“Diamonds. Doubles. Murder.” is the new book in the Sherlock Jones series
“Diamonds. Doubles. Murder,” a welcome third installment in the Sherlock Jones crime series by St. Vincent High School graduate William J. Palmer, is narrated by Nicholas Jones, a former Marine who opens an investigative agency in Santa Monica.
In the second book centered around the pandemic, “Cars. Stars. Murder.”, Jones did his former sergeant a favor by helping a movie star who was receiving ransom notes about some questionable films she made long ago. This has given Archer Investigations some notoriety as “celebrity detectives,” which in turn leads to a star baseball pitcher hiring them to track down his wife, whom he suspects of cheating on him.
It doesn’t take long for Jones and his partner Sasha to catch Marcy Reed in the act. They’re just waiting for Ron Reed to return from his road trip to tell him the bad news; as if infidelity wasn’t bad enough, they also have to inform Reed of some sordid aspects of his wife’s past. They think the job is done. Then two of the main perpetrators are murdered.
The police automatically consider Ron Reed as the prime suspect, but Jones tells his incompetent cop friend, “They think this is a simple crime of passion. We’re just saying it could be a lot more.”
After a few beers, Jones confesses to his cronies, the Disreputables of the Wednesday Drunken Golfers Association, that he’s considering proposing to Sasha because they think she’s too good for him. And maybe they’re right. Sasha is level-headed, fearless, an excellent observer, and in love with Jones for no good reason. She tells Ron Reed an exorbitant price for the services of Archer Investigations, and he doesn’t even bat an eyelid.
Jones is a likeable guy, although he admits that dedication to his work is a lower priority for him than beer, golf and Sasha (though not necessarily in that order).
A minor earthquake is treated as an ordinary event and has no impact on the investigation; nothing is broken, life goes on and it is not mentioned again.
“Diamonds. Doubles. Murder.” (260 pages, softcover) costs $15.99 from online retailers. The story is rated “Hard R.”
Palmer is also the author of the Indiana-set Wabash trilogy, a Charles Dickens mystery series, and several books of film and literary criticism. He is Professor Emeritus of English at Purdue University.
Events
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Fairlawn-Bath branch, 3101 Smith Road): Lindsay Bonilla (“I Love You With All My Heart”) reads from her storybooks, Tuesday 1-2 p.m. Admission is free, but tickets are required; register at akronlibrary.org. Thursday 6:30-7:30 p.m., former Beacon Journal sportswriter Ralph N. Paulk speaks about “Follis: Greatness Transcends,” about the first black professional football player in America.
Westlake Porter Public Library (27333 Center Ridge Road): Local historians W. Dennis Keating (“Cleveland and the Civil War”), Ellen Connally, Mel Maurer, a contributor to “Unfading Light: The Sustaining Insight and Inspiration of Abraham Lincoln,” and Paul Landis (“The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After Sixty Years”) discuss their books and answer questions, Tuesday, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Register at westlakelibrary.org.
Twinsburg Public Library (10050 Ravenna Road): The fourth annual 50 Book Challenge and Author Fair features Susan Bagby (“Home for Love”), poet Marion Boyer, Amanda Bryk (“Between the Holidays”), Amanda Flower, Laura Freeman (“Tangling a Web of Deceipt”), Irv Korman (“I Was Jackie Mason’s Chauffeur for Five Minutes”), Julie Anne Lindsey (Seaside Café mystery series), Kathryn Long (Sierra Pines mystery series), poet Barbara Marie Minney, Caleb Thusat (“Nook”), Jane Ann Turzillo (“Northern Ohio Cold Cases”) and Michael Walton (“The Horror Comic Never Dies: A Grisly History”), from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Registration recommended at twinsburglibrary.org.
Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): David Giffels speaks about “The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio,” Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Mac’s back (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Joseph Earl Thomas speaks on “God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer” Wednesday from 7 to 8 p.m. about an Iraq War veteran trying to juggle a doctoral program, a job and his personal life.
Massillon Public Library (Barry Askren Memorial Branch, 1200 Market St. NE, Navarre): Alexxa Burton reads from her storybook “Meet the Cobb Bugs” and leads a craft activity, Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon.
Wayne County Public Library (Doylestown branch, 169 N. Portage St.): Clarence Bechter will sign “The Time of My Life with Bubba’s Spoiled Cyclists: 3,000 Miles from San Diego, Calif., to St. Augustine, Fla.,” about the 52-day bicycle ride he made in 2019 at age 67, Thursday, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Register at wcpl.info.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (North Olmsted branch, 27403 Lorain Road): Mark Greany, who continued the Jack Ryan series after the death of Tom Clancy, will speak about his novel “Sentinel,” the second installment in the Armored thriller series, on Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.
Cleveland Public Library: Wendall Thomas, whose “Cheap Trills” won the 2024 Lefty Award for best humorous mystery novel, joins the Writers Unplugged series with a virtual appearance Friday at 7 p.m. Register at cpl.org.
Learned Owl Bookstore (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Jeff Shafer will sign copies of his novel “Our Game,” about women in professional baseball, Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Barnes & Noble (28801 Chagrin Blvd., Woodmere): Jason R. Lady of Cleveland will be signing his Magic Pen line for children, including the newest book, “Time Problems,” from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Email information about books of local interest and event notices to gmail.com and [email protected] at least two weeks in advance. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.
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