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Sean Sean Mystery
The Case of the Yellow Diamond
A dead man on the floor of his office in Minneapolis won’t lead P.I. Sean Sean to journey to Yap Island to protect his new client. Bombs in lawyers’ cars only jostle him. This short investigator knows the value of research and asking questions in the right places. World War II, Asian diamonds and concrete in Des Moines combine to almost destroy a Minnesota family. In the end, Sean detects flaws in the plans and brings down a criminal enterprise.
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2015
8 people want to read
About the author
Carl Brookins
27 books80 followersBefore I became a mystery writer and reviewer, I was a television program producer, a counselor and faculty member at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul and a mystery fiction reviewer for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and Mystery Scene Magazine. I'm an avid recreational sailor (hence my sailing series and a member of Sisters in Crime, and Private Eye Writers of America, as well as MWA. You can frequently find me touring bookstores and libraries with my companions-in-crime, The Minnesota Crime Wave. You can also catch me on tv! Just check out the Minnesota Crime Wave website, www.MinnesotaCrimeWave.org.
I live with my wife Jean, a retired publisher and editor, in Roseville, Minnesota.
I live with my wife Jean, a retired publisher and editor, in Roseville, Minnesota.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 12, 2015
Review: THE CASE OF THE YELLOW DIAMOND by Carl Brookins
I found this mystery quite engrossing, a real page-turner. In the first few pages I expected a sort of modern-day update of the private eye novels of the 1940's, but quickly I became very intrigued by the double mysteries, that in contemporary Minneapolis-St. Paul (and elsewhere in the U.S.) and the historical mystery from 1944, over Yap Island in the Pacific. Author Brookins keeps readers engaged as one mysterious occurrence piles onto another; and always, always just in the background are the events of 1944, the U.S. bombers shot down over Yap Island, a granduncle missing and presumed dead, a military investigation into potential smuggling at that time. You can't go wrong with THE CASE OF THE YELLOW DIAMOND--it's most intriguing.
I found this mystery quite engrossing, a real page-turner. In the first few pages I expected a sort of modern-day update of the private eye novels of the 1940's, but quickly I became very intrigued by the double mysteries, that in contemporary Minneapolis-St. Paul (and elsewhere in the U.S.) and the historical mystery from 1944, over Yap Island in the Pacific. Author Brookins keeps readers engaged as one mysterious occurrence piles onto another; and always, always just in the background are the events of 1944, the U.S. bombers shot down over Yap Island, a granduncle missing and presumed dead, a military investigation into potential smuggling at that time. You can't go wrong with THE CASE OF THE YELLOW DIAMOND--it's most intriguing.
November 13, 2016
The Case of the Yellow Diamond
By Carl Brookins
North Star Press
September 15, 2015
ISBN 978-0-8783-9816-4
Paperback, 170 pp., $14.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit
This book deals, as did the last one, with events which took place in the waning days of WWII. In this book, those events began in the Pacific Theater, and involve “thefts, smuggling, and the acquisition of wealth and influence through illegal means.” The tale opens with the protagonist, Sean Sean, entering his office and finding a dead body lying on the floor. He immediately calls his good friend, Minneapolis Police Detective Ricardo Simon. What follows is a flashback to Sean being hired a few weeks before by Josie and Tod Bartelme to assist in their efforts to locate the wreckage of a B-24 bomber that had taken Josie’s granduncle to his death near Yap Island, “a speck of coral in the Pacific Ocean.” In the ensuing investigation, the dead man had been the principal suspect.
Members of both families and even Josie’s college buddies had offered their assistance, and financed their efforts as well. Josie and Tod were planning to embark on a trip to the Pacific to continue their search for the wreckage, and hire Sean to assist in their efforts, notwithstanding that it had taken place nearly 70 years ago.
The protagonist, just over five feet tall, lives with the self-proclaimed love of his life, the six foot tall Catherine Mckerney, a successful massage therapist with her own school, with whom he shares her apartment in Kenwood, Minnesota as well as his home and ranch in Roseville. Sean has been an active private investigator for a couple of decades, the sign on his door reading “Sean Sean, Private Investigator, Ltd.” He describes himself as a “tracer of lost persons, collector of evidence of malfeasance, revealer of fraudsters and thieves. . . not only am I very good at my job, I’m also persistent.” Sean says of himself “Family dynamics were always convoluted and frequently hard to sort out, which was one reason I didn’t do divorces. Give me a nice clean street robbery or random serial killer any time.” In this instance, that is an understatement
The cast of characters is large, mostly consisting of family and friends of Sean’s clients [including one particularly oversexed and buxom female], some of whom try to dissuade him from continuing his investigation, even going so far as to bad-mouth him in the industry, putting them at the top of Sean’s list of suspects, which grows exponentially with incidents of murder, attempted murder, and vandalism taking place.
