Great Pearl Heist, The: London's Greatest Thief And Scotland Yard's Hunt For The World's Most Valuable Necklace (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
This is the definition of a 3 star book-nothing too bad and nothing about it grabs you and makes sit up and take notice(other than a chilling, direct quote from Jack London's description regarding East End Children dancing for the organ grinder and how that is completely absent as adults).The crime itself is oversold. It's actually really simple, the necklace was sent by the owner over regular mail service! The justice aspect was also fairly bland and seemingly simple. There are a few tidbits like the police undercover makeup department but not much.This book is good for getting a feel for Edwardian era Britain. A good book for a high school reader just starting to get into popular history reading. And even then I'd recommend Crichton's The Great Train Robbery although it's fiction. It's not the author's fault that I was literally falling asleep while reading this book.She does her best to make this fascinating, but in the end I just don't care.I don't care that a pearl necklace was stolen in 1913, that the thieves tried to sell it, that the jewel thief was an alleged mastermind, that the police created a sting to bring the thieves down. I don't care that they went to trial and were punished.I need a little excitement in my books. Or philosophy, some deep thoughts. Not a super-long newspaper article about a crime that took place over a hundred years ago.I appreciate the effort Crosby puts forth here, but it's all for naught - at least with me as her audience. She tries to put the thieves in a sympathetic light - oh, they have families and are good fathers - but in the end they are thieves. They aren't even stealing because they are poor and hungry, instead they are stealing because they enjoy it. Also, she plays up "the mastermind jewel thief" and the "Sherlock Holmes-type" detective, but the sting was boring and the trial was boring. There were no shocking revelations or twists to hold my interest.It's not badly written, but for me it is a topic that I have no interest in.
What do You think about Great Pearl Heist, The: London's Greatest Thief And Scotland Yard's Hunt For The World's Most Valuable Necklace (2012)?
An eloquently written tale of the real-life mystery of a pearl heist just before WWI in England.
—Dalt
Well written. Very intriguing. I'd give it 3.75 stars.
—diamonds
