The King of Diamonds

The Search for the Elusive Texas Jewel Thief

By: Rena Pederson

Narrated by: Erin Dion

As a string of high-profile jewel thefts went unsolved during the Swinging Sixties, the press dubbed the elusive thief the King of Diamonds. Like Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, the King was so bold that he tip-toed into the homes of millionaires while they were home, hiding in their closets and daring to smoke while they were sleeping.

Rena Pederson, then a young reporter with UPI, started following the elusive thief while she managed the night desk. With gymnastic skill, he climbed trees and crawled across rooftops to take jewels from heiresses, oil kings, corporate CEOs—some of the richest people of their time. Scotland Yard and Interpol were on the look-out, but the thief was never caught nor the jewels recovered.

To follow the tracks of the thief, Rena has interviewed more than two hundred people, from cops to strippers. She went to pawn shops, Las Vegas casinos, and a Mafia hangout—and discovered that beneath the glittering façade of Dallas debutante parties was a world of sex trafficking, illegal gambling, and political graft. When one of the leading suspects was found dead in highly unusual circumstances, the story darkened. High society crashed head-first into Mickey Spillane.

The odd psychological aspects of the The King of Diamonds give us a different kind of crime story. Detectives were stumped: Why did the thief break into houses when his targets were inside, increasing the risk of being captured? As one socialite put it, “It was a very peculiar business.”

©2024 Rena Pederson (P)2024 Dreamscape Media

Completely Engaging

Rena Pederson shares a fascinating story, that has been meticulously researched, in an inviting and casual manner. I was unfamiliar with the legend of “the King of Diamonds” before listening to this audio book. Quickly, it became a “real page turner!”

Erin Dion delivers the narrative with charm and brings a lot of character to the story.

Mystery Unsolved

As a true crime book, this one falls short of solving the actual mystery. Speculation upon speculation leading to no clear conclusion. However, as an expose' of Dallas high society, this is an highly entertaining and informative book. I grew up in Dallas but certainly not in the society portrayed. Most of the names were constantly on the society pages of Dallas' two newspapers. I was on the very farthest periphery of the Dallas wealthy, as my mother worked as a secretary to Jake Hamon for a time and my first husband and I interviewed for him to become H.L. Hunt's chauffeur. We were in our early twenties and declined the job. Although it paid well, we would have had to live on the premises overlooking White Rock Lake and be on call 24-7. Hunt seemed like a quirky old man and had clear plastic upholstery over all his pricey furniture.

Back to the book...although interesting, it rambles quite a bit, going back and forth among the various society celebrities. Just when I thought Ms. Pederson was about to reveal the identity of the jewel thief, back she would go to follow another rich person's story. The narrator is just fair, and should have researched some pronunciations. She calls the famous Four Sixes Ranch, the six-six-six-six ranch, and seriously butchers the Terpsichorean Club as Terpsi-KOREAN. No crime here, just wishing she had learned something about Texas that would lead to correct pronunciation. In fact, a narratator with a strong Texas accent would have been perfect.

The is book is somewhat interesting.

Never been to Dallas so the names and events really meant nothing, it kept my interest because I wanted to see who The King of Diamonds was.

True crime packed with juicy character descriptions including that of both the many victims and the perpetrator(s).

Artfully written with delicious descriptions of crafty, real-life characters, The Diamond King is a tour de force in a genre woefully lacking in originality. I was hooked from Rena Pederson’s first chapter describing what seems to be an impossibility in our world of bad guys who get their just desserts. Brava!

Won’t read a better book

I could not put it down. Don’t have to live in Dallas to love it.

Interesting look back into jewel thefts and detailed dive into histories of many Dallas figures

Enjoyed the audible version more than the hard copy. Had to switch to Audible midstream because it seemed to go off on tangents, and I would lose interest in reading it. Mostly enjoyed the history of old Dallas families and other individuals and places. Also enjoyed the stories of the jewel thefts, but the author’s investigation is slow and meandering and certainly doesn’t read like fiction. It’s interesting but not gripping. For sure. Extremely annoying that the narrator mispronounced two key family names. Repeatedly. She also mispronounced the name of a social club but it is mentioned less than a handful of times. Surely someone could have told her how to pronounce all of these!

No plot.

This is a rambling, at times disconnected, story telling of various colorful figures in Dallas past.

Grew Up In Dallas? This one’s for you!

Expertly researched and written by Rena Pederson, whose byline was always in the Morning News, this is a fun look at the wild Dallas society days of the ‘50s and ‘60s. It brings back a lot of memories - if you can make it through the constant mispronunciation of the narrator. I don’t want to reveal the most annoying one because it would be a bit of a spoiler, but it really takes you out of the story every time it is used.

Very disappointing

The premise was good and the book started out well. But all the history and background on all the crooks led to a dead end and were quite boring.

This was an interesting look back on a true crime spree

An excellent story, well told, and it is well documented. The cast of characters is like out of an old Colombo episode.