An interesting and diverting story from history, but even as a rather short book, it felt rather drawn out.

This book came on my radar as soon as it came out because I've read both of Molly Caldwell Crosby's other books: "The American Plague" and "Asleep". In "The Great Pearl Heist", rather than focusing on medical mysteries, she tells the story of a jewelry heist in Edwardian London.

I really liked how the book was set up. In the first section, she introduced all the characters: the thieves, the detectives, even the necklace itself. All this detail made for a much richer story. I loved the history of the Metropolitan Police, in particular the growth of detectives. Giving me this much background also helped me keep all the players straight. One thing I'm terrible with when there's a lot of characters in a book is knowing who's who. I often think that 3 characters are all the same person, especially if they have similar names.

The rest of the book reminded me a little of a Law and Order episode. First she told the story of the sting - from both sides. You got to see the cat and mouse game between the detectives and the thieves. After the arrest she switched her focus to the trial. I finished reading this book in just a few hours because I wanted to find out how the jury ruled!

I admit, I liked this author's other books a little better, but that could just be because I tend to like medical non-fiction best, but I don't think I would've stayed interested in this story unless I had also just started watching the 3rd season of Downton Abbey. I don't know much about this time period (In school we pretty much skipped from the Civil War to World War II), so I'm loving learning more about Edwardian England.

I loved the writing in this book. And the story reminded me of a British Bonnie and Clyde .

The time period and the crime were interesting. It was well researched and the writing wasn't bad. But the book just didn't grab me like I thought it would.

Wonderful book. Highly recommended for anyone who likes heist novels or shows.

A lot of interesting information and detail but it lacked the punch of a truly well written true crime heist and investigation.