Three Of Diamonds (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) (Diamond Brothers Mysteries (Prebound)) [Library Binding]

Anthony Horowitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2005 | Series: Diamond Brothers Mysteries (Prebound)

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. What would Tim Diamond, the world's worst private detective, do without his quick-thinking brother Nick? The bumbling detective and his kid brother are at it again in these three hilarious, fast-paced mysteries: ""The Blurred Man,"" ""The French Confection,

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Tim and Nick Simple, also known as the Diamond Brothers, find themselves in the middle of mystery and mayhem in three action-packed short stories. In each humorous episode, Nick, 13, must solve the crime before his older brother, the world's worst detective, either bumbles the investigation or gets them both killed. In "The Blurred Man," the Simples must determine who flattened philanthropist Lenny Smile with a steamroller. A trip to France becomes a near-death experience when they find themselves in the middle of a drug ring in "The French Confection." Finally, Tim is invited to a class reunion that becomes deadly in "I Know What You Did Last Wednesday." Nick is a realistic character with a voice that is sarcastic and fresh, while Tim's lack of intelligence makes even the most dangerous situations laughable. Plenty of plays on words add to the humor. Readers looking for an entertaining mystery will enjoy this sequel to The Falcon's Malteser (Philomel, 2004) and hope for more.–Angela M. Boccuzzi-Reichert, Merton Williams' Middle School, Hilton, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Thirteen-year-old Nick and his bumbling older brother Tim, the heroes from Public Enemy Number Two (2004) and The Falcon's Malteser (2004) return for three more adventures. This time they search for a missing philanthropist who may have been steamrolled, fight off drug smugglers operating out of a French confectionary shop, and become trapped on a Scottish island with a murderer who seems determined to reenact an Agatha Christie novel. Naive, literal Tim serves as a comic foil to the clever Nick, who becomes a hero by default as he tries to keep himself and his brother alive. Horowitz's writing is fast-paced and funny, full of clever puns and deadpan comments. Descriptions of dead bodies and a particularly vivid hallucinogenic experience may make younger readers squeamish, but this is great for the sophisticated mystery lover not quite ready for adult crime novels. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 214 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417758740
• ISBN-13: 978-1417758746
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,103,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Three of a Kind", December 22, 2005

By 

T. J. Jones "TJ" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three of Diamonds (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

Anthony Horowitz continues his enjoyable Diamond Brother's series with the "Three of Diamonds" in which 13 year old Nick, the real brains behind the operation, must solve the crimes before his dumb older brother, Tim, gets them killed in these three hilarious mysteries. In "The Blurred Man" an American asks Nick and Tim to solve who killed his friend, the too-nice-to-be-true philanthropist, Lenny Smile. In "The French Confection" Tim wins a trip via a yogurt to France and Nick finds himself embroiled in a Parisian drug plot. And finally, in "I Know What You Did Last Wednesday", Tim gets invited to an old class reunion where someone is killing off all of the old students. And before long, it's Tim's turn to die. As always, Horowitz cleverly plants his clues and the story is never boring with Nick's sarcastic voice and Tim's hilarious antics. These fast-paced, action-packed and just pure hilarious mysteries are a quick read for all those avid mystery fans out there. Not to be missed!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nick Brennan loved this book., November 30, 2005

By 

funybuny "NickNack" (Westmont, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three of Diamonds (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

This was a fantastic book! It was two books in one, a great deal.

In th first part Nick and Tim are asked by an American man to try and find out what happened to Lenny Smiles, the mysterious man that he had donated millions to. As the truth unravels esplosions, gunfights, and car chases frequent the pages.

In the second section they are in Paris. They meet a mysterious steward who gives them a package of sugar while trying to tip them off about a drug smuggling ring between France and Britain. Police, sweet sellers, and Texas oil entrepuners are the new friends here.

In the final section a reunion with a classmate becomes a weekend chalk full of murders and memories.

This is an awsome book and should top you or beloved's Christmas list!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!, May 30, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Three of Diamonds (Diamond Brother Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is a fantastic book. From trying to figure out who flattened Too-nice-to-be-true philanthropist Lenny Smile in "the blurred man", to trying to find the "Mad American" with a pack of sugar in "The French Confection", to trying to catch the murderer in "I know what you did last Wednesday", Tim and Nick Diamond, or rather Herbert and Nick Simple, are sure to have hilarious adventures, due to Tim's dull-mindedness.

I think this book is a great book. It made me laugh out loud at some parts, and I was very scared at some parts. It was mostly because Tim is so unintelligent, and he gets the two boys into a lot of trouble. I recommend this book. However, I think this book would be good for younger kids, maybe ages seven to nine. Anthony Horowitz has created a laugh-out-loud novel that people are sure to like.