Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds

The Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds is book 6 of the Race Against Time series written by J. J. Fortune.

Pursuit of the Deadly Diamonds
Front cover of UK edition
AuthorJ. J. Fortune
IllustratorBill Sienkiewicz (Map by Giorgetta Bell McRee)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesRace Against Time series
GenreJuvenile
PublisherDell Publishing (US), Armada (UK)
Publication date
1984
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages139 pp (paperback)
ISBN0-440-97181-0
OCLC10399282
LC ClassCPB Box no. 2802 vol. 20
Preceded byDuel for the Samurai Sword 
Followed byThe Secret of the Third Watch 

Plot summary

When Mr. and Mrs. Lane invited charming French woman Annette Reynaud to their brownstone for dinner with the family, they had no idea that she was a jewel burglar whose real name was Michelle, and that Mrs. Lane's younger brother Richard Duffy had known Michelle from his past.

Richard privately warned Michelle from having any ideas about his sister's home, but she assured him she was retired, having come to USA to get away from those who demanded she work for them.

Shortly afterwards though, he got a strange phone call from her hinting she was in trouble but could not speak freely. The clues she gave in her talk were 'nice', 'park' and 'au revoir'. That got Richard and his nephew Stephen Lane to fly to Nice, booked into a Hotel Parc and saw from binoculars that Michelle was on board a yacht named Au Revoir.

Faking a chance meeting, Richard learned that Michelle was being compelled to stage a diamond heist for a gang, whose mastermind's name she was hoping to learn to trade with the police. They even got ready imitations for Michelle to replace the real stones during the heist.

With no other recourse available, Richard and Stephen could only keep a close watch on Michelle while trying not to be discovered. Their only ally was the police inspector Armand Duval, who was only prepared to take a chance on their crazy story because there was really a gang of thieves operating in the area, having stolen some very precious stones. The gang was likened to a hydra, and so far, the police only managed to get hold of the lowly footpads but had no inkling about the mastermind.

Non-recurring Characters

  • Annette Reynaud, a name used by Michelle when befriending Mr. and Mrs. Lane.
  • Michelle La Blanc, a jewel burglar whom Richard got to know seven years before in Paris.
  • Armand Duval, a Nice policeman approached by Richard for help.
  • Bonaparte, prefect of police in Nice, Duval's superior.
  • Sylvia Borgia, Italian ex-actress who married Duke of Wentworth.
  • Charles Wentworth, English duke, one of richest British and a high-stakes gambler in Monaco.

Chapter headings

  1. Brewing up a Storm, Saturday, 4:23 P.M., Monaco
  2. A Lady from the Past, Friday, 8:30 P.M., New York City
  3. Two Crazy Americans, Saturday, 5:14 P.M., Monaco
  4. The Fireworks Begin, Saturday, 9:39 P.M., Monaco
  5. On the Run, Saturday, Saturday, 10:46 P.M., Monaco
  6. Getting the Message, Saturday, 11:02 P.M., Monaco
  7. Down and Dirty, Saturday, 11:33 P.M., Monaco
  8. The Big Bang, Saturday, 11:55 P.M., Monaco
  9. Fasten Your Seat Belts, Sunday, 12:31 A.M., Monaco
  10. A Smashing Good Time, Sunday, 1:12 A.M., Monaco
  11. TV Special, Sunday, 3:00 A.M., Monaco
  12. Bonaparte Takes Command, Sunday, 4:03 A.M., Monaco
  13. A Tight Spot, Sunday, 4:23 A.M., Monaco
  14. Raking in the Chips, Sunday, 4:31 A.M., Monaco
  15. The Late, Late Show, Sunday, 1:03 P.M., Monaco
gollark: OS *and* ISA *and* CPU µarch *and* CPUs.
gollark: I actually have systemd-boot, formerly gummiboot.
gollark: I mean, that's quite a while. I have no idea what it's doing.
gollark: And the ineffable machinations of firmware take 10 seconds actually.
gollark: My laptop allegedly manages 30 seconds to stuff, but it takes a while for me to type in the full disk encryption key.
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