This is the sixth in the William Warwick series but reads well as a standalone. It’s 1997, a general election is on the horizon & Warwick’s twins are writing an essay on Colonel Blood. You’d think these two events are unconnected but you’d be wrong. Miles Faulkner, an ex-con, is determined to get revenge on the three police officers who put him in prison. Especially when two of them outwit him over a Rubens painting. Cue a brilliant, convoluted plan to steal the Crown Jewels with the help of an obliging inside man. I really enjoyed this book. A pacy read which had so many threads I wasn’t sure how they would all pull together but then Mr Archer is a master storyteller so I needn’t have worried. There were some nice little nods to his early books & birthplace too - IYKYK. Thoroughly recommended.

I read a lot of Jeffrey’s books. This is one of the best. Looking forward to the next instalment. Bravo.

Classic Jeffrey Archer; fast-paced, full of fascinating facts and great characters. He's got a great gift for giving a brief summary of the characters and their past history without it being at all forced and it's a welcome reminder of what's happened in past books. I loved all the history of the Tower of London, the Crown Jewels and the previous foiled plot to steal them. An absolute winner!

Jeffrey Archer never fails to provide a clever, thought-provoking and twisting tale and this book doesn't disappoint. Continuing the lives of familiar characters, the reader instantly connects with them and gets totally caught up as they resolve cleverly-linked puzzles as the story unfolds. As ever, this latest addition to the series is hard to put down.

How do you destroy the reputation of a senior police officer? Carry out an impossible crime under his nose and then show the world how he messed up. Chief Superintendent William Warwick has previously foiled, arrested, and jailed Miles Faulkner, although the latter has somehow clung to his vast fortune and now, released from prison, is again exulting in it. He is particularly proud of a con he perpetrated on Warwick’s wife, Beth, which has gone undetected. That is until Warwick, supported by Inspector Ross Hogan, his number two, solves that mystery, leaving Faulkner, in material terms, poorer by millions and determined to ruin Warwick and Hogan and as many others on their team as possible. Pondering on how to accomplish this, while keeping his own hands clean, a proposition is brought to him by a minor member of the Royal Household. Would it be possible to steal the Crown Jewels from inside the Tower of London, where they reside permanently under the watchful eye of the Resident Governor and an army of Yeoman Warders? Nearly four hundred years ago, Colonel Blood, had nearly succeeded in doing this, although he was swiftly caught, but since then security had been stepped up to such an extent that no one had tried. However, although I said ‘permanently’ above, that isn’t quite true. For the Annual State Opening of Parliament, the Queen (the story is set in 1997) must wear the Crown and carry the Sword, and that means they have to be transported to Buckingham Palace, used in the ceremony, and then taken back to the Tower. It is Warwick’s responsibility to conduct these transfers. Faulkner starts to devise a foolproof heist! Once again Archer has produced a complex, but not complicated, tale, beautifully crafted to effortlessly lead the reader to a satisfying end. There are no inexplicable coincidences, no deus ex machina excuses, just the smooth unrolling of an entertaining story. The story is firmly in the Heist category, with detailed and meticulous planning and a flawless execution. Often in such stories there is an element of implausibility, but here the events are so perfectly described that it feels real, as if the reader is watching a perfect riffle shuffle. Along the way, we learn a lot about the history of the Tower and the Jewels, about the world of Art and Galleries, but mainly we learn about Warwick and his family and his team, all well realised and believable. All of Faulkner’s usual team are also on Parade: Collins his ‘assistant’, ex Superintendent Lamont, and Booth Watson QC. This is a great series and, it seems to me, becoming better with each outing. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.