The Saint Bids Diamonds

The Saint #18

by Leslie Charteris

The Saint and Hoppy Uniatz didn't go looking for trouble. But they didn't expect the barroom brawl, the gorgeous girl, or the murderous Reuben Graner and his gang. And they certainly didn't expect the two million dollar lottery ticket which read: "Pay to bearer".

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Crime, Thriller, Adventure, Mystery Thriller

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, Leslie Charteris was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. He was best known for his many books chronicling the adventures of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint."

Reviews

[Rick Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was also published as Thieve's Picnic.

Major characters:

Joris Vanlinden, an elderly Dutch gem cutter
Christine Vanlinden, his daughter
Reuben Graner, flamboyant master criminal
Art Palermo, Cecil Aliston, and Lauber; Graner's thugs
Simon Templar, The Saint
Hoppy Uniatz, Simon's companion

Locale: The Canary Islands

Synopsis: Simon Templar is in the Canary Islands, and happens across a group of thugs (Art Palermo, Cecil Aliston, and Lauber) engaged in beating up an old man. Simon beats up the thugs and takes the old man, Joris Vanlinden, and his attractive daughter, Christine Vanlinden, off to safety.

The thugs work for Reuben Graner, a flamboyant receiver of stolen gems. Graner had forced Vanlinden to cut gems under duress, and now distrusts him and wants him out of the way; hence the beat-up. An added complication: Vanlinden was the holder of the winning ticket in the Spanish national lottery, and during the dust-up in the road, the ticket was taken. Now Simon has something Graner wants (Vanlinden), and Graner has something Simon wants (the ticket).

Simon infiltrates the Graner estate posing as a gem cutter to replace Joris. He gains the trust of Graner, but faces a problem: he has no idea how to cut gems.

Review: The setup is similar to some other Saint novels: an innocent, fragile, older man with an alluring damsel-in-distress daughter; and thugs who want what they have.

The most amusing episode is when Simon is brought to the workroom and is expected to begin cutting gems under the eye of Graner - but, of course, Simon has absolutely no idea what he is doing and has to fake his way along.

The tedious part is the long series of chase arounds in which Simon plays Graner and the three henchmen against each other, in every possible combination. There is also the requisite scene of tying up the damsel, an obligatory part of all Saint stories.

Hoppy Uniatz makes regular appearances, drinks a lot, but does not contribute much more. Simon manages to hustle to Vanlindens off to safety at the end, with an interesting bit of play-acting over a hidden microphone to fool the chasers.

No Patricia Holm this time around (guess she stayed back in the UK).

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[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintessential Simon Templar. Or at least what has by this time become the quintessential figure of the Saint. (A gang of jewel thieves brings in Simon to cut stolen gem stones, because the reluctant old man they have been using has escaped them with his daughter.) It is a superbly packaged novel that ticks all the boxes and then plus some. The plus some is the movement of the action to a more exotic locale, the Canary Islands. Otherwise, Charteris has fully come to terms with being both hard boiled and florid in his writing. He manages to pull off both. And the Saint feels like an iconic figure from the 1930s. There is something to fear in this latter regard, however. And that is what I see on the horizon. The Saint Bids Diamonds, published in 1937, is but two books away from the beginning of World War II. It may be that the Saint as we know him has reached his apex, a figure neither part of the underworld nor a representative of authority. I'm wondering how Simon Templar will handle World War II in that regard. It is impossible to imagine him sitting it out, especially after so many early Saint book focused on German villains trying to corrupt the peace following World War I. Will Simon Templar be drafted? Will World War II put him out of business. It certainly caused the retirement of Mr. Moto after Pearl Harbor--and Mr. Moto's author and the series itself is a solid step or two above Charteris and the Saint. At any rate, with Simon verging on middle age and the war, something is going to have to give.

[Paul Magnussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charteris’s own stay in the Canary Isles and his command of Spanish allow him to portray this romp around pre-war Tenerife with a wealth of entertaining detail and local colour.

Following, from Madrid via Cádiz, the lead of some stolen jewels, the Saint and Hoppy Uniatz find themselves unexpectedly involved in addition with the theft of the prize-winning ticket for the Spanish National Lottery.

Another one of my favourite Saint novels.

Variously published as Thieves’ Picnic, The Saint at the Thieves’ Picnic and The Saint Bids Diamonds.

[S Cearley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read one of the novels before, I'd only heard the radio show and watched the TV show. It was hard not to hear the voice of Vincent Price when reading the Saint's dialog.

It's a fun book, and has the advantages of a soap opera - if you daze out in the middle of a passage you can easily catch up without rereading.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't the best or the brightest of the Saint series. In fact, if I had read this book first and didn't know anything else about the Saint, I wouldn't like him very much. Nor would I like the author very much. So, if you are new to the series, don't start with this book.

[Christopher M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of The Saint generally, but volume 18 isn't offering anything new apart from the location.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in September 2000.

One of the least satisfying of the full length Saint novels (at least from this period), Thieves' Picnic is set in the exotic (in the pre-package thirties) Canary Islands. Simon Templar is there to investigate a gang which specialises in jewel thefts, who need to find a replacement for the man who recuts diamonds for them so that they can be resold. One of the first things that Simon does when he arrives is to break up a fight, intervening on the side of this man (a coincidence which is rather more sloppily plotted than is usual for Charteris).

Most of the novel is spent with Simon Templar, Hoppy Uniatz, the diamond cutter, his beautiful daughter (of course he has a beautiful daughter), and the various mutually double crossing members of the diamond smuggling gang chasing each other round and round Gran Canaria. This is only saved from being tedious padding - fatal in a thriller - by the ingenious ways that Simon Templar comes up with to explain his actions to make himself seem to be on all sides at once. These explanations are by far the best feature of the novel.

[Deborah Gebhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been forever since I've read a "new" Saint novel. Thank goodness some titles have recently been rereleased. It was an enjoyable read, beat the bad guys, met a girl, let her leave and added to his boodle.

[Mark Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic Saint adventure, this time set in the world of diamonds. My copy has the title "Thieves Picnic", and is dedicated to "Bobbie", Charteris' then wife Barbara.

[Federico Kereki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fine, but certainly not one of the best... plenty of racist comments about spaniards, and a thin storyline.