Blurred Man (A Diamond Brothers Story) [Paperback]

Anthony Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 2002 | Series: A Diamond Brothers Story

These are two novellas about sleuths Tim and Nick Diamond.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Nick Simple's life is anything but simple. His parents have moved to Australia, leaving him in the care of his incompetent older brother who is trying to make a living as a private detective and changes the family name. They are visited by a dwarf who leaves a package with them for safekeeping and later turns up dead. Set in England and filled with a variety of colorful characters, the plot reads like a 1940s P.I. movie. Like Horowitz's "Alex Rider" series (Philomel), the teen protagonist relies on his wits to thwart the enemy. Short chapters, with a conflict in each one, will appeal to reluctant readers.–Kim Carlson, Monticello High School, IA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. Thirteen-year-old Nick is the younger (and brighter) half of the Diamond Brothers, the world's worst detective agency. Dwarf Johnny Naples becomes their client, entrusting the two with a mysterious package (a box of Malteser chocolates) just before he is killed, leaving Tim Diamond, literally, holding the gun. With Tim in jail, Nick is forced to solve the case--hopefully before someone murders him, too. Originally published in Britain (where it was also released in film and television versions), this pays homage to the "hard-boiled-detective-with-a-snappy-comeback" genre and to The Maltese Falcon book and film that the title spoofs. Horowitz's classic cast of quirky villains-- including The Fat Man, Gott and Himmel, Beatrice von Falkenberg, and the Professor--and nonstop action and clever, deadpan humor ensure the novel will be a popular choice. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens Paperbacks (July 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0744595177
• ISBN-13: 978-0744595178
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Anthony Horowitz's life might have been copied from the pages of Charles Dickens or the Brothers Grimm. Born in 1956 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a family of wealth and status, Anthony was raised by nannies, surrounded by servants and chauffeurs. His father, a wealthy businessman, was, says Mr. Horowitz, "a fixer for Harold Wilson." What that means exactly is unclear -- "My father was a very secretive man," he says-- so an aura of suspicion and mystery surrounds both the word and the man. As unlikely as it might seem, Anthony's father, threatened with bankruptcy, withdrew all of his money from Swiss bank accounts in Zurich and deposited it in another account under a false name and then promptly died. His mother searched unsuccessfully for years in attempt to find the money, but it was never found. That too shaped Anthony's view of things. Today he says, "I think the only thing to do with money is spend it." His mother, whom he adored, eccentrically gave him a human skull for his 13th birthday. His grandmother, another Dickensian character, was mean-spirited and malevolent, a destructive force in his life. She was, he says, "a truly evil person", his first and worst arch villain. "My sister and I danced on her grave when she died," he now recalls.
A miserably unhappy and overweight child, Anthony had nowhere to turn for solace. "Family meals," he recalls, "had calories running into the thousands&. I was an astoundingly large, round child&." At the age of eight he was sent off to boarding school, a standard practice of the times and class in which he was raised. While being away from home came as an enormous relief, the school itself, Orley Farm, was a grand guignol horror with a headmaster who flogged the boys till they bled. "Once the headmaster told me to stand up in assembly and in front of the whole school said, 'This boy is so stupid he will not be coming to Christmas games tomorrow.' I have never totally recovered." To relieve his misery and that of the other boys, he not unsurprisingly made up tales of astounding revenge and retribution.


Anthony Horowitz is perhaps the busiest writer in England. He has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. He writes in a comfortable shed in his garden for up to ten hours per day. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he has also written episodes of several popular TV crime series, including Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. He has written a television series Foyle's War, which recently aired in the United States, and he has written the libretto of a Broadway musical adapted from Dr. Seuss's book, The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. His film script The Gathering has just finished production. And&oh yes&there are more Alex Rider novels in the works. Anthony has also written the Diamond Brothers series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Falcon's Malteser, March 16, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Falcon's Malteser (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

I have to admit that I don't usually like mystery books. That all changed when I started reading Anthony Horowitz's mystery books. He writes with tons of detail and his stories always flow great. The Falcon's Malteser is amongst my favorite books and it's a mystery book. I've read many books by Anthony Horowitz and his mystery books, in my opinion, are some of the best books he's ever written. Anthony Horowitz has a lot of talent, period.

Now back to the story. We find the normal, every day society of England in The Falcon's Malteser. Amongst all the teenage boys, there's Nick Diamond. Nick Diamond is a thirteen-year old boy who chose not to go with his parents to Australia, but to stay in England with his brother, Tim Diamond, who is also England's worst private detective. Nick is "lovingly" cared for by his brother Tim; so lovingly that they live in a run-down apartment with no food, no money, and no transportation. Nick sometimes wishes he had gone with his parents, and so would I.

We experience this hurtful adventure through Nick, while Tim is in jail, supposedly for murder. Nick and Tim, one day, randomly get a visit. From a dwarf. The dwarf acts hurried and acts as if he's being followed. The dwarf, named Johnny Naples, pays Tim and Nick five-hundred dollars to watch a box of chocolate maltesers. Nick and Tim ask themselves the same question, "Why?" Well, they will soon find out why with the helpful hints from three murders, and Lauren Bicardi. Nick and Tim learn that the box of chocolate maltesers somehow unlock a safe with five-million dollars in diamonds inside the safe. But where's the safe and how do you open it?

The Falcon's Malteser is a great mystery book to read. This book kept me interested the whole way and didn't reveal itself until the end. Also, because the book's setting is based on England, the society that shapes the character's problems, conflicts, and decisions make it much easier to understand. Anthony Horowitz describes everything perfect, he goes into full depth of all the characters, and describes the conflicts very well. He writes vivid details, which makes it feels like you're right in the book, living what's happening. Anthony Horowitz wrote this novel so good, if he took it any further he would've ruined the book, even though the ending frustrated me a little. You have to read The Falcon's Malteser by Anthony Horowitz. It is a book you will never forget.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Falcon's Maltesers By. Taco, March 16, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Falcon's Malteser (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

Dear Reader,

The Falcon's Maltesers is a really good book. If you like books on mystery you must read this book. The two main characters are Tim, and Nick. They are both brothers. The funny thing about it is that they are both little boys. Nick is the youngest, and the brains of the operation. Tim is the oldest, and the dumb one. This mystery keep wanting to know whats so important of a candy called Maltesers That makes every criminal in Italy after them.The more you read the more you want to know whats so important about the Maltesers.You'll be asking for more Your head will be exploding from all the action. So if you want a book to read, you should read, The falcon's Maltesers.This book is "action packed while mysterious". " This book is also funny".

From, Taco

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars READ THIS OR DONT READ THIS IT IS YOUR CHOICE., November 9, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Falcon's Malteser (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

IN THIS FIRST BOOK OF A SERIES NICK DIAMOND IS AN ENGLISH SCHOOLBOY WHO HATES FRENCH. BUT HIS BROTHER TIM IS A FIRED COP, BAD PRIVATE DETECTIVE WHO OWNS HIS OWN BUSINESS CALLED TIM DIAMOND INC.

LUCKY FOR TIM HIS BROTHER IS THE SMART PRIVATE DETECTIVE WHO FIGURES THE CASES OUT. SO WHEN JOHNNY NAPLES THROWS DOWN A FIVE-MILLION DOLLAR PACKAGE TO BE WATCHED THATS WHEN THE TROUBLE STARTS.

FIRST JOHNNY GETS KILLED AND TIM LANDS IN JAIL. RELEASED FROM JAIL TIM TRYS TO FIGURE THINGS OUT. WHILE TIM THINKS, NICK HAS IT FIGURED OUT, WELL ALMOST. WHEN TIM GOES BACK TO JAIL STUFF REALLY COULDNT GET WORSE.

THE DAY COMES TO FIND THE TREASURE BUT IS IT STILL THERE. FIND OUT BY READING THE BOOK BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ ENTITLED THE FALCONS MALTESER.

THIS BOOK IS A FIVE STAR, TWO THUMBS UP BOOK. IF YOU LIKE MYSTERY/COMEDY YOU WILL REALLY LOVE THIS BOOK. THE SECOND BOOK IN THIS SERIES IS PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER TWO.