy Drew, adored Jilly Cooper, my mind was blown Jackie Collins, intrigued by Len Deighton, and constantly amused by PG Wodehouse. Goodness knows we all need entertainment sometimes, and if I can provide that, I think my work is done.

Having said that, I can’t help writing about what I care about. My mysteries end up being about women finding their place and making things happen in a world that doesn’t always listen or take them seriously – even if one of them happens to be the Queen of England. The Queen has a passion for justice in my books and is prepared to risk a lot to do the right thing, so I think readers will get that, too.

Also – I didn’t originally set out to do this at all, but I have absolutely loved all the research I do for each novel, so I hope readers get a real sense of time and place, as well as the intricacies of the story and complexities of the Queen’s enormously busy life.

In A Death in Diamonds, set in 1957, the UK was still recovering from the effects of the Second World War, and I wanted to get a real feel for the period into the book. By contrast, the settings cover the Queen’s glamorous visits that year to Paris (where the Mona Lisa was brought to her chair at a banquet at the Louvre so she could see it for the first time), Denmark, Canada, Washington and New York. I particularly loved writing about the New York scenes. They gave her a tickertape parade and the tapes were still flying up around the top of the Empire State Building when she visited. She loved that trip.

This time, I enjoyed researching her speeches, and what she was trying to convey – Daphne du Maurier helped her write her Christmas speech that year – as well as her relationship with Norman Hartnell and Hardy Amies, who designed her glittering evening gowns. Sometimes it’s a challenge to set a murder mystery amidst her daily life, but that’s what I enjoy.

KRL: Do you have a schedule for your writing or just work whenever you can?

S.J: My ideal schedule is to do an exercise class at 8 in the morning, come home and retreat to the shed at the bottom of my garden with a cup of tea to write, until my youngest son gets home from school at about 5. That almost never happens!

Last year I was treated for cancer with several rounds of chemotherapy, and the fatigue put paid to my writing schedule for a while. I finished in May, but didn’t really get going again until September. Now I appreciate the ability to put words on the page more than ever – whenever it happens.

KRL: I am so sorry to hear that–hope you are doing better now. What is your ideal time to write?

S.J: If I didn’t have kids at home, my ideal time would actually be between nine and about three in the morning. It’s not sociable, but I write best when the house and the street outside are quiet. Lots of my opening chapters have been written that way. My youngest is about to leave for university this year, and my husband is very understanding. He enjoys the books when they’re finished, so maybe there will be more night-time sessions from now on.

KRL: Do you outline? If not, do you have some other interesting way that you keep track of what’s going on, or what needs to happen in your book when you are writing it?

S.J: When I started writing, I would get a flash of inspiration and go at it, getting thousands of words down with no real plan, but I would always discover after a while that something about the plot didn’t work. So, I got into the habit of outlining, just to make sure that all the pieces fitted together. With this series, because I love to include so much of the Queen’s real life, I actually needed a spreadsheet to keep track of what she was doing on a day-to-day basis, what else was going on in the world, and how the murder investigation fits in alongside it. These days, after fifteen books, I’m very organized!

KRL: Did you find it difficult to get published in the beginning?

S.J: It took me ten years between jobs, so I suppose, in a way, yes I found it hard to break through. However, I expected to. It’s hard, right? I tried joining local writing clubs, but they didn’t really work for me. I didn’t know anyone in the industry. But my mother, being my mother, happened to sit next to PD James’s editor at a dinner just after I’d finished my first go at a mystery, and the editor kindly agreed to read it. She was very encouraging and helped me keep the faith throughout those early years and many rejections. I used that time to write over a million words and get better with each new idea and draft. It was hard, but I don’t regret it. By the time Threads came along and I won the prize of £10,000 and a publishing contract, I was ready.

KRL: Do you have a great rejection/critique or acceptance story you’d like to share?

S.J: I still remember standing in my hallway in 2008, when the phone rang, and it was Barry Cunningham on the line. He told me he loved my manuscript for Threads, and I’d been shortlisted from 2,000 writers. I felt in that moment that my life had changed and that I’d finally be able to call myself a writer, because I was so near the finish line, and I knew that even if I didn’t win, I’d have the motivation to keep going. However, I did win, and I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been able to write full-time ever since. It’s been precarious at times, but I’ve been able to put food on the table with my books, which was what I really wanted to do.

KRL: How exciting! Most interesting book signing story-in a bookstore or other venue?

S.J: With increasing frequency, I find myself signing books for people who work at one of the royal palaces, or who are related to people who do. I’m delighted that they find the series realistic enough that it doesn’t drive them crazy! However, perhaps the most interesting response is a thank-you letter from Queen Camilla, on royal headed notepaper, after one of my readers suggested that I should send her a copy of A Death in Diamonds. I’m not sure if she’s read the book, but she was grateful to receive it, anyway.

KRL: That’s amazing! What are your future writing goals?

S.J: I’m about to start a new series with a non-royal, non-real detective. Then ideally, I’d like to run the two side by side. In the meantime, the manuscript for the next book featuring the Queen is done, and I’m waiting to hear back from my editor. The Queen Who Came in From the Cold is set in 1961, at the heart of the Cold War and the height of the Space Race and will be out in November this year.

