There's no one in the world quite like Doris Payne. Her story was originally optioned to be a movie with Halle Berry, so far that hasn't come to pass but hopefully someone will bring this story to the screen. Her memoir is uniquely her, coarse in places, refined in others. It reads like fiction but feels like fact. If you've never heard of Doris Payne but like stories of jewel thieves or of women defying the odds, this is a story for you. She's no hero, she makes that plain. She does things that make you wonder why but that is why she's such a compelling character, caught between her desire to protect her family and the needs and desires of her own wild heart.

I found the book just okay I was expecting more detail and information itt would of been better if she would of given insight on how she stole the jewels without getting caught and who she sold them too, the book felt somewhat unfinished to me

At age 88, Doris Payne (assisted by Zelda Lockhart) looks back at her six decades as an international jewel thief. Diamond Doris is the first time Payne has revealed all aspects of her remarkable life, including the techniques she used to walk out of world-famous jewelry stores with rings worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

She and her five siblings were raised in a poor, segregated coal mining town in West Virginia by her boorish black father and doting Native American mother. Early on, Payne found she had a talent for stealing things. It put food on her family's table and quickly became a lucrative career when she began visiting high-end jewelry stores. By dressing elegantly and wearing an impressive wedding ring set, she became "a woman of class, not a woman on a mission to steal." And her constant chatter kept storekeepers off-balance long enough for her to perform a sleight of hand.

In 1974, she was apprehended in Monte Carlo after stealing a 10.5 carat diamond ring worth $550,000 at the time. She was held for nine months but not charged because the authorities couldn't find the ring she'd hidden. Rather than being intimidated by her incarceration, when she escaped, she devised and executed a four-day plan to steal from three top jewelers in London, Paris and Rome.

Payne is a feisty anti-hero who refused to be defined by the prejudices and mores of a hypocritical society. Even when she was forced to serve prison time in her 80s. Diamond Doris's captivating capers are audacious and entertaining.

Hilarious, surprising, engaging and entertaining portrait of a jewel thief. There were parts where I was thinking it was too good to be true, only it is. I'm buying this for a friend for Christmas.

This book was fascinating! I read it in one sitting. If you enjoyed Catch Me if you Can or the Ocean's movies, you'll enjoy reading about the heists Doris pulled off for over SIX decades!

I am shocked and laughing in amazement on how Doris Payne, a Black woman from Slab Fork, West Virginia, became an international jewel thief for six decades. This woman masterfully got away with an estimated $2 million in jewels. This is the kind of stuff you see on TV and I was completely consumed by this story, I was amazed on Payne’s knowledge on these precious stones. I am telling you know this is an absolute must read.

Many thanks to Amistad/HarperCollins and NetGalley for gifting me an DARC in exchange for an honest review.

While Doris may have led an exciting and adventurous life, the poor writing style of this book made it very hard to enjoy. My assumption is that they author(s) decided to have the style reflect Doris' upbringing, education, and how she spoke. However, combine that with a narrative that jumped around and it made for a messy read. Other things that decreased my enjoyment of what should have been a fascinating read were Doris' need to ethnically identify every single person she interacted with. The nationality of her taxi cab drivers had no impact on the story. Likewise, the translation of the dollar amount of the items she stole, etc, from the value then to now got annoying. A few times would have sufficed. Between that and her continual comments regarding how men wanted to sleep with her well into 70s turned the story into a farce. Somewhere in this lump of coal is a diamond. I just wish someone would have made more of an attempt to find it!

For over six decades, Doris Marie Payne was one of the world’s most notorious jewel thieves. Her memoir takes the reader on a journey that starts with her upbringing in the segregated coalmines of West Virginia in the late 1950s to her prison sentence in 2013. This single, African American mother of two explains how she used her charm, wit, and beauty to get away with some of the most prominent jewelry heists in history. She traveled all around the world, stealing valuable pieces from high-end jewelers. Doris recalls the horrible memories of racism and watching her mother endure physical and emotional abuse by her father. Those circumstances placed a shield around her heart, which made her vow never to let anyone mistreat her. Doris Payne's memoir is very entertaining; each escapade had me on edge.

I wasn't planning on it, but I finished this book in one sitting. All I knew about Doris Payne going into this story was a blurb I had read online. The whole story I was gripped with what was going to happen next. While it is a memoir, it almost reads like a suspense book.

My one wish is that they had polished this Diamond up a bit more. It wasn't well written even with a co-author. I spent many paragraphs needing to reread because I was a bit lost in the context. But overall a fun story of the life of a jewel thief.

This will be one of the most entertaining memoirs you ever read! I could not put this down.

This book is divided into 4 parts:

Color: It’s fascinating how childhood and media can shape how we view ourselves and what decisions we make. Representation matters!

Clarity: Doris realized she had the communication skills necessary to make store clerks forget they gave her jewelry to try on. Confusion and familiarity.

Cut: The Cartier heist! She breaks down the history and process of how diamonds get to jewelers as she takes you through the story of her 3 day heist in Europe. She had me on edge not knowing if she would get caught.

Carat: The weight of it all. Doris is older and life is catching up to her. People close to her are inevitably dying. Technology has advanced and she can no longer fool the police.

Doris Payne, a poor black girl, grew up in Slab Fork, West Virginia. She learned at a young age that she had a talent - the ability to manipulate others. By dressing and talking like a high class women, she was able to steal millions in diamonds, emeralds, and jewelry.

This was an exciting and fascinating book. Doris led a very interesting life. The book was fun and quick to read. Overall, highly recommended.

I had never heard of Doris prior to reading this book. I’m glad NetGalley offered me the opportunity to read it in exchange for this honest review. I was pulled in and in awe of her story. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to others.

Diamond Doris dragged me in as soon as I found out she was a jewel thief. Doris tell us about her upbringing living in a mining town with a dad who took his problems out on her mom. When her mom promises her a watch and to go to the store to pick on out. When the usually friendly white shop keeper tells Doris to run along when a powerful white man enters the shop she notices he forgot about the watch on her wrist. She find its easy to distract people to take the jewelry, she starts planning and purchases a bus ticket to do her first crime a diamond ring. Doris quickly find people to help her out and be on her side.

This is s. Ok! The compelling and different t story of a jewel thief , a black woman, and a smart woman rolled into one. Different than anything I’ve ever read,, I highly recommend this compelling work of non fiction.