We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. Warren and Frenchie have 3 children, Diamond, Aldenham and Owen. They meet in Paris and Warren has his finger in many pies until Gustav Wolfe takes what he has. They return to England and build a new little empire until Wolfe takes it all again as well as Warren's life. Diamond hates the Wolfe family and wants revenge including Gustavs son Torro. Warren's brother decides to take over the firm as well as the household using his bully boy and controlling ways. Diamond flees to Paris and reinvents herself as Diamond Dupree doing whatever she has to do to survive however trouble seems to follow her.

This felt like a huge family saga, a cross between Peaky Blinders, Eastenders and Downton Abbey! It’s tough and gritty, but very addictive and I stopped reading anything else so I could finish this. Thanks to Courtney at EdPr for the gorgeous gifted proof and finished copy 😍 in exchange for an Honest review. Do you know what a Diamond is? It’s a stone that has to be polished to shine and have its own sparkle. Eventually, after suffering the death of both parents, her brother Aiden and miscarrying her baby, Diamond's life starts on its upward spiral and it looks like her life is changing for a more settled future. Diamond Butcher is a formidable woman who has survived so much trauma in her life both in her earlier years in England after her fathers untimely death and then in her time spent in Paris.For fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers, as well as viewers of Peaky Blinders , this is historical crime fiction at its most compelling. Jessie is proud of her heritage. She said: “Gypsies are strong, resilient and tough as old boots. It's a honour to be one of them. Thank you to NetGalley and Hoddler & Stoughton for an advance copy of this book on exchange for a honest review!!

Diamond Butcher is born to loving well-off parents whose father Warren owns clubs and doesn't come by money legally. She has two younger brothers the youngest Owen who was born with the cord around his throat has learning difficulties but is loved no less than diamond or Archie her other brother. This is not so much a gangland thriller as we have come to expect and is set in the era just after the first world war. In my opinion this is the best book to date written by Jessie Keane and I really hope there is a sequel as I’d love to read more about Diamond.Very different to her other books but just as good,a rollercoaster of a read,brilliantly written and filled with characters you'll love and hate. Although this is set in the past, this book felt quite contemporary to me. It’s honest and believable. There is pain, love and hardship, life laid bare, it’s a real rip roaring piece of historical crime fiction. I never have to read the blurb on books by Jessie Keane I have confidence that I am going to love it her narrative is superb and her characters are always relatable.

I'm a big fan of books by Jessie Keane , and this could be her best yet . What I love about them are her strong , gritty , no nonsense , direct , sometimes violent to reach the goal female characters , and she has created a crime queen in the character in Diamond.The oldest and only girl in a family of London thieves, reinvented as Diamond Dupree, the latest Paris ‘it girl’ - the lover of an aristocrat, fearless and beautiful she is so compelling and a great female character. I really loved her, she was the personification of her name. The story starts with us meeting Diamond Butcher, who is raised by her loving mum and dad, along with her two brothers, during the early part of the last century. Her dad is head of a gang who are in a bitter feud with the rival Wolfe gang. When Diamond’s dad Warren is murdered, his brother Victor takes over the empty place left in both the gang and his home. Victor is worse than evil and forces Diamond to take part in some of his vile plots to extort anyone he can. Diamond Butcher is a beautiful girl and the daughter of Warren Butcher the head of the Wolfe gang who run the streets of Soho. Her mother is Frenchie a woman that her father met whilst in Paris and they fell in love. Diamond also has two brothers Archie and Owen who is a bit simple after an accident at birth. Now calling herself ‘Diamond Dupree’, she goes to Paris to become an artist’s model but the world there is brutal and cutthroat and she soon falls on hard times. When she manages to escape at the end of the First World War, she leaves behind a mystery - and a dead man.