KRL: Who are your writing heroes?

S.J: So many. My current hero is Robert Harris. He features in a recent episode of a BBC Radio 4 series called This Cultural Life, with John Wilson, on the app BBC Sounds. I read his novel Pompeii over Christmas – also using real historical characters in a fictional story – and it was quite brilliant. Harris says he writes about 800 words every day for six months and doesn’t edit. The chapters are handed to his translators as he writes them. How? I don’t get it, but I’m mightily impressed. Pompeii is packed with detail, has a propulsive story, and is set as Vesuvius is about to erupt, so you know not everyone is going to make it to the end.

Growing up, my heroes included Noel Streatfeild, E. Nesbit, Anthony Buckeridge, Ellery Queen and later, PG Wodehouse, Jilly Cooper, Jane Austen and George Eliot. I like being made to laugh, and I like being made to think.

KRL: What kind of research do you do?

S.J: I do a vast range of research. Sometimes, I’m lucky enough to talk to someone who has worked in the royal household and can give me behind the scenes tips. I read a lot, from thick biographies to magazines from the period, and I visit the settings and make copious notes. My favorite research tool though, tends to be Pathé newsreels from the period, and any video I can find. I like to hear how the royals really speak to each other and the press. I don’t watch or read fiction about them anymore. I don’t want somebody else’s impression of their world to influence my own.

KRL: What do you like to read?

S.J: While I’m writing, I like to read fairly short fiction, as I don’t have much headspace left for other people’s work! I’ve recently enjoyed the latest book of short stories by Elly Griffiths. I also get sent a lot of books to blurb, and it’s lovely if I find something that captures me. Recently, I really loved Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway, who is John Le Carré’s son. The book is a sort of follow-on from The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, which I devoured as a teen. I’m not normally a fan of family continuing an author’s work, but I think Harkaway’s writing is beautiful. It turns out I’m in good company as it got very good reviews all round.

KRL: What are your favorite TV shows or movies?

S.J: Last year, our favorite TV show by far was Shogun. The acting, story, costumes were all incredible. We’re finally entering an era when people from non-Western cultures can tell us about their stories in their own way, and it’s far more subtle and interesting than what we could have imagined. I’m a big fan.

I loved the original Squid Game, too. I normally can’t watch violence, but when the storytelling is that good, I can’t look away. I binge-watched the whole show. I thought its take on the cruelty of unfettered capitalism was spot on.

In a different way, but with a similar message at its heart, I’ve loved both White Lotuses so far, and I’m looking forward to the next one. The quality of TV writing at the moment is impressively high.

KRL: Have you any advice for aspiring or beginning writers?

S.J: The same as everyone says, because it’s true. Read – read a lot, read outside your comfort zone, read whenever you can. And write. Just write and keep going until you get to the end.

Practicing getting to the end of a project is a huge part of it. I think you can legitimately call
yourself a writer if you’re writing complete stories, regardless of whether other people read them or not.

Also, a piece of advice that I was given early on, and a lot of people instinctively hate, is … If you possibly can, find a partner – of any kind – who believes in you and supports what you want to do. It can be very grueling to keep going if you don’t have someone behind you. I feel deeply fortunate that for the last 20 years my husband has been my biggest cheerleader. I’m not sure I’d have got to publication on my own.

KRL: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

S.J: The Berlin Wall went round my back garden when I was a teenager.

KRL: Do you have any pets?

S.J: Sadly not. I love cats and dogs, but I’m allergic to them. I love writing about them, though. There are a few dogs in A Death in Diamonds, and even more in my next one, The Queen Who Came in From the Cold. There’s a dangerous and difficult Chihuahua called Concita that I’m very fond of.

KRL: Is there anything you would like to add, and where can our readers find you online?

S.J:The best place to go is my website, sjbennettbooks.com, where there are pictures, maps, recipes, links to all the books and more. You can also sign up to my author newsletter. I have thousands of readers round the world on it now, and I love to stay in touch. You can also find me on Instagram at sophiabennett_writer and on Facebook at SJBennettAuthor.

You can click here to purchase this book from Amazon.

To enter to win a copy of A Death in Diamonds, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “diamonds” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen February 8, 2025. U.S. residents only, and you must be 18 or older to enter. If entering via email please include your mailing address in case you win. You can read our privacy statement here if you like.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Disclosure: This post contains links to an affiliate program, for which we receive a few cents if you make purchases. KRL also receives free copies of most of the books that it reviews, that are provided in exchange for an honest review of the book.

4 Comments

  1. I read another series that used Queen Elizabeth as a sleuth. I’m interested to see how your series handles her.

    Reply
  2. Very interesting! Certainly fun to imagine the Queen of England as a sleuth.

    Reply
  3. Sounds like my kind of book. Adding to my TBR list.

    Reply
  4. Thank you for the insightful interview with S. J. Bennett. Haven’t read about the Queen being a sleuth, but I love the era was set in late 1950s! I am also curious about S.J.’s first book Threads! Wishing S.J. a speedy recovery!
    – Emily cwkuen(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Reply

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