The French Confection

Diamond Brothers #5

by Anthony Horowitz

The Diamond Brothers – the world's worst detectives – are embroiled in a Parisian mystery!

The hard-up Diamond Brothers win a weekend for two in Paris, but as soon as they arrive, they find themselves in danger. There’s a nasty smell in the air and it’s not the cheese. If Nick and Tim aren’t careful, their dream holiday could end up being a nightmare from which they’ll never wake…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult, Crime, Humor, Adventure, Childrens

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Anthony Horowitz, OBE is ranked alongside Enid Blyton and Mark A. Cooper as "The most original and best spy-kids authors of the century." (New York Times). Anthony has been writing since the age of eight, and professionally since the age of twenty. In addition to the highly successful Alex Rider books, he is also the writer and creator of award winning detective series Foyle’s War, and more recently event drama Collision, among his other television works he has written episodes for Poirot, Murder in Mind, Midsomer Murders and Murder Most Horrid. Anthony became patron to East Anglia Children’s Hospices in 2009.

On 19 January 2011, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle announced that Horowitz was to be the writer of a new Sherlock Holmes novel, the first such effort to receive an official endorsement from them and to be entitled the House of Silk.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/anthon...

Reviews

[Sana Zameer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read - November, 2018
Reread - September, 2022

Leave it to the Diamond Brothers to accidentally uncover a drug racket, when they are on vacation.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh Anthony Horowitz, how I've missed you...
.
I haven't read anything by Horowitz for a few years at least. Diving into this short novel gave me some strong nostalgic feelings for sure.
.
Short, simple and sarcastic. Nick Diamond narrates the story with his never-failing dry humour. Just a good fun adventure read.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

162 - 2017

[Grace DuBois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really funny!!!

[Daia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually bought The Two of Diamonds and didn't know that it was actually two books in one-- this and I Know What You Did Last Wednesday, which I bought last week. I feel cheated.

Going back, I could say that I never get tired of reading Horowitz' books. All of his books are gripping-- either funny, usually wittingly mixed with horror, or totally serious when it really get serious. Horowitz is just my type of writer who gets everything going the right way.

In general, I find The Diamond Brothers series a total wayward universe. Everything is so tad silly as much as a children's universe shall be(Tim's existence is enough to make everything for a children's fancy) and yet explores really dark and grim themes -- murder, drugs, espionage-- and manages to deliver it with ample amount of comical relief that never loses its seriousness. This is exactly like the Alex Rider series' goofy brother. What really bothers me is that this was totally chopped short (Though considering it was just about 80 pages so no biggie). I wished this was more lengthy and has more volume so that it would be more engrossing. But never mind, a couple of shorts have their appeal as well. I just hope the next Tim Brother's adventure I read (3 more!) is not that predictable for my tastes.

[Tia Rohom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very interesting, funny and clever. I really loved the end of the book where the criminal is revealed. Basically, Two brothers, Tim and Nick diamond open a yoghurt cup and win free tickets to a hotel in France. On their way to France on a train, they meet a frightened steward who gives them a clue to revealing a mastermind criminal. After that, a long process of being watched, followed and being almost killed thrice continues. In the end they somehow live to tell the tale EVEN after being drudged to death. My rating is full because I love crime stories about mystery and this one had a very clever ending to it. I recommend these books to 10-11 year old's, because you need to solve quite a few things before you understand the whole story.

Tia

[Jemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit to rushed I think. Everything was happening and then it was all over.
The library has now run out of Diamond Brothers audiobooks... I should probably find something good quality to listen to instead...

Parents, the plot is pretty much the main character shutting down a drug ring. He has severe hallucinations at one point in the story

[Rogerio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading as the brothers go to Paris and end up in the unmasking of a drug cartel.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, everything started with a strawberry yogurt. Tim was eating a yogurt, when he noticed that he won a prize. Nick and Tim earned a ticket to go to Paris for vacation! They were very excited to go to France, but they didn't know that trouble was yet to come. After they arrived at the train station in Paris, a steward gave them a pile of sugar, and said to beware of the mad American. Later, they notice that the mad American was the boss of an illegal drug selling group. The group was always sending drugs to London from Paris, but the police didn't know how. In the end of the story, it turned out that the drugs were disguised as sugar and salt, so no one was able to notice in the train. This was why the steward gave Nick a pile of sugar, to show proof that it was actually a drug. And the mad American, was actually an old woman in the train. If you say Madame Erica Nice, it becomes 'mad American'. I personally liked who Erica Nice made her code name like this because it sort of has a meaning itself, and most people will suspect that whoever using this codename is American. Even though Nick's inference and detective skills were a little inadequate in this story, I still liked it because the story was like always, very interesting. Also, not really related to the story, but when Tim described Paris with details, it made me really want to go to France. Not just because of the Eiffel Tower, but I think there are many other cultures in Paris to enjoy. Right now I live in Europe, so I think it will be a great experience for me to go to Paris one day.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short story from Anthony Horowitz following the mad cap adventures of Tim and Nick Diamond as they find themselves caught up in all manner of mishaps and shenanigans only this time they find themselves across the Channel and in the fair city of Paris.

I have to say, I really think these books really lend themselves to the short story format. If they were any longer, I don’t think they would pack as much of a punch as they do only being about 80 odd pages. It definitely fits better with the flow and you could almost imagine them being little episodes of a TV show and still getting everything across that they need to.

[Thomas Houghton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read mainly as a nostalgic throwback to my childhood, Horowitz’s hilarious detective novella sees the Diamond Brothers facing a drug-smuggling empire in Paris, with a myriad of comical happenings along the way. Whilst this is by no means a challenging text (or even especially well-written), it does have an innocent and funny charm that makes it highly enjoyable to read. Of course those familiar with ‘The French Connection’ will be familiar with the plot of ‘The French Confection’, with both being amusingly similar; perhaps this version has a bit more yoghurt and cheese though…

[Priyanka · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a to-the-point short story yet quite witty. Title is a pun of the movie “The French Connection” and deals with important element of that film. Before this I had not heard of the authorities or the lead characters of story but now I want more of their such stories. Anthony justifies the expression “less is more” with his short but indulging story.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The funny thing about these shorter Diamond Brothers books, I find that they are a much more interesting and easier read. There is far less sitting around, moving at a faster tick with more going on. The dangers of drugs is real, the people who move them are sneaky and the fun of the story is no one is who they seem to be.

[Adam Humphreys · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of nostalgic fun, I remember reading one or two of the diamond brothers books when I was younger and the spoof detective stories still hold up as a laugh, even if the answer to the mystery is a little on the nose. But then they are written for a younger audience. Still, it's well worth a light read.

[Junayde · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had me biting my nails for the action packed diamond brothers books an amazing story an plot the twist came whith just a bag of sugar and a murder or two and the idiot time diamond had me laughing my head of this book is one two read

[catwoman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Diamond Brothers book and I don't think will be reading it to my upper KS2 class. However, it was an enjoyable read that for an independent read kids would enjoy.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read to see if it was suitable for my class, but didn't enjoy.

[15GuilderA · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was another good book from Anthony and it kept me intruiged all the way and allows me to keep reading it and makes me want to read more of his books.

[Kushnuma · Rating 3 out of 5]

The French Confection is book 5 in the Diamond Brothers series.

This was another good read and I think I would enjoy it as a kid.

[Maddy]

Yo this was my shit in year 5/6. I’m pretty sure I read this one first even though it’s like 6th in the series, I don’t know what was up with me as a kid reading books out of order.

[Alex Hagg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great investigation story but a tiny bit rushed. Other wise good. Surprising to find out who the mad American was in the end though 😂

[Satsuki]

:0

[Miraya Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book to read, filled with fantasy, adventure and lots of humor. I will definitely read the next books in the series

[Grace Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good short book, I would maybe give it to some year 6, if very sensible due to drugs.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series of books is so funny.
I love the relationship between the two main characters, yes they are brothers but it's more like parent and child.
There were some funny parts in the story.

[Sukanya Viswanathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and refreshingly light hearted read.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it

[Zoe Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't do drugs kids

[Primadonna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I would have given this more stars if I were decades younger.

[Petra · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was ok
i guess
its fine
not as funny as the others