This is a light afternoon read, from a time long gone. A grown-up version of the famous five, set in the 1950s, four English teenagers set off on a holiday to Italy. Along the way, they get caught up in an international diamond heist. The teenagers solve the puzzle and bring the crooks to justice. ( )

Wow. The descriptions throughout the story are incredible - all the light and color of Italy, all the richness of the landscape and the people and buildings and... The mystery (or more accurately, adventure - there's not a lot unknown by the middle of the story) is interesting if a trifle unlikely - a lot of coincidences making it possible, though they acknowledge the coincidences and thus make them more reasonable. And some major mental and emotional consequences for at least two of the characters. All very Ellis Peters, but this one - possibly because it's a standalone as far as I know, we don't see these people again - the descriptions and the realizations struck me hard. And the villain is so elegantly nasty - an expert at twisting things the way he wants, undone by their (and particularly her) sheer stubbornness. Good story. Of course now I want to read more Peters… ( )