This novel takes place in the London parish of Paddington. The story opens with the murder of an old Jewish pawnbroker. Our Scottish hero, Andrew Lauriston, a penniless aspiring writer, has the misfortune of finding the body, and is accused of killing and robbing the old man. But then its found the pawnbroker had had in his possession an extraordinary South African diamond worth over eighty-thousand pounds a diamond thats now missing. It falls to Melky Rubenstein to unravel the mystery and prove the young mans innocence. This is a great tale which you can immerse yourself in and will appeal to anyone who likes the old style crime/ mystery novels.