I needed a book for a challenge based in London. Nothing I picked up was holding my interest. This was not beautiful writing, or great literature. It was a short easy read, fun, interesting and full of descriptions of the bygone days of London and the characters that lived it.

In 1913 a pearl necklace, designed by jeweler Max Mayer, was insured by Lloyds of London for 135,000 pounds. In U.S. dollars that was the equivalent of $650,000-$750,000. Today, the amount would be closer to $15 million. This is the story of the thief, who stole the necklace, and the Scotland Yard detective who worked tirelessly to get the necklace back.

[a:Molly Caldwell Crosby|26215|Molly Caldwell Crosby|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1352916092p2/26215.jpg] takes the reader on a marvelous romp, crisscrossing London through the book, from the streets of the East End to the Jewelers district in Hatton Garden. Her writing is descriptive and enhances the experience of London-you see the smog, you smell the sewers. Caldwell, in her author notes, admits writing the book was like trying to solve the crime. Much of the detail came from memoirs of thieves and the sensational Newspapers of the time, and the archives of Scotland Yard. Because of the time period this heist took place in, the characters are in deed just that-A Gentlemen Thief, A hard-nosed Detective and heist that in this day and age might be laughable.

If you like a good true crime book, this one is worth the time.
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I've been going through my written records of titles of books read and putting them on here. After over 200 books this is the first one I cannot remember reading. Perhaps I made a clerical error or perhaps it was neither good enough nor bad enough to leave any impression. I do vaguely remember something about a time before pearls were cultured and pearl diving meant pearls were extremely expensive.

very intriguing stryline. and the best part is that it was a true story too ! ( )

This is an interesting story but the way the author tried to add in details to make it seem more like fiction really bothered me. How do we know that someone sat longingly looking out the window etc.? There were just too many impossible descriptors for me. I also was sat at the outcome of the story. I expected the unexpected (otherwise how did crime warrant a book?). This is not an Eric Larson story! ( )

The thing I like best about Crosby's writing is the way she is able to make well researched facts read like the twists of a detective novel. She gave me a glimpse of what 1913 London was like on the eve of World War I. ( )