Description (from cover): “During a critical stage in World War One, the Governor-General of South Africa journeys to London for a meeting of The Imperial War Conference. Days prior to the conference, the Governor-General is scheduled to have an audience at Buckingham Palace at which time a most precious blue diamond will be presented to King Edward as a symbolic gesture of the colonies’ resolute and never-ending allegiance to England.

The flawless blue diamond, with its magnificent luster, weighs nearly 3000 carats which renders it one of the world’s largest and most valuable gems. On the Governor-General’s arrival, he is ensconced at the fashionable Windsor Hotel under the tightest security, with his entire entourage and formidable security team occupying the entire penthouse floor. All entrances and exits are locked down and closely guarded, and no one is allowed entrance after 6 PM.

Despite the extreme precautions, the famous diamond is stolen from the Governor-General’s suite in the middle of the night, with no clues left behind. With Scotland Yard baffled, Joanna and the Watsons are called in to investigate the theft and it becomes clear that the crime is not simply the work of a master thief, but one that could greatly aid the Germans and turn the tide of war in their favor. Time is of the essence and the blue diamond must be recovered before it begins its travels which could cause irreparable damage to the allied war plans.”

My Thoughts:

This book is the sixth installment of the Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series. It features Joanna Watson, who didn’t know her famous detective father, Sherlock Holmes, but the similarities between the two are uncanny. They are pretty much one and the same. They both have a knack for noticing the finer details that everyone else misses and solving mysteries that seem impossible to resolve. In this book, Joanna has been called in to assist Scotland Yard when a priceless diamond is stolen from a hotel room. The diamond was to be a gift from the Governor-General of South Africa to the King to strengthen their allegiance to one another during World War I. Scotland Yard is once again baffled and Joanna enlists the help of her husband and his father, the famous Doctor John Watson.

I found that this book was enjoyable to read, but it didn’t keep my attention as much as the previous installments of this series. I felt that this book dragged with the storyline in some areas and could have been a little shorter, but nonetheless it was a good read. I really have come to like this series and the author has done a fabulous job of keeping the Sherlock Holmes story alive but creating his own characters with their own narratives. I think that this is one of the better continuations of the Sherlock Holmes stories that I have read. There are a lot of spinoffs out there and I have read a lot of them because I have long since loved the famous fictional detective.

While this was not the best book in the series, I do highly recommend this series to anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes. It appears that the seventh book in this series is going to be published next year. I am hoping that one is better than this one, but I cannot wait to see what the author has in store for Joanna moving forward in the series.

Overall Rating: 3.5 stars

Author: Leonard Golberg

Series: Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery #6

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Publication Date: June 14, 2022

Pages: 330

Genre: Historical Mystery

Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.