The Diamond Brothers facts for kids

The Diamond Brothers is a super funny detective book series written by Anthony Horowitz. The first book came out in 1986. These books are all about the adventures of the world's worst private detective, Tim Diamond, and his younger brother, Nick Diamond. Nick is way smarter than Tim!

These books are for younger readers than Horowitz's other famous series, Alex Rider. But both series have a teenage boy as the main character. They also include action, fights, and criminals from all over the world. The biggest difference is that The Diamond Brothers books are much funnier. They have lots of jokes, clever wordplay (called puns), and silly situations.

Even though the books started in the late 1980s and new ones are still being written, Nick and Tim stay about the same age. Nick is usually 14, and Tim is around 28. But London, where they live, changes with the times! Newer books might mention things like computers.

The whole series got new covers in 2007. These were designed by Martin Chatterton. They got new covers again in 2015, this time by Tony Ross. When the books were sold in North America, the stories stayed the same. But the money was changed from British pounds to American dollars! So, even though Nick and Tim live in London, they pay for things in dollars in the American versions.

The Diamond Brothers Books

Here are the books in the series:

• The Falcon's Malteser (1986): This is a mystery that begins when Tim is hired to protect a box of Maltesers chocolates. It's a funny take on a classic detective story called The Maltese Falcon.
• Public Enemy Number Two (1987): A dangerous criminal known as The Fence needs to be caught. Nick Diamond gets pulled into danger again! He has to pretend to be a criminal to help catch the bad guy.
• South by South East (1991): Nick and Tim Diamond find themselves in another mystery. This time, they go to Amsterdam to find out who a mysterious assassin named Charon is. The brothers have many exciting and scary adventures. In one scene, a small plane chases them, just like in the famous movie North by Northwest.
• Three of Diamonds (2004): This book actually contains three shorter stories that were published before.
  • The Blurred Man: The brothers look into the sudden death of a kind person who gave a lot to charity. This person had very bad allergies, so they almost never met anyone. It's a funny play on the movie The Third Man.
  • The French Confection: The brothers win a trip to Paris! But they quickly get caught up in a group that is secretly moving illegal goods. This title is a pun on the movie The French Connection.
  • I Know What You Did Last Wednesday: Seven friends and the Diamond brothers are invited to a remote island for a school reunion. But then the host is found dead. Other people start dying in strange ways, and there's no way to leave the island! It's a funny version of Agatha Christie's book And Then There Were None. The title is a pun on the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer.
• The Greek Who Stole Christmas (2008): Minerva is a famous Greek pop singer and movie star. She starts getting secret death threats. Her husband is so worried that he hires Tim to protect her. The title is a pun on The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.
• The Double Eagle Has Landed (2011): This is a short story where Tim is hired to protect a very valuable gold coin. It was published in a book called Guys Read: Thriller. The title is a pun on the movie The Eagle Has Landed.
• Where Seagulls Dare (2021): This is the first full-length Diamond Brothers novel since The Blurred Man. Anthony Horowitz shared the first six chapters online in 2020. He plans to publish the full book when the lockdowns end. All the money from this book will go to help the NHS. The title is a pun on the movie Where Eagles Dare.

Future Diamond Brothers Books

For a while, there was talk about another Diamond Brothers adventure set in Australia. It was going to be called The Radius of the Lost Shark. This title was mentioned in some of Horowitz's other books, like Scorpia and Ark Angel. It was also mentioned in The Greek Who Stole Christmas. In that book, Nick and Tim get enough money to visit their parents in Australia.

In 2012, a fan asked Anthony Horowitz on Twitter when this book would come out. Horowitz replied that he hadn't even started writing it yet! In 2015, he said in a newspaper interview that he had at least six other books to write before he would continue the Diamond Brothers series. So, it might be a while before we see that Australian adventure!

Movies and TV Shows

A movie based on The Falcon's Malteser was made in 1989. It was called Just Ask for Diamond. In North America, the movie was released as Diamond's Edge.

There was also a TV show called The Diamond Brothers. It had six episodes and was based on the book South by Southeast. It was shown on ITV in 1991. However, this TV series has never been released on DVD. The movie Just Ask for Diamond has been released on DVD.

Both the TV series and the movie starred Dursley McLinden as Tim and Colin Dale as Nick.