The Queen of Diamonds: Part 2 of the Red Dog Conspiracy

Written by Patricia Loofbourrow

Narrated by Machelle Williams

Jacqui's back!

She just wanted an easy case ...

Private eye Jacqueline Spadros, recovering from her harrowing experiences the week prior, wants nothing more than a simple, straightforward case - preferably one the Spadros Family won't find out about. Aristocratic jewel merchant Dame Anastasia Louis, aka "The Queen of Diamonds," seems to be offering the perfect arrangement.

But Jacqui can't leave the madman "Black Jack" Diamond's crimes unpunished. And the more she learns, the more she begins to believe that this particular job wasn't such a good idea after all ....

Dark, gritty, multi-layered Victorian-inspired detective neo-noir that keeps the reader guessing to the very end.

What readers say about The Queen of Diamonds

"... blackmail, murder plots and seemingly everyone with a secret!" - Diana Johnson

"... combines a fictional mob tale with a detective mystery for a darkly entertaining adventure." - Holly A. Lenz

"... action, conspiracies, mystery and danger ..." - Laura Furuta

 This is part 2 of a 13-part serial audio novel:

• The Jacq of Spades
• The Queen of Diamonds <-- you are here
• The Ace of Clubs
• The King of Hearts
• The Ten of Spades (coming soon!)

Scroll up, click the button to buy, and continue the adventure!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Dog Press, LLC
• Release date: Feb 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781944223182

Patricia Loofbourrow

Patricia Loofbourrow, MD is an SFF and non-fiction writer, PC gamer, ornamental food gardener, fiber artist, and wildcrafter who loves power tools, dancing, genetics and anything to do with outer space. She was born in southern California and has lived in Chicago and Tokyo. She currently lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three grown children.

Reviews for The Queen of Diamonds

[dabofdarkness · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Note: This is Book 2 in the series and you really need Book 1 before enjoying this book.Book 1 left me confused across the board. I wasn’t sure about the setting, I didn’t really get the main character, and the plot had so many little plots within it that I wasn’t sure that what I got was what the author intended. I did like this book better as it explained more of what was going on for all areas even if it didn’t clear everything up.So I finally understand why Jacqui is going on about Joseph, who didn’t really put in an appearance in Book 1. Although that can easily lead to some silly love triangle….. Also the setting is much clearer. Alcatraz Island is mentioned more than once and also we learn there are other domed cities (which everyone knows about but somehow I missed in Book 1). There’s also references to an uprising and a collapse so I think we have a fallen human civilization where only domed cities can support large numbers of humans. Yet I’m still a bit confused about the time. The story reads like it’s set in Victorian times but with the collapse and references to a few pieces of tech, I feel like it’s set in a future time.Anyhoo, the plot was a little more straight forward this time. Jacqui is still dealing with the fall out from the previous book. She conquered one villain but a second is untouchable. She has pressure from every corner. Her husband, Tony Spadros, truly cares about her but she doesn’t have the same intensity of feelings. Roy, Tony’s dad, is a sadistic control freak who enjoys hurting others. Then there are those that need her help. Anastasia has fallen on tough financial times and Jacqui agrees to help her. Toss in some child abuse, a few secrets, and a lost love or two and you have plenty to keep Jacqui busy.There’s a lot of cloak and dagger in this tale and some of it is well laid out and some of it reads like it was tossed in spur of the moment. When things were well laid out, I felt like it was a good episode of Peaky Blinders with the organized crime, family on the rise, secrets, and occasional violence. At other times, I just rolled my eyes a little because it felt like some deceptions or secrets were tossed in just to add drama, like that big do about Jacqui being trained to fire a gun. It was part of her training in Book 1 but now in Book 2 her husband isn’t suppose to know that she’s ever fired a gun. It just came off as silly.I think I know who Jacqui is now but I am still sometimes confused on her timeline. In fact, I haven’t even figured out why Roy Spadros had her dragged up from the Pot (poor man’s neighborhood), cleaned up, educated, and engaged to Tony so many years ago. It’s not a secret she comes from the Pot but it’s suppose to be a secret that she was forced by Roy to marry Tony. She had some of the best tutors but lacks even passing Italian (apparently, that’s the classy language of choice) and knowledge of the basic politics of who to invite to dinner (which can have political implications for the entire Spadros family). Again, it seemed a matter of convenience for the plot or for drama as to what Jacqui knew or didn’t know.This tale ends with a wrap up to several questions even as it leaves the door open for the next book. This story felt more polished than the first book but still needs a bit here and there. 3.75/5 stars.The Narration: Machelle Williams did an OK job. Her voices were clearer this time, each character being distinct and most of the male voices being masculine. Her pacing is still quite slow. She does do some regional accents for some of the characters, which I liked. There were no issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Patricia Loofbourrow. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.

[cpolk625 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tea party, anyone? Well, where else would you resolve a mystery?Jacqui has finished saving David Bryce, and in the process she has shot and (she thinks) killed Frank Pagliacci. However, Jack Diamond, Frank Pagliacci’s sinister partner, still hovers threateningly in the background, his motives unknown. Meanwhile, Jacqui is busy stumbling roughshod over the guest list for a dinner party with little understanding of the potentially fatal social implications of seating arrangements in Bridges. While Tony, her husband, tries to smooth over her social errors, she is ensnared by a scheme woven by one of her ‘friends’ who has become quite the con-artist - aided, it appears, by a not so dead Frank Pagliacci and potentially abetted by Jack Diamond. The atmosphere in Bridges continues to intensify through tea party after tea party, through misunderstands and tidbits of information until the reader fairly screams for a little meaningful action. The screams are finally rewarded with an explosion.In all candor, I found Queen of Diamonds to provide a great deal less reader satisfaction that Jacq of Spades. Queen struggles for a storyline lost in cob webs of tea parties and social interactions that left me yawning. There is simply no closure. Like the many-headed hydra, there is a partial story of a confidence game involving jewels that seems to involve Pagliacci and maybe Jack Diamond, but there is no closure and no one is ever quite sure what to believe. There is innuendo of a pending war between certain of the families against the Spadros family, but no one ever seems quite sure who will be the aggressor. There is always an undercurrent that all is not well in the Spadros family, yet, the situation never comes to a head. Even the much anticipated confrontation between Jacqui and Roy Spadros resolves nothing. Finally, there is nothing resolved concerning the Red Dog Gang. To me, Queen of Diamonds seemed to be intended to set the stage for future books rather than provide an entertaining and satisfying story. Many books are written for that purpose and many readers are fine with that. I’m not one of them.Queen of Diamonds is generally well written and edited. It would appeal to those who like to read steam punk series books and possibly to those who like mysteries in general and have at least some patience with literary tea parties.