In his last book, the author paid homage to fellow mystery writer Michael Connolly; this time around the references are to Carl Hiaasen, Bill Crider, James Lee Burke, and Wilkie Collins. I love it!
As was the earlier book, this one as well is highly recommended.
By Carl Brookins
North Star Press
September 15, 2015
ISBN 978-0-8783-9816-4
Paperback, 170 pp., $14.95
Reviewed by Gloria Feit
This book deals, as did the last one, with events which took place in the waning days of WWII. In this book, those events began in the Pacific Theater, and involve “thefts, smuggling, and the acquisition of wealth and influence through illegal means.” The tale opens with the protagonist, Sean Sean, entering his office and finding a dead body lying on the floor. He immediately calls his good friend, Minneapolis Police Detective Ricardo Simon. What follows is a flashback to Sean being hired a few weeks before by Josie and Tod Bartelme to assist in their efforts to locate the wreckage of a B-24 bomber that had taken Josie’s granduncle to his death near Yap Island, “a speck of coral in the Pacific Ocean.” In the ensuing investigation, the dead man had been the principal suspect.
Members of both families and even Josie’s college buddies had offered their assistance, and financed their efforts as well. Josie and Tod were planning to embark on a trip to the Pacific to continue their search for the wreckage, and hire Sean to assist in their efforts, notwithstanding that it had taken place nearly 70 years ago.
The protagonist, just over five feet tall, lives with the self-proclaimed love of his life, the six foot tall Catherine Mckerney, a successful massage therapist with her own school, with whom he shares her apartment in Kenwood, Minnesota as well as his home and ranch in Roseville. Sean has been an active private investigator for a couple of decades, the sign on his door reading “Sean Sean, Private Investigator, Ltd.” He describes himself as a “tracer of lost persons, collector of evidence of malfeasance, revealer of fraudsters and thieves. . . not only am I very good at my job, I’m also persistent.” Sean says of himself “Family dynamics were always convoluted and frequently hard to sort out, which was one reason I didn’t do divorces. Give me a nice clean street robbery or random serial killer any time.” In this instance, that is an understatement
The cast of characters is large, mostly consisting of family and friends of Sean’s clients [including one particularly oversexed and buxom female], some of whom try to dissuade him from continuing his investigation, even going so far as to bad-mouth him in the industry, putting them at the top of Sean’s list of suspects, which grows exponentially with incidents of murder, attempted murder, and vandalism taking place.
In his last book, the author paid homage to fellow mystery writer Michael Connolly; this time around the references are to Carl Hiaasen, Bill Crider, James Lee Burke, and Wilkie Collins. I love it!
As was the earlier book, this one as well is highly recommended.
December 17, 2015
I received this book for the purpose of a fair and honest review.
Overview: Sean Sean has been hired for a new job. His latest clients are the Bartelme couple, Tod and Josie. She wants to find out what happened to her great-uncle’s plane during World War II. Somebody disagrees with their search though, and is willing to take any route to stop Josie and Tod. Sean is intrigued by the case, however. Will Josie be able to find out where her great-uncle’s plane is? Or will Sean find himself on the wrong side of her antagonist?
Likes: Sean was pretty cocky. It’s par for the course for those with his particular challenges. It was terrific to see how he dealt with Tommy and Abe.
Josie and Tod seemed to complete each other.
Dislikes: I just don’t understand why Cal had to be shot.
Conclusion: This was a pretty good book. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Overview: Sean Sean has been hired for a new job. His latest clients are the Bartelme couple, Tod and Josie. She wants to find out what happened to her great-uncle’s plane during World War II. Somebody disagrees with their search though, and is willing to take any route to stop Josie and Tod. Sean is intrigued by the case, however. Will Josie be able to find out where her great-uncle’s plane is? Or will Sean find himself on the wrong side of her antagonist?
Likes: Sean was pretty cocky. It’s par for the course for those with his particular challenges. It was terrific to see how he dealt with Tommy and Abe.
Josie and Tod seemed to complete each other.
Dislikes: I just don’t understand why Cal had to be shot.
Conclusion: This was a pretty good book. I think you’ll enjoy it.
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December 28, 2015Sean Sean is definitely not your usual Private Investigator--his methods are unusual and besides--he is short. He kind of reminds me of Columbo--remember him? Always deferential and low key--but would hold on with both hands until he either understood something or figured out who done it. Well, Sean Sean is that kind of investigator and he is not afraid to ask his many acquaintances to help him either. One way or another he was going to find out who was sabotaging his clients trip to Yap Island-and who was killing off the family members and more important-WHY.
The Case of the Yellow Diamond
The Case of the Yellow Diamond
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews