The king's diamond - Will Whitaker

A vivid, evocative, page-turning read that leaps off the page, with a dazzling recreation of the Renaissance diamond and gem trade.

As the chaos of war spreads out across Europe, Charles V extends his empire in a series of ruthless and aggressive moves. The Medici Pope has formed an alliance to drive Charles out of Italy for good.

Only England holds aloof from the great struggle that is to come. The 36-year-old Henry VIII presides over an opulent and glamorous court, thinking only of the woman with whom he has fallen in love.

In the midst of this politically sensitive and dangerous world, steps Richard Dansey, a young and ambitious jewel merchant, determined to break his mother's stranglehold on the family firm after his father's early death.

Richard's reckless pursuit of jewels worthy of Henry's wooing of Anne Boleyn, lead him across Europe to Venice and Rome. Obsessed with one diamond, but dangerously distracted by love, Richard finds himself thrust into the heart of the murderous politics of the Tudor court.

'The King's Diamond' is a story of obsession and love, in a world of political conniving and treachery, that grips from the first page.