The Adventure of the Deverill Diamonds

Esther Morstan-Eyre longs to be a detective. Sadly, her Aunt Cordelia has her locked up in her bedroom. But nothing will stop Esther solving a murder that happens on her doorstep. It is the late 19th Century. The body of Eugene Deverill is found lying in a locked room, his safe open and his precious diamonds stolen by a thief. But how? Esther finds the body with PC Ned Burdon and this sets her on a quest to escape her terrible home life and find the truth. To help her she enlists the assistance of Sam (a poor crossing-sweep with an eye for danger) and together the two of them set out to solve the case as a team. Along the way they encounter many suspects - the beautiful actress, Hettie Deverill; her son, the chimney-sweep; the vicious sailor, Leland Deverill; his accomplice, Kakana; Eddie Holloway and the various members of his lethal Red Razor Gang. Only at the end of the case does Esther realise the devastating truth and the race is on to save Sam's life and prove what a true friend she is. This is the second novel in a series of crime stories featuring Esther and Sam. The next case - The Adventure of the Queen Anne's Revenge is being written currently (Chapter 12 presently) and the prequel (where Sam and Esther first meet) The Adventure of the Body in the Alley is fully planned and most of the dialogue has been written.