The King of Diamonds by Simon Tolkien

This is the second of a trilogy by JRR Tolkien’s grandson, featuring Inspector Trave of Oxfordshire CID — a morose, obsessional detective in the mould of Morse. He has separated from his wife, who becomes involved with Titus Osman, a rich diamond dealer living at Blackwater Hall, an Oxfordshire manor house.

When Titus’s neice Katya is found murdered, Trave is responsible for arresting Katya’s ex-boyfriend David Swain, an escaped convict who was imprisoned for murdering Katya’s lover.

But has Swain been framed by the Osmans?

The author now lives in the US, but spent part of his childhood in Oxford, and was a history student here. The setting seems authentic enough but, unlike his grandfather, he does not leave the reader with a vivid sense of place. Instead, he focuses on the psychology of crime and punishment.

He describes the book as “first and foremost a murder mystery”, but adds: “It is also a story like my grandfathe’'s about how people can be corrupted and enslaved by jewels, while in addition it is a piece of historical fiction seeking to throw a light on the infinitely sad but little-discussed fate of the Belgian Jews during the Holocaust.”

Even without the famous name, this writer can hold his own as a thriller writer, with his likeable detective, a compulsively menacing story and a satisfying ending.