The King of Diamonds

The Search for the Elusive Texas Jewel Thief

De: Rena Pederson

Narrado por: Erin Dion

As a string of high-profile jewel thefts went unsolved during the Swinging Sixties, the press dubbed the elusive thief the King of Diamonds. Like Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, the King was so bold that he tip-toed into the homes of millionaires while they were home, hiding in their closets and daring to smoke while they were sleeping.

Rena Pederson, then a young reporter with UPI, started following the elusive thief while she managed the night desk. With gymnastic skill, he climbed trees and crawled across rooftops to take jewels from heiresses, oil kings, corporate CEOs—some of the richest people of their time. Scotland Yard and Interpol were on the look-out, but the thief was never caught nor the jewels recovered.

To follow the tracks of the thief, Rena has interviewed more than two hundred people, from cops to strippers. She went to pawn shops, Las Vegas casinos, and a Mafia hangout—and discovered that beneath the glittering façade of Dallas debutante parties was a world of sex trafficking, illegal gambling, and political graft. When one of the leading suspects was found dead in highly unusual circumstances, the story darkened. High society crashed head-first into Mickey Spillane.

The odd psychological aspects of the The King of Diamonds give us a different kind of crime story. Detectives were stumped: Why did the thief break into houses when his targets were inside, increasing the risk of being captured? As one socialite put it, “It was a very peculiar business.”

©2024 Rena Pederson (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Fantastic Read!

Fantastically written and narrated! And full of so much history! As a Dallasite, I appreciated all of the history and familiar names.

Completely Engaging

Rena Pederson shares a fascinating story, that has been meticulously researched, in an inviting and casual manner. I was unfamiliar with the legend of “the King of Diamonds” before listening to this audio book. Quickly, it became a “real page turner!”

Erin Dion delivers the narrative with charm and brings a lot of character to the story.

Won’t read a better book

I could not put it down. Don’t have to live in Dallas to love it.

Interesting look back into jewel thefts and detailed dive into histories of many Dallas figures

Enjoyed the audible version more than the hard copy. Had to switch to Audible midstream because it seemed to go off on tangents, and I would lose interest in reading it. Mostly enjoyed the history of old Dallas families and other individuals and places. Also enjoyed the stories of the jewel thefts, but the author’s investigation is slow and meandering and certainly doesn’t read like fiction. It’s interesting but not gripping. For sure. Extremely annoying that the narrator mispronounced two key family names. Repeatedly. She also mispronounced the name of a social club but it is mentioned less than a handful of times. Surely someone could have told her how to pronounce all of these!

No plot.

This is a rambling, at times disconnected, story telling of various colorful figures in Dallas past.

TMZ from 1950’s Dallas

Felt like reading a TMZ episode based on the early Dallas elite. Meh. Rich people flaunting the rules and living it up, no big surprises, no big conclusions. This was a dry listen.

Great read

Engaging. True story. Living in Dallas made it even more real and exciting. Read it!

Interesting history of Dallas

The book was really interesting as far as learning about the history of Dallas I found that to be fascinating. However, it’s very frustrating that there’s no definitive conclusion. You really don’t find out who the thief was. I also found the narration to be irritating. I wish they had gotten a narrator that was actually from the south. It would’ve been more enjoyable to hear someone with a Dallas accent. Also, she just didn’t do a good job in my opinion but overall, I would recommend it if you’re interested in the history of Dallas and religious history of the 20th century, I would definitely recommend the book.

Narrator

Carlos Marcello is pronounced incorrectly—- it’s Mar- sello. Not “cello” like the instrument. Otherwise I enjoyed it!!

Narration should have been a Texas native. Read but don’t listen to this book.

I am from Dallas. My mama was raised in Dallas and her mama too. Naturally this subject really interested me. I loved hearing about families I’ve known of, on streets I’ve walked, at restaurants I grew up eating at. So for me the mystery of the thief was only one small part of what I loved about this read.

However the narration was abysmal. My sister and I would text each other laughing at the way many names, and streets were pronounced. The narrator has a regionally neutral voice with a slight northeastern leaning. The author is a female reporter for the Dallas Morning News circa 1970. The mismatch was jarring.

So read this book! It’s excellent. But please save yourself and skip the audio version. As a side note I’m not a professional narrator but if audible reaches out I will give this book a go. Dallas accent is very specific and not overly full of drawl. It is not so thick that listeners from all over will be unable to understand but it is distinct. The quality of this book deserves a narrator that can tell the story in the right voice.

Also Mr.McConaughey consider making this into a miniseries or movie. Something similar to Bernie but better. Done by a Texan of your caliber this could be a true love letter to the State and Dallas.