John Diamond

Description

An award-winning mystery about a young boy lost in Victorian London, pursued by bloodthirsty thieves, desperate to solve the mystery of the man his father wronged. 'My father, that stern and upright man, was nothing but a swindler and a thief!' What is the matter with old Mr Jones? Endless footsteps and low groans can be heard from his room in the dead of night. Only his son William knows the a terrible secret- his father betrayed his business partner Mr Diamond, and swindled him out of a great fortune. William resolves to go to London, find Mr Diamond and make amends. But the murky big city, with its sinister characters and treacherous back streets, is no place for a boy of twelve. And Mr Diamond's own son is not the sort of person to forgive and forget. Danger and deceit lie waiting... Includes exclusive material- In the Backstory you can find out more about the wonderful author and learn some Cockney rhyming slang! Vintage Children's Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Leon Garfield was born in Brighton in 1921. He was the acclaimed author of more than thirty novels for children and adults including Devil in the Fog, winner of the inaugural Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1967, The God Beneath the Sea, winner of the 1970 Carnegie Medal, and John Diamond, winner of the 1980 Whitbread literary award. He was also elected a member of the Royal Society of Literature. He died in 1996.

A brilliant, witty and gripping adventure * Times Educational Supplement * It is a fine thing that Leon Garfield's rip-roaring and funny tales should be brought back into circulation for a new generation of readers -- Joan Aiken