Colin Dale

A middle-aged man recalls his childhood growing up in and around London during World War II.

Thirteen-year-old Nick and his slightly dense older brother Herbert run the Diamond Private Detective Agency above Camden Town Tube Station in north-central London. When a master criminal called The Falcon dies, they come into possession of his box of chocolate Maltesers, which contains the secret key to a fabulous cache of diamonds. Can they unravel the mystery and avoid the clutches of seedy lowlifes Brenda Von Falkenberg, Gott and Himmell, The Fat Man and the dogmatic Chief Inspector Snape, all of whom want to find the swag first.

Based on South By Southeast, the third book in The Diamond Brothers detective series, follows dimwitted Tim and his street smart kid brother Nick whose latest odd client is murdered by a mysterious assassin-spy who has 9 fingers.