The Dying Diplomats Club

by Matthew Benns

A brand new mystery featuring Nick and La Contessa, the beloved characters from Matthew Benns' smash hit nationwide newspaper serial.



What should have been a glittering New Year's Eve at Kirribilli House takes a fatal turn. Can Nick and La Contessa unmask a murderer?

And what has their intrepid beagle Baxter discovered in the Prime Minister's bedroom?

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Murder Mystery, Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2021

Reviews

[Mandy White (mandylovestoread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dying Diplomats' Club is a fun, locked room mystery that keeps you guessing. Set on Sydney Harbour , it was a book that I could not resist and I loved it. Also included in this book is the short story - We're All In This Together, which was a newspaper serial in 2020 during the COVID lockdown in Australia. Both stories are full of laughs, fun and lots of alcohol!

An invitation not to be turned down - dinner at Kirribilli House, the Prime Ministers residence, on Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve. What the perfect setting and the best place to watch the fireworks. Also in attendance are several diplomats, a bookie, a casino owner, a doctor, a social media influencer and Nick Moore and his wife La Contessa, long time friends of the PM and his wife. But the PM has a bombshell to drop and everyone is a suspect. Fingers start to point, voices are raised and then the bodies start to pile up.

It is a really fun read with a setting in my hometown. The star of this book in my mind though is Baxter, the beagle. He has a nose for a clue and is instrumental in solving the case - how cute is that! I wanna see more of Baxter! The rest of the characters, the humans, are all so well written and you feel as if you are in the room with them (not that you would want to be!) It is a whodunnit mystery that you need to read.

Thanks to Harper Collins for my advanced copy of this book to read.

[Trevor · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had the misfortune to listen to this book on a drive from Willunga to Lyrup and back, luckily the scenery on the journey was interesting, or I would have gone mad. The only reason why I had to listen to the whole ridiculous book was that my partner always insists on finishing a book, no matter how bad, in the hope that it will get better - this one didn't.

The writing was awful, the characters, descriptions and plot unbelievable, the narration bad; in fact I cannot find a good thing to say about this book, and would not recommend it to anyone.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes for a murder mystery set on the edge of Sydney harbour in the PMs residence during the NYE fireworks. But too many dad jokes and wanna-be Agatha Christie elements without having the good taste to at least leave the murders until after dinner. A murder or two between courses and people still sit down to dinner, yeah nah.
I probably kept listening for the Baxter, the beagle character, which did give me a good chuckle, mainly because my son has a beagle he called Baxter. Hearing Baxter's name being yelled out every now and then was entertaining.
1950s attitudes during a contemporary setting didn't do it for me either.
Apparently, there's a version that's been serialised in the Daily Telegraphy, I should have known. The second story, I think I found it bit more appealing and true to form set during a covid19 lockdown.
But I think I'll make do with our family Baxter's antics from now on and won't go back for more of the fictional type.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise was interesting but after reading it, I found it just okay, to be honest did not really enjoy this very much. Perhaps I would have liked it better if I had read it rather than listening as an audiobook, because I found the narrator's voicing of La Contessa's Italian accent extremely off-putting. The overt sexualisation of the women by the male characters was also a bit distasteful and to be honest none of the characters were particularly likeable. The main character Nick was very vanilla and his names - supposedly supposed to be terms of endearment - for his wife were so pretentious. I picked this up as it was marked as a comedy and mystery, set in current day Sydney which was all rather unique. But didn't find it at all funny. I had wanted to stop reading after a few chapters but persevered, not sure it was worth it as the plot was a bit predictable too.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A golden age crime fiction novel set in modern Australia.

I enjoyed this book - it was short, witty, and the protagonists were awfully interesting.

I suppose the big negative for me was the lack of character development of the guests, and of course, the mention of Australian politics, or politics in general. I'm not a fan, nor have I ever been, of anything political in my leisure reading.

While it's only 3 stars from me, I'd still recommend giving it a go if you feel like a classic crime fiction.

[Nik · Rating 1 out of 5]

I very much wanted to read this book - it sounded like it would be right up my alley, a locked door mystery with political intrigue. Alas, the characters were grating, and most galling of all the plot was boring. It also had an odd vibe - the characters felt like they were pulled from the 80's but existing in current times, mentions of Instagram etc felt odd and out of place. Really disappointing.

[Gabby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun book/audio book. Nothing revolutionary and a bit silly but was a good laugh!

[Marles Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

When does an attack-beagle become your favourite character in a book that you are reading because it has no dialogue? In "The Dying Diplomats Club"! Baxter's theatrics and antics stole every scene that he was in as well as providing comedy to balance put the 'baddie-rustling'. I can't really say much more about this book because ... well I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be like this or something else, or did I just not get it? I was not excited by it, and I kept getting confused as to when was set. It sounded like it was in the 1930s but really it was set in present day Sydney, in Kirribli House. A mix of rambling, bad cliches and unbelievable murders all in the presence of a prime minister. Still scratching my head ...

[B · Rating 1 out of 5]

For being set in 2021 and being written by who it was written by, the character's views and livelihoods are extremely old fashioned. Throwing around ethnic slurs and the stereotyping of Western European characters... The book could have been good if it were maybe trying to make a statement on these themes in modern Australia, but either it doesn't and it's just appalling, or it tries and completely misses the mark. Disappointing.

[Finnella O’Leary]

Goes from over-the-top but enjoyable to absolutely absurdist. If the author is in on the joke - well done. I lost count of how many martinis are made in these pages, but I think fictional Sydney should be in a vermouth shortage by now. Also, when this book does get political it’s a little flimsy and I think the funniest part is when they turn to Sky News as a trustworthy source. Maybe the ridiculousness adds to the romp?

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just dont know.......

[Andrew Sydenham · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 180 page dinner party, with murder.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and light murder mysteries. 2 mysteries for the price of 1 including the first COVID-19 context I've read. Quirky language and insights.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So great to read a book set in Australia at Kirribilli House. And I’m astounded that this is the fourth book I’ve read now that references COVID

[Hermien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very light reading with lots of Australian humour.

[Priscilla Shorne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Highly disappointing. Nick and La Contessa are a try hard couple in this book and they fail to engage.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just ridiculous, from start to finish.

[Jimmy Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light, entertaining murder mystery - cluedo, Knives out style.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still reading it so will update review, but I found this book quite confusing and very annoying for three reasons:
- When I first started reading it I thought it would be a golden age crime novel (i.e. historical) but then they mentioned a Tesla... the characters just don't ring true in the modern era (especially 'La Contessa'; in Australian culture we don't really do titles even if people do have them);
- Author isn't even creative enough to come up with his own characters; poor Julie Bishop is immortalised here as Karen Knight, and Dr Charlie Teo becomes Dr Charlotte Ngo... I think it's pretty poor form to so obviously base characters on real people who are still alive
- the 'hero' Nick has too many stupid nicknames for his wife La Contessa, e.g. 'my Rimini rambler', 'my Livorno lightening bolt' etc. I didn't mind some of the jokes, but this was just irritating.

Updated - drats, the second COVID story was quite good and brought me instantly back to the weirdness that was that time period - 2 star for first story, 4 star for second, equals average of 3 stars.