Diamondstone the Magician was a short-lived series (six stories) written by G.T. Fleming-Roberts and appeared in Thrilling’s pulp magazines.
Diamondstone (no other name is given) is a retired magician, who has become an amateur detective. The only other characters in the series are Absalom, his manservant, and Niki Chartis, a possible love interest.
Altus Press reprinted the original stories (see my original post for a review), and now Pro Se Press has come out with a volume of new stories under their “Pulp Obscura” line. This volume, “The New Adventures of Diamondstone the Magician,” has four new stories.
Chuck Miller‘s story has Diamondstone investigating a haunted jailhouse, where a dangerous criminal was confined but killed when he escaped. He had stolen a lot of gold bullion which was never found. Is it haunted, or is someone looking for clues that will lead to the gold? Can Diamondstone solve the crime and find the gold?
Russ Anderson has Diamondstone at a reunion of his old magician colleagues. But someone appears to be out for revenge, killing the magicians using their signature tricks. Will Diamondstone solve the crime before he becomes the next victim?
Lee Houston Jr. gives Diamondstone a real tricky one. Someone named Nazar is sending records to a radio station, saying that if a certain individual doesn’t pay, they will be killed. Those that don’t are subsequently killed, but it looks like an accident. Can Diamondstone solve who Nazar is before others are killed?
Nicholas Ahlhelm‘s tale hinges on Diamondstone’s assistant, Absalom. Absalom’s family is threatened by a Klan-like group. Diamondstone works to expose this group and put an end to them. Will he succeed?
Overall, the stories are good. A couple give a larger role to Diamondstone’s assistant, which I think is okay, though he played a very minimum role in the first two original stories. There seems to be some confusion as to Diamondstone’s hair color. In one story, it’s red, another blond, a third red-blond. In the original stories, it’s described as “golden.” Also, in the original stories, he was retired, but some stories hint at him still working.
Unlike earlier Pulp Obscura volumes I have, this one uses a smaller format. Not sure if this is an overall change to the line. I look forward to further volumes in this series, as well as further new Diamondstone volumes.
