The King of Diamonds

Starred review from February 12, 2024
This riveting investigation from Pulitzer finalist Pederson (The Burma Spring) probes a series of unsolved Texas jewel thefts from the 1950s and ’60s. High-profile targets of the so-called “King of Diamonds,” who broke into Dallas homes during parties or quiet weeknights, included oil tycoon Clint Murchison and Herman Lay of Lay’s potato chips. Despite the pressure these and other wealthy victims exerted on law enforcement, authorities never caught the culprit. Pederson first stumbled on the case in 1970, as a reporter at United Press International’s Dallas office, and it never left her mind: “There was something beguiling, almost addictive about a jewel thief who couldn’t be caught,” she writes. “It nagged at everyone who knew the story.” In the late 2010s, she decided to try cracking the case herself, conducting more than 200 interviews with police, victims’ families, and reporters who’d covered the crimes. With a novelist’s gift for description and a detective’s keen eye for evidence, Pederson considers suspects ranging from gigolos to interior designers and jewelers. It’s a pleasure to watch her cross them off her list one by one until she resurrects a convincing theory that the case’s original investigators were unable to pursue. This is a must-read for any true crime buff. Agent: Jim Donovan, Jim Donovan Literary.